After struggling out the gate to the tune of a 1-3 record, the Toll Gate girls soccer team has been on a roll ever since and improved to 5-4-2 after beating West Warwick 5-1 on Monday afternoon.
Freshman Emma McIntyre led the team with a pair of goals against the Wizards, while Madison Gautieri, Stella-Blue Kraus and Kaylee Steele-Younger also found the back of the net.
Toll Gate had an uphill climb to start this season, being moved up to Division II while also relying heavily on a large freshman class which includes 10 new players. Finally finding the correct spots for the newcomers has helped the Titans lock in and turn things around in recent matches.
“We faced a tough Prout team then started to get our act together, mixing in the young players, then we started getting better and better. We’ve got some tough games coming up, but I think we will make the playoffs, it’s just a matter of where we’re seeded,” said Toll Gate coach Bob Enright.
Last year’s breakout player Shinyu Vega returns along with keeper Alanna Pereira. Other key veterans have been Ava Ficher, Ava Marrocco and Addison O’Rourke.
“Shinyu is back and is a big part of what we do on defense and we have (Alanna) back as our keeper. It’s good to have our security blanket back,” Enright said. “We’ve got our senior goalie which is huge, all of our defenders are returning. To return that back four, to have that consistency, that really helped out while we got those other positions down. Returning those players has been really key.”
McIntyre has been perhaps the state’s best freshman to this point this fall and leads the team in scoring.
“She’s really fast and leading us in scoring. She’s struggling a little with the jump straight to varsity, but she’s starting to get comfortable now. She’s a really good player,” Enright said.
The Titans are now preparing for the back half of their regular seasons schedule and are hoping to improve and fight for the highest seed possible.
“Any team can beat any team on any given day. It will be the team that performs the best on that day. Who plays simple soccer and doesn’t make mistakes,” said Enright.