Pats, Titans built for deep playoff runs

Matt Metcalf
Posted 10/22/15

It’s evident from watching the two matchups between the Toll Gate and Pilgrim girls’ soccer teams this season that they’re both viable contenders to capture the Division II crown.

The …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Pats, Titans built for deep playoff runs

Posted

It’s evident from watching the two matchups between the Toll Gate and Pilgrim girls’ soccer teams this season that they’re both viable contenders to capture the Division II crown.

The Titans and Pats, along with Coventry, have somewhat separated themselves from the rest of the pack throughout the fall, with the two Warwick schools tied with 39 points apiece and the Oakers alongside with 38 points.

As for the Titans and Pats head-to-head, they couldn’t have been more even in their season series. Toll Gate took the first game, 2-1, on its home turf behind goals from Hannah McNulty and Emma Seidenberg, while Pilgrim defended its home field in a 3-2 win behind a pair of goals from Kendra Tantimonico and a late penalty kick score from Alexis Vieira.

Whether the foul call that led to that Vieira goal was right or wrong, it brought an unfortunate ending to what otherwise was a great game.

But in the long run, that goal won’t matter.

It looks as if Toll Gate and Pilgrim will be the second and third seeds, respectively, as long as the Oakers take care of business against Chariho and Moses Brown this week. Undefeated Coventry will earn the No. 1 seed if it wins those two games.

If that works out as expected and if none of those three teams get upset early in the playoffs, there could be a Toll Gate-Pilgrim semifinal in our future.

Pilgrim is, of course, the defending D-II champion, upsetting Coventry in the title game last November.

I haven’t personally seen Coventry play this season, but after seeing Toll Gate and Pilgrim square off last week, I can’t imagine that a team in-division is playing at a higher level than the Pats or Titans as of right now.

And scoring goals certainly hasn’t been an issue, with Toll Gate and Pilgrim players flooding the state’s top scorers list.

At the very top of that list is McNulty. The junior has a state-best 41 goals and 48 points. Not too far behind is Tantimonico, who’s fifth in the state with 30 points. Vieira is also in the top-10, ranking ninth with 24 points.

Hannah Page and Ani Armenakyan have also been impressive keeping the ball out of the net, as the two teams have surrendered a total of 26 goals in just 30 games.

There’s no question that each team looks primed for a title run, but only one team can win.

Maybe it’ll be Toll Gate. Maybe it’ll be Pilgrim. Only time will tell.

Either way, I think the Division II trophy will be coming back to Warwick again in the coming weeks.

Hawks-Rams set for must-see matchup tonight

The Bishop Hendricken soccer team will play at La Salle tonight at 7 p.m. in a matchup between two of the top-3 teams in Division I.

The Hawks (8-1-3, 27 points) are currently in third place in D-I, putting together another strong campaign after making a trip to the state semifinals last fall.

Hendricken will get its toughest test tonight, though, against the undefeated Rams (11-0, 33 points).

The Hawks will have the tall task of slowing down Stavros Zarokostas, who is the state’s top scorer with 24 goals and 31 points. He isn’t the only offensive threat either. Alex DaCosta is putting together a standout season as well, with 12 goals and 20 points over 11 games.

On the other side, Hendricken will look to its leading scorer, Chukwudi Onyejose, to provide an offensive spark. The Hawks’ leading scorer is 10th in the state with 15 points.

It should be a good one between two of the state’s best, with the rivalry between the two schools providing some extra incentive.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here