EAST PROVIDENCE — Visiting Portsmouth High School potted a pair of first-half tallies as the Patriots tripped up host East Providence, 2-0, in a Division I boys’ soccer contest played Saturday …
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EAST PROVIDENCE — Visiting Portsmouth High School potted a pair of first-half tallies as the Patriots tripped up host East Providence, 2-0, in a Division I boys’ soccer contest played Saturday afternoon, Oct. 6.
Cade McHugh and Michael Tavares scored goals for the Pats within nine minutes of each other midway through the opening period to give the visitors a lead they held the remainder of the game. Keeper Nathanial Davies posted the shutout for Portsmouth on six saves.
Andrew Mongeon was credited with eight stops in the East Providence net. The Townies really created only two true scoring opportunities the entire afternoon. Leading scorer Paolo Schultz-Lyra misfired on a breakaway after winning a 50-50 ball in the opening minute of the game. And Davies was forced into making his most taxing save of the day midway through the second half off of Gabriel Ferreira’s curling shot from distance.
The Patriots improved to 6-2-2 with 20 points in the D-I standings with the win. The Townies dipped to 2-4-3 and with nine points after the loss.
“The first minute in on a breakaway we had a chance to score right away, but our guy missed it. You wouldn’t expect that from him, but it happens,” EPHS head coach Tony Vieira said of Schultz-Lyra’s initial attempt.
From there, the Patriots were the first to settle into the contest. Portsmouth had the better of the ball, leading to a pair of unsuccessful corners about 10 minutes into the game.
After East Providence held some brief possession, the Patriots went on the front foot once again, leading to the game’s first goal. Tavares raced down the left side next sending a cross handled by Patrick Renault, who chipped it back to the middle. McHugh was there waiting, punching home the goal past Mongeon in the 12th minute.
Portsmouth continued to maintain momentum, eventually adding its second tally in the 21st. Liam Callahan lofted a pass from the right side towards the left of the six-yard box, where a streaking Tavares beat his E.P. defender and the goalie with a header.
In the second half, Tavares nearly recorded the brace, but was thwarted on Mongeon’s best stop of the day. The former gained control of the ball in the left corner, dribbled then put a shot on frame the latter dove for with two hands to knock away.
Similarly, Davies later sprawled out to his right to deflect away Ferreira’s long, spinning shot and prevent the Townies from getting on the board after the hosts had finally found their way to the better of the ball.
Later, with just over 10 minutes to go in the game, Schultz-Lyra had a couple more looks at net. His pooch from the top of the 18 flew over the bar and his other sailed well wide of the far, right post.
“The first half was a slow start then we gave up two goals in around 10 minutes, which has kind of been our MO for the year, slow starts. And against a team like Portsmouth, well coached, I think they’re 6-2 now, once you get in a hole like that it’s tough to claw out of,” Vieira added. “But I thought the second half we were the better side. We kept the ball pretty well. Possession-wise, I thought we were good. We didn’t create a lot of quality chances, but we had a lot of the ball.”
Portsmouth, which lost to Barrington 2-1 and beat Hendricken by the same score in its other games the past week, returns to action Tuesday, Oct. 9, in Providence against Moses Brown. East Providence is also in Providence Tuesday, playing at Classical.
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