Pats roll past Townies in season finale

Matt Metcalf
Posted 5/19/15

The Pilgrim girls’ lacrosse team had already locked up a playoff berth heading into its final regular season game against East Providence on Thursday night, but that didn’t mean that it was going …

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Pats roll past Townies in season finale

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The Pilgrim girls’ lacrosse team had already locked up a playoff berth heading into its final regular season game against East Providence on Thursday night, but that didn’t mean that it was going to take the one-win Townies lightly.

After all, the Pats still had a lot to play for.

Other than the game having an impact on playoff seeding, it was also Pilgrim’s Senior Night. Another side note was that the Pats would clinch their third-straight eight-win season with a victory.

Pilgrim would easily roll to that eighth win, riding an 11-goal first half to a 13-6 trumping of East Providence.

The Pats took control of the game against the visibly inferior Townies early, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the opening half.

Pilgrim’s tremendously balanced attack was relentless against EP, as seven different players combined for 11 goals in the first 25 minutes.

Hannah Page, Emma Reilly, Emily Fluette and Paula Cavanagh each tallied two goals, while Christina Cavanagh, Madison Almonte and Hannah Johnson scored one apiece.

Sydney Vilardi and Kyra Ribeiro scored goals for the Townies in the first half, but those goals didn’t make much of a dent in the team’s deficit, as they were chasing nine going into the second half.

The big lead allowed for Pilgrim head coach Tom Flanders to play all 11 of his seniors in the second half – taking advantage of the opportunity to honor those players for their hard work over four years.

“It was a total team effort tonight,” Flanders said. “It worked out in a way that I could play all 11 of my seniors in the second half. I’ve never seen a group of underclassmen respect their seniors so much. They wanted them to play and said to leave them out there. This is a special group and I’m very proud of them.”

With Pilgrim taking out some of its top offensive players in favor of its seniors, the Townies were able to chip away at their substantial deficit, outscoring the Pats, 4-2, in the half.

Ribeiro netted a pair after halftime to finish with a game-high three goals, while Arianna Calouro and Taikyra Lima each netted one.

For the Pats, Fluette scored to tie Ribeiro with a game-high three goals. Another senior, Shailin Chase, also scored for Pilgrim with 1:56 remaining in the game.

For Flanders, the decision to give the seniors their time was a no-brainer.

“The plan was to get that early lead then get everyone in the game and do the right thing,” Flanders said. “The seniors stepped up and held their own in the second half and did a great job. It just so happens that we have 11 seniors, so Alex (Pouliot) was the lone sophomore out there in goal, but the rest were all seniors, so it was good stuff.”

The Pats will now focus their attention on a potential Division III Championship.

After coming up just short in each of the last two seasons, Pilgrim’s group of players – which includes that large group of seniors – wants nothing more than to come through with a title.

That goal should be in reach.

Pilgrim has done enough to earn either the second or third seed for the postseason.

The Pats lost some of their top scorers from last season, but they’ve reloaded and are prepared to make another deep run into the playoffs.

“We had a lot to replace from last season, but these kids are stepping up,” Flanders said. “They had some good players to watch last season and now it’s their time. The past teams have done great things and these kids want to keep up with that.”

Now it’s a waiting game for Pilgrim, as there are still some games to be played throughout the league. Once that all wraps up, then it will know who its first round opponent will be.

“We did our job, we’re 8-2,” Flanders said. “Now we’ll sit back and see how things play out – then we’ll figure out who we’ll be going up against.”

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