The No. 2-seeded Johnston girls’ soccer team exited the Division III playoffs Tuesday night after senior captain Riley Turcotte’s two goals led No. 3 Middletown to a 2-0 victory.
The defeat brought to an end one of the most successful seasons in recent Panthers’ history, as the squad finished 12-2-2 in the league regular season. The only losses came to first-place West Warwick on Sept. 14 and the Islanders on Oct. 20.
“I don’t feel like we lost as much as they won,” Johnston head coach Timothy Sprouls said. “We certainly did everything in our power. We had opportunities, shots on the goal. It wasn’t like we didn’t have a chance. The girls gave it everything they had. They kept pressing even in the end. They kept fighting to the last minute. I don’t think this [loss] ruined anything for them [or] what they’ve accomplished.”
Johnston came out strong, with freshman striker Bianca Robbins forcing Middletown on its toes early. Just three minutes into the action, Robbins bolted past the Islanders’ defense on the left side, taking a shot near the top of the box that was saved.
A few minutes later, Panthers’ freshman Jessica Cabral took a free kick from the 21-yard line and sent it in to freshman Grace Muller, but she headed it just out of bounds. After Gabriella Scarcella’s shot on a cross was saved at the 12-minute mark, the Panthers’ chances came few and far between.
The Middletown defense effectively disrupted Robbins and Scarcella, while the offense peppered Johnston’s back four with opportunities.
The Islanders struck first in the 18th minute when senior Jennifer Woehl lined up for a free kick near the top left corner of the box. Woehl sent a shot right to Johnston goalkeeper Jordan McHale, who made the initial save, but no Panthers were there for the rebound and Turcotte sent the ball into the unguarded net.
“We did have a breakdown on that first goal, on the free kick,” Sprouls said. “I can’t be too hard on the girls. They played magnificently, and this team did beat us badly [4-1] two or three weeks ago when we went to Middletown. That did not affect my team. They came out hard and I’m proud of them.”
The Panthers remained strong on defense for the rest of the half, with senior defender Lauren Messier making impressive plays on the ball.
Johnston looked to come out the break with the equalizer, and once again started out fast. While the Panthers were transitioning faster down the field, they couldn’t generate many solid chances. The best opportunity came when junior winger Samantha Hardman took a shot from the top of the box and went just above the crossbar.
In the 60th minute, Turcotte took a pass near midfield and darted down the left side past her defender. She won the race, and put the shot past McHale on the right post to increase her team’s lead to 2-0.
“It was a great individual effort,” Sprouls said.
The Panthers had a few of corners in the final 12 minutes of action, but couldn’t generate much in the box.
The future looks bright for Johnston, though. It will graduate eight seniors, including McHale and Messier, but this year’s strong core of freshmen and sophomores will look to establish consistent success.
Sprouls did say, though, that he will be searching for “numbers” for next season to fill out the roster.
“We didn’t even have a JV team this year, so it’s gonna be a project,” Sprouls said. “I need numbers and I don’t know where they’re coming from, because I’m not sure if the middle school is graduating many players. I’m gonna try internally in the high school, because we need numbers.”
However, as Sprouls noted, some talent is certainly already on the roster. Robbins was the state’s second-leading goal scorer with 34, which was tops in Division III. Scarcella is one of the team’s most valuable players in the middle, and she added seven goals and four assists on the campaign.
“We do have a lot of talent,” Sprouls said. “It’s not gonna be like starting from scratch. We’re gonna build from what we developed this year, and just hope everyone stays healthy and comes back and they’re not recruited by a professional team, and we have another go at it.”
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