Girls Soccer: Dowler Powers Islanders to 5-1 Win over 'Bolts

After surrendering an early goal, the host Middletown High girls’ soccer team turned to “Dowler Power” to remain undefeated Wednesday night at the Gaudet Middle School.

Junior Chelsea Dowler drilled four goals and teammate Elizabeth Durgin added 1 goal as the Islanders posted a 5-1 victory over Cranston High School East and improved their Division III record this season to 5-0.

Dowler scored a hat trick in 4:13 of the first half to negate a goal in the 14th minute of play by East’s Kelsey Evje and to give Middletown a 3-1 advantage at halftime. Dowler and Durgin added insurance tallies in the final period (Durgin was also credited with an assist on Dowler’s final goal) and keeper Kaitlyn Griffith notched 7 saves as the high-scoring Islanders ran away from the gritty, but outgunned Thunderbolts.

“We kept our cool after they [East] scored their goal and we know we have firepower up front,” said Middletown Coach Dave Kolator. “We have two great forwards (Dowler and Durgin) and they work really hard, so we weren’t worried about coming back.”

Dowler took advantage of the visitors’ defensive lapses to score three unassisted goals in the opening chapter, much to the chagrin of East Coach Laurent Tomasso.

“I think we had a breakdown defensively and couldn’t recover,” said Tomasso. “They [Middletown] have quick girls and they pressure really hard, so I think it through our girls off and showed off our weaknesses.”

For East, Erin Torres earned an assist on Evje’s goal and keeper Olivia Tagliaferri was sensational, making 18 saves and keeping the final score respectable. The Thunderbolts are now 4-2 on the season.

Dowler misfired on two early scoring bids, giving the Thunderbolts a chance to respond and they did at the 27:20 mark when Torres hammered a free kick to Evje, who dribbled in alone on Griffith and beat her to the wide side.

After both squads missed scoring chances in the ensuing seven minutes, Dowler went to work. At 19:57, she capitalized on an East defensive error to advance alone on Tagliaferri and beat her to the short side. At 17:12, Dowler stole a clearing pass and under pressure and booted a hard shot from 15 yards out which rattled high into the net. At 15:44, Dowler again benefited from an East mistake and unleashed a low shot into the back of the net on another solo effort.

Both teams generated plenty of action and shots on goal during the remainder of the period, but settled for a 3-1 gap at intermission.

At the 35:15 mark of the second half, Dowler delivered a high and hard shot from 15 yards away which Tagliaferri deflected, but could not divert, and the ball settled in the net to make it a 4-1 contest.

“I also scored four goals in a game last year,” Dowler said. “Tonight, I just got some good breakaways and I decided to keep them on the ground and aim for the far post and it worked.”

At the 28:42 mark, Durgin drilled a shot into the wide site of the net from the right wing to produce the night’s final score.

The squads went back and forth for the rest of the contest and generated myriad scoring opportunities. The Thunderbolts moved and passed well in spurts, but never again located the back of the net.

“When we maintained our composure and passed and moved, I think we played really well tonight,” Tomasso said.

According to Kolator, the Islanders “settled down” in the second half and played more “cohesively as a team.” He stressed, however, that his team is not yet a finished product.

“I think we’re coming along quite nicely, but we still have some work to do,” he said. “This is a great start.”