Late Goal Lifts Lions Past Huskies, 1-0

A cold and bitter ending on a cold and bitter night.

The underdog Mt. Hope High girls’ soccer team surrendered a goal in the 74^th minute of play Friday night and lost to Lincoln High, 1-0, in a semifinal-round match of the RIIL Division II state championship playoffs held at frigid Nick Carcieri Stadium in East Greenwich.

Annie Carol converted a feed from Jillian DeSimone for a picture-perfect goal with just 6:15 remaining and the Lions’ defense kept the Huskies at bay the rest of the way as Lincoln (18-1-1) advanced to Sunday’s title contest at Rhode Island College of Providence against undefeated Exeter-West Greenwich Regional High (20-0-0). EWG ousted Tiverton High, 2-0, in Friday’s other semifinal-round tussle in East Greenwich.

Mount Hope, which placed second to Tiverton in the Division II-Central regular-season standings, concluded its 2011 campaign with an 11-7-2 mark.

Despite statistical disadvantages, the Huskies played on an even basis with Lincoln for most of Friday’s contest and frustrated the Lions until a fateful corner kick. Instead of booting the ball toward the net, Lincoln’s Melissa Sorkin passed to DeSimone, who maneuvered past a Husky defender and drilled a hard cross to the back side of the penalty box. Carol leaped high into the air and the ball struck her in the chest and bounced into the goal for the night’s only score.

Mount Hope forced play during the rest of the contest, but had no serious threats and no shots on goal against Aiden Cullen, who was credited with 3 saves in earning a shutout. Husky keeper Vivian Ramos made 8 stops, bolstered by a sturdy defender spearheaded by Taylor Sousa, Kaitlyn Ouellette, Sarah Aubin, Victoria Campo, Alexis Vieira, Kaelyn Silveira and Kylie McPherson.

“We played well and I think it was a pretty balanced game until they scored,” said Husky Coach Roy Borges. “Our strength is not in the corners and we talked about giving them as few corners as we could.”

Lincoln generated six corner kicks in the contest, while Mount Hope was awarded three corner kicks.

In a back-and-forth first half, both teams struggled to establish offensive flow and the defenses dominated. DeSimone was denied four times by Ramos in the period and Ramos also made a juggling save on a long free kick by Sorkin, while Cullen turned aside chances by Christie Ribeiro and Brooke Pacheco, while Felicia Vieira, Carmen Hogan and Angie Mascena also applied pressure to the Lions’ defense.

After Lincoln’s Olivia Maxell and DeSimone along with Mount Hope’s Sousa, Ribeiro and Felicia Vieira misfired on scoring efforts, both squads wasted golden opportunities midway through the second half. Ramos stoned Lion Ashley Moreau on a shot just five yards out and later roamed far and wide to knock away two shots off corner kicks, while Cullen snared Hogan’s drive on goal from only eight yards away.

Despite the loss, Borges said he was pleased with the Huskies’ performance this year.

“Overall, it was a great season,” he said. “The girls worked hard all season and we’re very proud of them.”

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