Pats, Titans set for rivalry showdown in D-II semis

Matt Metcalf
Posted 11/5/15

After the two regular-season meetings between the Pilgrim and Toll Gate girls’ soccer teams, it is only fitting that they’ll get to meet for a third time.

The Pats and Titans tied their …

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Pats, Titans set for rivalry showdown in D-II semis

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After the two regular-season meetings between the Pilgrim and Toll Gate girls’ soccer teams, it is only fitting that they’ll get to meet for a third time.

The Pats and Titans tied their season series 1-1, with both schools scoring four goals apiece over 160 minutes of play.

However, this time around the stakes are much higher, as the already intense rivalry will be brought to a whole new level tonight at 6 p.m. at East Greenwich High School when the two teams meet in the Division II semifinals.

Bragging rights will be on the line but, more importantly, a trip to the finals will be up for grabs.

For Pilgrim, it is looking to defend its title after winning a championship for the first time since 2000 last fall.

Toll Gate, on the other hand, is searching for its first soccer title in school history.

However, the Titans’ title dreams are alive and well thanks in large part to junior striker Hannah McNulty, who is outpacing the field with a state-best 52 goals and 60 points this season. Marisa Giard and Emma Seidenberg have each chipped in with 12 goals apiece this season as well.

Toll Gate has proved to be strong defensively, too. Although the Titans’ back line is young with freshman Julia Grossi starting, it has held up well in front of keeper Ani Armenakyan this season.

Pilgrim has had a more balanced scoring attack, with senior captain Kendra Tantimonico and freshman Alexis Vieira entering tonight’s game with 37 and 28 points, respectively.

Pats’ keeper Hannah Page is coming off of a tremendous effort in the quarterfinals, a game that Pilgrim won 1-0. Last Saturday’s performance marked the senior’s 11th shutout of the season.

But although Toll Gate and Pilgrim finished the regular season with identical point totals of 45, all numbers and stats will be thrown out the window when they step on the field tonight.

“I’m looking forward to playing them,” Tantimonico said. “They’re always a good team and it’s going to be a good game. I can’t wait.”

There’s no question that Toll Gate has a bit of a chip on its shoulder after it was on the wrong end of a call that led to the game-winning penalty kick by Vieira in the Titans’ second matchup against Pilgrim.

The loss dropped Toll Gate to the No. 3 seed, while Pilgrim was awarded the No. 2 seed, as it won the goals against tiebreaker.

“I think they want to go out there and show that they flat out want to win this game, and they’re going to go out there and do everything that they can to do it,” Toll Gate head coach Lonna Razza said of her team.

There’s no question that McNulty will be an integral part of Toll Gate’s potential success against its cross-town rival.

“We’re just going to let the kids go, let Hannah make some space, press into the box and keep putting shots on net,” Razza said of dealing with Pilgrim’s tough back line.

On the flip side, Pilgrim knows that it needs to key on McNulty. If it’s able to limit her production, it will have a better shot of advancing to the finals.

“They have Hannah McNulty, who is a good player, but all they do is give the ball to Hannah McNulty,” Page said. “All we have to do is shut her down and play soccer. I’m not too worried about it. We had a good game against them the first time and lost, but then beat them in the second game, so it’s not like we can’t beat them.”

The winner tonight will get the winner of No. 1 Coventry and No. 4 Scituate on Sunday at Rhode Island College at 2 p.m. for the D-II title.

“I think I’m going to have to reel them in a little bit,” Razza said of her team’s anticipated intensity tonight. “But I love the fact that they have the fire to go out there and have that intensity. If we play like we did in the second half [last Saturday against North Smithfield], I think we’ll be all right.”

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