DiRaimo scores six as Panthers edge ’Canes

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Tuesday’s game between the Warwick Vets and Johnston girls’ lacrosse teams may have been a non-league game, but it certainly didn’t show.

The reason for that may be because the ’Canes and Panthers are currently two teams trending in different directions.

For the 2-6 ’Canes, a win over a Johnston team that is towards the top of the standings would give them some momentum heading into the final games of their league slate.

For the 6-3 Panthers, they were looking to maintain their winning ways as the playoffs approach.

Vets gave Johnston all that it could handle, getting within two goals with less than five minutes to go, but ultimately Johnston was just too much for Vets to handle, as the Panthers fought their way to a 15-12 win.

Leading the way for Johnston was senior captain Isabella DiRaimo, as she has all season. DiRaimo netted a game-high six goals, including two of the team’s final three goals, and also dished out two assists to pace the Panthers’ offensive attack.

Johnston needed just about every one of DiRaimo’s goals, as the ’Canes made a significant push in the second half.

The Panthers led, 9-4, at halftime, but Vets outscored the home team by two in the final 25 minutes to nearly pull off the upset.

“I think they do a great job – they definitely know how to score,” Johnston head coach Jay Areson said of Vets. “Savannah Hersey is a really good player. But it was good to get another game in before the playoffs. We’re going to make the playoffs this year, so we’re really excited about that.”

Despite the loss, Vets did a lot of good things in the game, and it will focus on those positives heading into its final two league games.

“We were down at halftime, so we came back and cut it to three,” Vets’ head coach Kathy Palazzo said. “We have a very young team and we have a lot of players out there who are still learning their positions. We lost a lot of draws today, but when we win the draws, we can move it around offensively and make things happen.”

Hersey scored three goals for the ’Canes in the first half, while Karinne Medeiros netted one.

However, Johnston was firing on all cylinders, leading to nine first-half goals.

In that opening half, DiRaimo scored four, Grace Sarah and Jocelyn Cabral each buried two and Lindsey Frein scored one.

But in the second half, it was a completely different game.

Sarah and Frein each scored a goal in the opening minutes to give Johnston an 11-4 lead, but after that, the ’Canes outscored Johnston, 8-4, the rest of the way.

Emma Nason led Vets’ comeback bid with four second-half goals.

The ’Canes eventually trimmed their deficit to just 14-12 with 4:44 remaining on Nason’s fourth of the half, but DiRaimo came through when her team needed her, scoring just 19 seconds after Nason to push Johnston’s lead back out to three.

DiRaimo added two goals in the second half, while Sarah, Frein, Lauren Tedesco and Allie Faella all tallied one.

Sarah finished second on the Panthers with three goals.

Hersey scored once in the second half to finish the game with four goals – tying Nason for a team high.

Medeiros also scored two goals for the ’Canes, while Elizabeth Kane and Patrice Canning scored one apiece.

Johnston concluded its league schedule on Wednesday night when it hosted Burrillville/North Smithfield Co-op. Results were unavailable at press time.

The ’Canes will look to finish their season strong over the next week.

They’ll play at Classical on Friday at 4 p.m., before hosting Burrillville/North Smithfield Co-op in their final regular season game on Tuesday at 3:15 p.m.

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