Lady Knights edge Sussex County to jump above .500

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The CCRI Lady Knights women’s soccer team hosted the Skylanders of Sussex County CC over the weekend and came away with a 3-2 win. With the victory, the Lady Knights improve to 2-1 on the young season.  

Both teams battled throughout the first half of play, missing scoring opportunities on both ends of the field. The half would end with the score knotted at 0-0, and then the fun began.

In the second half of play, both teams again battled evenly with both missing some scoring opportunities. However, in the 20th minute of play, Skylanders’ sophomore midfielder Jill Pullis was sent in alone on the CCRI goal on a pass from Poppy Bignal, giving the Skylanders a 1-0 advantage.

Just six minutes later, CCRI freshman forward Laura Lopes (Warren, R.I.) scored on a scramble in front of the Sussex goal, knotting the score at 1-1. Sussex answered just five minutes later, though, as freshman forward Gabby Sarni scored on another assist from Bignal, putting the Skylanders in the lead, 2-1.  

Just three minutes later, CCRI freshman forward Mercedes Faust (Warwick, R.I.) tied the score at 2-2 on an unassisted goal. 

In the 38th minute of play, the Lady Knights were awarded a corner kick. Sophomore midfielder Faithe Fernandez (North Providence, R.I.) put up a low corner kick and freshman defender Isabelle Rinne (Richmond, R.I.) headed the ball into the corner of the Sussex goal to give the Lady Knights a 3-2 lead with seven minutes left to play.

The Lady Knights hung on to the victory, thwarting off any chances that the Skylanders could muster.  

Sophomore goalkeeper Ashley VanBemmelen (North Providence, R.I.) played well, helping the Lady Knights to their second straight victory on the season.  

Head Coach Dennis Grassini commented after the game, “I thought we played well except for a few defensive mistakes resulting in goals for Sussex. We know mistakes are going to happen as we are a very young and inexperienced team. I think the most important thing we can take from this victory is the heart our team showed and coming back twice from being a goal down. Freshman Mercedes Faust was outstanding today, as well as our defensive corps. Coach Bannan and I are proud of the entire team making such a nice comeback today.”

The next game for the Lady Knights will be this Saturday at 12 p.m. when they host the Mustangs of Monroe College from New Rochelle, New York, at the CCRI Soccer Complex in Lincoln.

ASA edges Knights

The CCRI Knights soccer team welcomed the ASA College Avengers from Manhattan, New York, to Flanagan Campus in Lincoln for the team’s first home game of the season over the weekend. The Knights unfortunately were unable to come out with the win, losing 3-1. The loss drops the Knights to 0-2 on the season.

The game was a tale of two halves for the Knights. In the first half, ASA was able to jump out to an early lead. The Avengers scored just nine minutes into the game. Keeping this pace up, ASA College was able to score two more goals, putting the Knights down 3-0 going into halftime. 

At halftime, Coach Gabe Toro was forced to make some lineup changes due to lingering injuries. Along with this, Toro put emphasis on maintaining composure on the defensive end of the ball and being able to turn defense into offense. He also stated that the players would need to be much more physical going forward.

Listening to Toro, the Knights were able to have a much more impressive second half. Both Ben Boahin (Portsmouth, R.I.) and Danny Junior (Pawtucket, R.I.) gave a strong performance at the back, stopping ASA from scoring any more goals. Defense also started the movement towards the lone goal scored by the Knights. Boahin pushed up the left side, carrying the ball forwards. After going by several defenders, Boahin reached the 18-yard box of the Avengers. Boahin was able to put in a good pass, which found the feet of Cameron DiMaria (Coventry, R.I.), who was able to turn and shoot the ball past the Avengers’ goalie and into the bottom corner, finishing off a nice all-around play by the Knights.

The game ended 3-1, but the Knights put on a promising display in the second half. There is a good foundation to build on going forward, and the Knights will look to use the momentum from this game on Thursday in Boston when they travel to face Bunker Hill Community College for a Region XXI non-league game.

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