Tiverton Girls' Lacrosse Outlasts Portsmouth To Conclude Perfect Season

A championship match for the ages.

The girls’ lacrosse team capped a perfect 14-0 regular season Tuesday afternoon, rallying from a three-goal deficit at halftime to visiting Portsmouth High School, 16-13, in double overtime in a Division II-South match contested before a large crowd on the Tigers’ turf.

Kate Karzenski netted 2 of her team-high 5 goals in the first overtime period, Kara Lotz collected 4 goals (including one in extra time) and Megan Raposa finished with 3 goals as the Tigers erased an 8-5 disadvantage at intermission to forge a 12-12 deadlock at the conclusion of regulation time, then dominated the first overtime session with a four-goal outburst.

“We played a little sloppy in the first half and let some things go, so we just tried to settle down the girls at halftime and play together and play our game,” a jubilant Tiverton Coach Emily DuBreil said after the contest. “We knew we to be to ground balls and first to draws and I think that made the difference.”

It certainly did in the opening three-minute overtime session when the Tigers totally dominated play, never allowed the Patriots to cross midfield, and drilled four goals within a span of 2:08 to seal the win.

After Raposa scored on a penalty shot just 18 seconds into the first overtime, Karzenski burst from behind the Portsmouth net and beat keeper Jordan Borrosh (12 saves) with 1:32 to play to make it a 14-12 Tiger edge. Lotz produced an unassisted score at the 1:06 mark and Karzenski added her final goal with 34 ticks remaining to widen the gap to 16-12 entering the second three-minute overtime period.

After Tiverton netminder Alex Azevedo (12 saves) denied Portsmouth’s Julia Harrigan on a point-blank shot in the first minute of the second extra chapter, Patriot Maddy Blackburn netted the last of her game-high 6 goals with 1:35 to go to produce the final score. The Tigers later gained possession and Raposa killed most of the final minute by running along the backline of the field out of the Patriots’ reach.

Samantha Welchman and Olivia Bergandy both scored 2 goals for Tiverton, while Ainsley Fraser recorded 3 goals for Portsmouth, teammate Chandler Borrosh finished with 2 goals and Harrigan and Caroline Fraser both managed 1 goal.

“We kind of got unsettled in the overtime and they got settled,” Portsmouth Coach Mike Borrosh said. “We started to play their style of game and let it affect our game.”

Under humid and increasingly cloudy weather conditions, the contest started well for the Patriots, who parlayed goals by Harrigan, Ainsley Fraser and Chandler Borrosh in the opening seven minutes into a quick 3-0 lead. The Tigers ultimately battled back to draw even at 5-5, but went scoreless during the closing nine minutes of the first half and tallies by Blackburn and two from Ainsley Fraser gave Portsmouth its 8-5 cushion at the break.

Tiverton needed less than eight minutes at the onset of the second half to again achieve a tie at 9-9 and the teams traded scores during the next eight minutes. Raposa gave the Tigers their first lead of the match at 12-11 with 6:50 remaining, but Blackburn countered with a goal on a penalty shot with 4:12 left to even the count at 12-12.

Both teams had solid scoring opportunities in the final four minutes of regulation time, but Azevedo and Jordan Borrosh both manufactured sensational saves to preserve the deadlock.

Portsmouth concluded its Division II-South campaign at 12-2 (both losses coming against Tiverton) and is hopeful for a third showdown with the Tigers in the upcoming Division II state playoffs.

“We will see them again, unquestionably,” Coach Borrosh said. “We’ll meet again.”

DuBreil likewise said she anticipates another clash with the Patriots.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see them again,” she said.

And setting up, perhaps, another championship match for the ages.

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