Vieira leads Pilgrim past Westerly, into D-II semis

Kevin Pomeroy, Sports Editor
Posted 11/6/14

The postseason started out perfectly for the Pilgrim girls’ soccer team on Monday night, before it suddenly took a turn for the worse.

Yet, as quickly as it went bad, the Pats found the answers …

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Vieira leads Pilgrim past Westerly, into D-II semis

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The postseason started out perfectly for the Pilgrim girls’ soccer team on Monday night, before it suddenly took a turn for the worse.

Yet, as quickly as it went bad, the Pats found the answers and righted the ship. The result was a 3-1 Division II quarterfinal victory over Westerly, propelling Pilgrim to the semifinals for the third straight season.

The Pats got a goal in the third minute of play from senior Katelyn Vieira, saw Westerly tie the score 13 minutes later but then regrouped, scored before the end of the half and dominated the second half.

It was simply a matter of getting their footing for the No. 2 Patriots, who had a bye in the preliminary round of the playoffs and hadn’t played Westerly – the No. 7 seed – since the first game of the season on Sept. 2.

“It was a good start – we scored early,” said Pilgrim head coach Tom Flanders. “We had a little lull in the action. Then they started loading up the back. We really had to build to get everything we got. Second half, we took our spaces when we had our time and took the dribble rather than knocking it into their numbers. That was the difference in the game. We really started to control the game.”

Pilgrim was scheduled to play in the D-II semifinals on Wednesday, with results unavailable at press time, against No. 3 Scituate. The other semifinal was between No. 5 Toll Gate and No. 1 Coventry.

If the Pats were to win against Scituate, they would play in the Division II title game Saturday at 5 p.m.

Monday’s performance, especially in the final 50 minutes or so, kept their season alive.

“I was extremely happy with the second half, the way that we got things going together,” Flanders said. “A few adjustments, and that’s all it was.”

Vieira’s header off of a corner kick taken by Kendra Tantimonico early in the game gave the Pats the lead, but Westerly started to adopt a through ball approach and it amounted to a number of chances for forward Brittany DeGrooth. In the 16th minute, one of them finally came through.

The Bulldogs’ Amy Luther sent a free kick that sailed over the Pilgrim defense and to the feet of DeGrooth, who shot the ball towards the middle of the goal. Pilgrim goalkeeper Hannah Page made a diving effort and deflected the ball, but it went in to the side of the net to tie the score at one.

“We got caught off-guard,” Flanders said. “They were knocking balls deep, getting in behind us and that was troublesome until we made a couple adjustments in the back.”

Westerly had the next chance as well, as DeGrooth hit the crossbar in the 20th minute and Julia Wicklund took a clean shot on the rebound that Page dove to save.

DeGrooth again got loose in the 29th minute, forcing Page to make another diving save.

However, from that point, the Pats woke up.

In the 31st minute, Vieira started a mini breakaway down the left side and drew the defense towards her. She then fired a pass across the box to Tantimonico near the 18, who blistered a shot back to the left side of the goal, past the dive of goalkeeper Emily Sullivan, putting Pilgrim up 2-1.

That goal gave the Pats the upper-hand, and they never lost it. Westerly literally never threatened the goal in the second half, as Pilgrim – and specifically Vieira – dominated play.

Vieira had shot after shot that nearly went in, including hitting a post in the 53rd minute, before she struck in the 59th. Tantimonico slipped a pass to Vieira with her back to the goal at the 18, and she whirled and fired in one motion into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal to make it 3-1.

“The next goal, if they score to make it 2-2, it’s a complete different game than 3-1,” Flanders said. “We needed that third goal, we got it and that was the key.”

Vieira, the state’s leading goal-scorer, was blanketed all night, but it did little to slow her down.

“Ridiculous,” Flanders said. “They quadruple covered her. She did a fantastic job, handling the triple and quadruple coverage like a lion.”

Together with Tantimonico and Emma Manosh, the Pats offense was on the attack until the final whistle. When the whistle did come, the team was able to turn their attention to Scituate.

They’re trying to avoid a third straight defeat in the semifinals. Pilgrim hasn’t played for a title since winning the D-I title in 2000.

“We’re ready to go,” Flanders said.

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