Girls Soccer: Perras Leads Patriots to Victory over Falcons

On Wednesday afternoon at the Hope Road Complex in Cranston, Portsmouth battled Cranston West in a girls soccer game. Despite controlling the action and dominating time of possession, the Falcons did not secure a victory. The Patriots scored a late goal and won it 1-0.

In the first half, the Falcons had the ball approximately 70 percent of the time. They were controlling the pace of the game and creating scoring chances. But they were unable to capitalize on their opportunities.

"In this game it is all about finishing and you have to put the ball in the net," Falcons coach Charles Pearson said.

Portsmouth's strategy was very clear. They were playing through balls to their forwards, putting the ball into space and having the players run onto the ball.

Cranston West's goalie did a great job of reading this and consistently charged the ball, cutting off the passes and scoring chances.

With about three minutes left in the half, Falcons senior Allison Smedberg shot the ball from the left side and it barely missed, sailing over the cross bar.

In the second half, West once again controlled the action. They were dominating possession, but could not find the back of the net.

Towards the end of the game, there was a slightly controversial call. Portsmouth was awarded a corner kick, with about five minutes left in the game. "My captain was shielding the ball on the goaline and I thought it went off of red," Pearson said, adding that he trusts his captain.

Junior Morgan Donovan took the corner kick and Rachel Perras blasted the shot into the back of the net. It would be the only goal of the game and Portsmouth won it 1-0.

"I told the team to be patient, it will take time for the new kids to acclimated to our system," the Falcons coach added.