Panthers’ postseason journey ends in semifinals

One game won’t define the Johnston girls’ soccer team.

Last Wednesday’s 2-0 semifinal loss to eventual Division III runner-up North Providence isn’t how the Panthers should be remembered.

Plus, there were still plenty of positives.

Johnston didn’t score, but nobody did against the Cougars. North Providence dominated the midfield and was on the attack most of the night in their 14th shutout in 16 regular-season and three playoff games. Before a 2-0 loss to West Warwick in Saturday’s final, the Cougars hadn’t given up a goal since a 1-1 tie with the Wizards on Oct. 9.

After rarely crossing the 50-yard line at Cumberland High School’s Tucker Field in the first half, the Panthers showed some fight down 2-0 and senior captain Leah Gravel nearly converted two direct kicks from 20 yards out that could have tied the game.

Also, facing a team that was on the attack all night, the Panthers surrendered only 12 shots and goalkeeper Karina Mattera made some saves on shots that could have added to NP’s lead.

At the end of the day, just reaching that point was a success for Johnston. The program hadn’t won a game since the seniors were freshmen, it hadn’t played in a semifinal since 2006 and the school doesn’t have a girls’ soccer title to its name.

So if that’s how the Panthers were going to go out, it’s not bad.

“Last year we went like 0-2-13 and this year we’re in the semifinals,” Gravel said. “We made a big turnaround, changed our play and it feels great to even make it this far.”

This year’s Panthers changed the perception of the program, which has bounced around from poor to mediocre and back to poor until this fall. There was an attitude change from the end up last season and, playing in a new division after realignment dumped them to D-III, the girls started training in the winter, into spring and through summer so they could play for something in November.

Coincidentally, Johnston opened the season against the team that ended its 2014 campaign, a 4-0 loss at North Providence on Sept. 3. Three days later, the mentality of the team changed because it did something it hadn’t for far too long.

It won, a 7-3 victory over Tolman, the wake-up call of all wake-up calls.

“We didn’t know we had it in us,” Gravel said. “It turned the season around.”

“When we started controlling games toward the middle of the season, beating teams we were supposed to beat … we started feeling we were controlling games,” Johnston coach Tim Sprouls said. “The second half of the season, if you look at the goals for and against, it was a dramatic change.”

Johnston rode into the postseason on a sour note. After a loss to West Warwick on Oct. 13, the Panthers beat Shea and Cranston East, but lost the finale to Middletown 4-3. The team was reinvigorated after a 4-0 win over Central Falls in the preliminary round, then upset St. Raphael in the quarterfinals to set up a game the program hadn’t played in since most of the 2014 roster had just started playing.

Going up against North Providence, there was no worry or fear. Johnston was playing with house money.

“We went in with positivity and said we can do this,” Gravel said. “We knew we had a good team and great tactics. Mr Sprouls is a great coach and he kept us together out there.”

Johnston’s greatest strengths were taken apart by the faster, more athletic Cougars. The Panthers won this season because of their passing and possession game, which works wonderfully when teams don’t stick to their assignments on defense and don’t have the speed to chase down balls.

North Providence had the speed to cut off passes, aggression to win 50-50’s and didn’t stray far from where they were supposed to be when the ball was moving in the midfield. Johnston did what it could, it just didn’t have what it needed.

“Their quickness to the ball disrupted our passing game,” Sprouls said. “We don’t have the weapons of a super-fast forward to take the ball down the field. They just disrupted our game because we played a controlled game the last two playoff games.”

“It is frustrating not being able to make plays,” Gravel said. “They shut us down and beat us to the ball. The better team won.”

Gravel’s realistic approach moments after her soccer career ended showed the understanding the Panthers had to what their capabilities were. She and the rest of the team were more than aware they needed a superb game with some NP mistakes if they wanted to take a trip to the final. It didn’t happen, but that was fine.

You gain that perspective after not winning a game two straight seasons.

And sometimes it makes a semifinal loss feel like a win.

“It was a great season to end my senior year,” Gravel said. “To make that turnaround from being at zero wins to being in the semifinals.”

“We’ve definitely accomplished a lot,” Sprouls said.