After Tuesday’s game against La Salle, Toll Gate girls’ soccer coach Fred Schweizer wanted his team to forget about the first 20 minutes.

That was easier said than done. The Titans trailed the unbeaten Rams 4-0 after those first 20 minutes. They went on to lose 6-1, but for a strong team with big aspirations, it was important to know that the last 60 minutes of the game – when the Titans played to a 2-1 score – was more like the real thing.

“I needed to make sure they understood that the first 20 minutes of the game was on me,” Schweizer said. “I put them out there in a formation that didn’t work for us. I told the girls, ‘I’ll take responsibility for the first few goals. Those are on me.’ I shifted them back into a regular 4-4-2, and things worked out a lot better for us after that. We played our game.”

The Titans came into the game having won five of their last six. They were hoping to spring an upset against the Rams, who were 10-0 with a remarkable 54-3 goal differential.

Instead, the Titans got buried early.

They had a scoring chance in the first 12 minutes when Jess Sandin headed a Kelsey Imondi corner kick just wide of the goal. But the Rams started taking advantage of their chances after that, scoring four goals in a nine-minute span. Allison Kelly and McKenzie Meehan tallied two each.

“We started out in a 4-5-1,” Schweizer said. “I wanted to try to pack our end, but against a team with such good ball skills and passing skills, one breakdown and the ball was in the net.”

Once the Titans switched back to their usual formation, they kept the Rams off the board for 15 minutes. Brittney Blanchette scored just before halftime to make it a 5-0 game.

“I told them at halftime, ‘We can’t give up. We’ve got to keep battling,’” Schweizer said.

That’s just what the Titans did. After La Salle’s Jenna Derderian scored five minutes into the half, Toll Gate came up with a quick answer. Steph Cascella made a short pass at the top of the box to Sandin, who lofted a one-timer just under the cross-bar.

“The first 20 minutes of the second half, we played very well,” Schweizer said. “We moved the ball extremely well against a team that, defensively, is very solid. We got a goal and La Salle has only allowed three goals this season. There’s a fourth.”

A comeback wasn’t in the cards, but the second-half effort was a positive. At the same time, the Titans weren’t content with a search for moral victories.

“They really wanted to win this game,” Schweizer said. “They know that they can play with any team.”

That attitude can only be a good thing. The Titans currently sit at 7-4, and they’re firmly in line for the third playoff spot in Division I-South. Sandin leads the team in goals with nine, while Imondi has tallied five assists, good for fourth in the division. Goalkeeper Amy St. Amand has the third-highest saves total in the division.

“It’s been going very well,” Schweizer said. “We have to win the games we’re expected to win, and we have to battle in the games we’re not. That’s what the girls have done. We’ve been progressing. We have a great group of girls who are very close. The last few weeks have been great for them in terms of working well together. Now’s the time when we really have to start solidifying and coming together as a team.”

With 11 seniors ready to make one last push, the Titans will be up to the challenge.

“Our goal is still a title,” Schweizer said. “I believe in these girls and I told them today that they’ve got to keep believing in themselves. I told our girls, ‘We will see La Salle again.’ Now that we’ve seen them, we know how to prepare for them. If we continue to play hard, good things will happen.”

The Titans will return to action at 3:30 p.m. today with a road game against Coventry.