Women's soccer defeats Dean 3-0, takes 14th consecutive Region XXI championship

Posted 10/30/14

Thursday, the CCRI women’s soccer team traveled to Franklin Massachusetts to take on Region XXI rival Bulldogs of Dean College and won 3-0, capturing the region title for the 14th consecutive …

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Women's soccer defeats Dean 3-0, takes 14th consecutive Region XXI championship

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Thursday, the CCRI women’s soccer team traveled to Franklin Massachusetts to take on Region XXI rival Bulldogs of Dean College and won 3-0, capturing the region title for the 14th consecutive year.

The Lady Knights improved to 9-4-1 overall and 6-0 in region play.

Weather conditions were quite poor the entire match. However, the Lady Knights were unfazed, as just five minutes into the contest freshman forward Catherine Lopes (Warren, Fla.) collected an errant Dean pass and blasted a high rising shot over the outstretched goalkeeper giving CCRI a quick 1-0 lead. 

The Lady Knights continued to threaten the Dean goal from that point forward. About halfway through the half, freshman midfielder Ashley DellaVentura (Cranston) received a pass from Lopes, got around the Dean defender and placed a beautiful shot low and to the far corner of the net, giving CCRI a 2-0 advantage. 

CCRI continued to dominate the half, creating numerous additional scoring chances. With approximately 10 minutes remaining in the half, sophomore midfielder Carla Porras (Narragansett) collected a pass out in front of the Dean goal from sophomore captain Stepheny Perez (Providence) and placed a shot high into the top corner of the net, giving CCRI a commanding 3-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, CCRI continued to dominate. The Lady Knights created 13 corner kicks throughout the match, keeping the Bulldogs back on their heels. 

Goalkeeper Jennifer Kilburn (Norton, Mass.) recorded her seventh shutout victory of the season.

“Weather conditions were bad for both teams today but Coach (Kathy) Bannan and I were pleased with our team’s play in very adverse weather conditions,” said CCRI head coach Dennis Grassini. “They came here today to win this game and that’s what they did. They were not going to be denied.  They knew that this game meant the region title and they really wanted it.”

Knights cruise past AIC in final regular season game

The CCRI men’s soccer team edged American International College’s junior varsity team, 3-1, Friday afternoon at the Flanagan Campus in Lincoln. With the win, the Knights improved to 5-8-1 overall and remained 4-3-1 in Region XXI play.

 

The Yellow Jackets got the Knights off their game in the opening minutes of the first half, resulting in multiple yellow cards being assessed to CCRI for retaliation fouls. AIC capitalized off of CCRI’s lack of composure in the 12th minute, as the Yellow Jackets were able to find the back of the net to make it 1-0.

After CCRI got back to playing its game, the momentum began to swing in the Knights’ favor. A series of   passes in the midfield resulted in a great ball in to Andrea Negri (Bolzano, Italy), who found Evan Gaudreau (Jamestown) for an easy tap-in goal, tying the game 1-1 before the half.

In the 65th minute, David Moreno (Warwick) scored his first goal of the season to give the Knights a 2-1 lead, following some great work from Jean Arenas (Cranston) to break through AIC’s defense. Just less than 20 minutes later, Jossiemar Caballero (Johnston) headed a pass from Sindio Freitas (Cape Verde) past the oncoming goalkeeper to give the Knights some insurance.

Head coach Gabe Toro praised Adam Coutu (Moosup, CT) for playing another excellent game on defense for the Knights. “Adam was able to come out of the back with great vision and poise,” Toro said. “I’ve enjoyed watching him play this year and I enjoy watching him grow as a player.”

The Knights were able to escape with the win, but they weren’t able to escape injury-free. Goalkeeper Steve Zelepos (Stonington, Conn.) suffered a broken nose in the middle of the game, after putting in some solid work in net. Before being forced out of the game, Zelepos stopped seven of the eight shots that he faced.

The Knights will now gear up for the Region XXI championship game, which will be played at Massasoit Community College on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Knights run well at Boston Mayors Cup

The Knights had a season-high four runners compete in the Boston Mayors Cup, held at Franklin Park in Boston on Sunday morning. CCRI competed in the 5k race amongst various NCAA and club teams and were extremely competitive.

 

Ian Anderson (Warwick) led the way for the Knights, finishing 51st out of 257 runners with a time of 19 minutes 10 seconds. Jared Gruslin (North Smithfield) finished second for the Knights, placing 68th in a time of 19:50. Sophomore Joe Gareri (Uxbridge, Mass.) placed third for the Knights and 93rd overall in a time of 20:48. Lee Mandanici (Medina, Ohio), running in his first-ever cross country race, finished a solid 115th of 257 in a time of 21:37.

The Knights will now prepare for the CCRI Northeast Invitational, which they will host at the Flanagan Campus in Lincoln. The event will begin on Saturday morning with the men’s race at 10 a.m., followed by the women’s race at 11 a.m.

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