Girls Soccer: Falcons Dominate and Defeat Hurricanes

Senior night is an emotional game for everyone involved. It is all of the seniors last home games donning their high school uniforms and the younger players help decorate the field. It is easy to get distracted by all of extracirriculars and not perform well on the field.

Cranston West's girls soccer team avoided this letdown on Wednesday afternoon. The Falcons hosted Warwick Vets in the final game of the season for both teams. West dominated possession throughout the game and won it 3-0. Cranston West begins their quest for a state championship on Friday afternoon.

It was a special day for West senior Erica Rekrut, who took advantage of extended playing time. She finished with a goal and assist in the game. Senior Ariana Stanton fired the shot and Rekrut cleaned up the garbage, putting it into the back of the net in the ninth minute.

The Falcons had possession of the ball for about 85% of the time, the entire game. This led to multiple scoring threats, including several in the first half. They were not able to capitalize on them, and the lead remained 1-0 at halftim.

"As a coach you instill possession and movement off the ball which creates opportunities," West's coach, Charles Pearson, said, "By possessing the ball, we gave ourselves multiple goal scoring chances."

In the 52nd minute, twelve minutes into the second half, Ariana Stanton had a golden opportunity to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead. From inside the six yard box she fired it with her left towards the far post and the ball missed by inches, rolling out of bounds.

Towards the end of the match, Cranston West began to turn their chances into goals. Senior Michaela Ferri buried home an opportunity with 11 minutes left, increasing the lead to 2-0.

Four minutes later, Stanton and Rekrut combined for another goal. Rekrut dished it off to Stanton who finished off the breakaway by firing the shot into the lower 90 far post. It sailed into the back of the net, giving the Falcons their third goal. This would be the final goal of the game.

Cranston West will play Coventry at 3:15 on Friday afternoon at Cranston Stadium in the play-in game. The winner advances to the next round, where they will face off against top-seeded LaSalle on Monday afternoon.

Pearson reflected on the ball movement and possession in today's game and yesterday's win over Toll Gate. "Our movement without the ball in yesterday’s win over Toll Gate was phenomenal and it built up a confidence in the girls," he said. 

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