Barrington High School's Soccer Team Strikes Early, Defeats Portsmouth 1-0

Sometimes, all it takes is one.

Barrington High School senior Matt Giron netted a “hustle” goal midway through the first half Monday night and the boys’ soccer team made it stand up the rest of the way, posting a critical 1-0 Division I-East victory against host at John F. Kennedy Field.

Giron’s goal coupled with another shutout performance from keeper Andrew Jones (2 saves) and the Eagles’ dominant play in the first half and during the closing 10 minutes of action enabled Barrington to complete a two-match regular-season sweep of the Patriots. The Eagles had rallied last month to nip Portsmouth, 2-1, in Barrington.

More significantly, Monday’s victory pushed Barrington (7-2-2) in front of the Patriots (7-4-1) in the Division I-East standings. Both squads trail pacesetting Shea High of Pawtucket (8-1-1).

The Eagles won by controlling play for most of the contest, throttling Portsmouth’s short-passing game, and aggressively attacking the ball most of the way. While the Patriots dictated the action at times in the final period, Barrington reasserted command during the final stages and never allowed the hosts a solid scoring opportunity.

“Every time we play Portsmouth and any other team in our division, it’s a big win,” said Eagle Coach Don Denham. “It was a good game. They fought hard and we fought hard and we got the result we needed.”

“I thought we were a couple of steps behind tonight,” said Portsmouth Coach Mike Stinton. “We tried to get our players motivated at halftime and we came out in the first five minutes (of the second half) and did some good things and then we settled into that slow-motion mode again.”

The Patriots produced the first real scoring bid of the match in the second minute of play when Jones deflected a blast by Brandon Jumaoas over the net, but the ensuing corner kick was uneventful. Barrington regrouped quickly to assert its dominance as a long shots by Giron and Cam Voigt sailed just high and Portsmouth keeper Ryan Wordell (5 saves) made a one-handed save on a shot by Steven Duncan.

With 21:47 left in the opening period, however, the Eagles broke through as Giron out-hustled a Patriot defender to a loose ball and booted it to the front of the goal where it ultimately found the back of the net thanks to a fortunate bounce.

“The ball was coming out and I beat a Portsmouth player to it,” Giron said. “On the line, I played a hard ball across (the goal mouth) and it hit one of their guys in the back and went into the net.”

Ian Duncan was credited with an assist on Giron’s goal.

The Eagles sustained their offensive pressure and buried the Patriots in their defensive area for most of the remainder of the first half. Barrington’s best scoring efforts came on a Kieran Sexton shot that rolled wide and a hard shot under pressure near the net by Tyler Medeiros which Wordell kicked out to preserve the 1-0 tally at intermission.

Portsmouth came out rejuvenated in the second half and forced the action, keeping constant pressure on Barrington’s defense for much of the period, but never produced the equalizer. The Patriots’ best scoring attempt came in the third minute when Will Harrigan adroitly headed a cross from Jumaoas in front of the net, but Jones knocked it aside with a one-handed stab.

The match settled into a back-and-forth encounter for its duration, although the Eagles generated solid scoring opportunities from Giron, Jozef Jennings and Sexton, which either missed the mark or were rejected by Wordell.

Both teams return to action Wednesday on the road in Division I crossover outings. Barrington will visit Central Falls High, while Portsmouth will trek to Lincoln High.

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