Tiverton Girls' Soccer Team Blanks Chariho 5-0 in Summer Cup Action

Ablaze in the summer sun.

scored two goals in the first five minutes of play Tuesday night and ended up scorching Chariho Regional High School, 5-0, in a Girls’ Division 2 soccer match of the Ocean State Summer Cup played at in Tiverton.

Five different players netted goals, three were credited with assists and two goaltenders spent 80 minutes without facing a stiff challenge as the Tigers improved to 3-0 in league play with their second straight shutout. Tiverton, which captured the Division 2 championship last summer, has now outscored its opponents by a total of 10-2.

“This was our best game of the summer by far,” said Tiverton Coach Mike Janick. “In our first two games, it was clear our girls weren’t used to playing with each other, but they played well together tonight. With a few more practices, we should get even better.”

The match opened under a blazing sun and stifling temperatures, but the Tigers were unfazed, dominating action from the opening kick-off and maintaining control throughout the first half. Olivia Bergandy commenced Tiverton’s assault with a goal in the initial 90 seconds off a corner kick and in the midst of a wild scramble in front of the Charger net and Samantha Welchman added the second goal in the fifth minute on a pretty feed from Erica Farias, who stole a pass deep in Chariho’s defensive zone.

Late in the period, Jackie Wilson converted a header off a corner kick to give the hosts a 3-0 edge at the break. Tiverton’s relentless offensive pressure coupled with a staunch defense kept the Chargers pinned in their defensive zone for most of the first half and forced keeper Elizabeth Janick to make just two saves.

Haley Higginbottom took over in goal for Tiverton in the second period and saw more action than Janick with four saves, but was never seriously threatened. Chariho improved offensively in the final session, but was consistently thwarted by the Tiger defense.

While Tiverton did not dominate the second half as thoroughly as it had controlled the opening chapter, it added goals by Emily Machado and Tori Fryzel to conclude the scoring. Farias and Allison Benevides both accounted for two assists and Welchman contributed one assist.

While the match was basically low-key and hardly as dramatic as a World Cup clash, players on both squads exhibited superior skills, which Coach Janick said was the goal of the summer program.

“Playing in the summer gives these girls the opportunity to stay active and to continue working with each other and becoming more familiar with each other,” he said. “The Summer Cup is designed to give high school teams a jump on the regular season and it has worked out well for us.”

Janick, who has coached in youth soccer circles for more than 15 years and who steered the Tigers to their 2010 Summer Cup title, said the summer campaign should be a harbinger for Tiverton’s 2011 interscholastic season.

“The majority of these girls will be varsity soccer players at Tiverton this year,” he said. “If they keep working hard and improving, they should do well.”

In their first two outings this summer, the Tigers nipped Exeter-West Greenwich Regional, 3-2, and blanked Ponaganset Regional, 2-0. Wilson netted two goals for Tiverton and Welchman, Megan Thornton and Rebecca Mauricio accounted for the other tallies.

Maya Bergandy, Welchman, Miranda Pacheco, Benevides and Brook Hawkins all recorded assists. Janick and Higginbottom shared the netminding duties.

Tiverton will return to action next Tuesday (July 19) at 6:30 at Town Farm against Westerly.