By ALEX SPONSELLER

The Cranston West girls lacrosse team would overcome an early deficit last week to hold off visiting Chariho 12-11 in the quarterfinals to advance to the Division II semis.

Despite the Chargers taking a multi-score lead in the first half of action, the Falcons would chip away at the deficit and grab the lead midway through the second half.

Although the Chargers would score a pair of goals late in regulation to stay within striking distance, the Falcons’ defense would come up with key stops to close out the win.

“We fell behind early and I think the nerves played into it, we knew that it was going to be a close scoring game,” said West coach Bianca Madonna.

Savana Lavimodiere and Aria Lee led the Falcons with three goals each in the win. Madonna was pleased with their outing, as well as the rest of the offense.

“Savana and Aria are two of our top players. Savana has done a lot for offense (since transferring) and Aria has been a great leader since last year. Although those are two of our top players, our offense is universal. Nya (Mainelli) has been big for us and we’ve had some big defensive players there to help us,” said Madonna.

The Falcons will next face top-seeded Portsmouth in the semis, and they hope to clean up some of the defensive struggles they faced against Chariho.

“Our biggest thing on defense was our communication and not sliding quick enough which was something that we were talking about at halftime. We did make a lot of good stops and put the pressure on them. I think putting the pressure on them early and communication will be key against Portsmouth. (Goalie) Hailey (Davis) is a key player on the defensive end and an outstanding goalie as well. They need to continue to work together,” said Madonna.

The high-flying Patriots cruised to a 17-4 decision in their meeting in the regular season. Despite entering the matchup as the underdog, Madonna feels that the early loss benefited her club who is prepared for the rematch.

“They are definitely ready for it. It was after we played them earlier in the season that the team really started to come together, filling in some of the gaps that we had. Being positive, knowing that they can score goals and make big stops will be important against Portsmouth,” Madonna said.

The two teams faced off on Tuesday evening, but the results were not available at press time.