The Tiverton High School boys’ soccer team bounced back after a slow start to the season, finishing last week at the .500 mark and still well within range of earning a spot in the upcoming Division III championship playoffs.

Just past the mid-point of the regular season, the Tigers are focusing their attention to fixing weaknesses and pushing for a postseason berth. The Tigers improved to 3-3-3 after winning two of three road games last week. Tiverton dropped a narrow 1-0 decision at Ponnaganset before recording a 3-1 win over Providence Country Day in East Providence and a 3-0 victory over Paul Cuffee School in Providence. The decision against PCD earned the Tigers their first road win of the year.

“The season so far has been a little bit of a let down, but we had some people away and we played differently at the beginning of the season,” Tiverton head coach Tom Murray said. “I told the kids that by week 10 or 11 we should be a new team.”

By the numbers it looks like Tiverton has struggled a bit on offense, only netting 15 goals in nine games, but in reality passing and possession aren't the issues.

“We move the ball really well, probably better than any team in the league, we are just having trouble scoring right now,” Coach Murray said. “We have plenty of options, we just have to get the right connection.”

In order for the Tigers to compete with some of Division III's best, Coach Murray knows his team is going to have to improve its interaction on the field.

“We need to work on communication because we have tied some of the three best teams in the league,” he said. “We have to be smarter. If someone gets beat, we can’t just chase. We have to go somewhere.”

By contrast, the Tiverton defense, led by junior Zachery Pacheco, has only given up 14 goals in those nine games. “We are fine defensively, we are losing because we can’t put the ball in the net,” Coach Murray said. “We have outplayed teams and didn't win because we couldn’t Some of the standouts for the Tigers to date have included Dylan Medeiros, Tyler Murray, Chad Carreiro and Alec Arruda, but the coach also noted that the team has received solid efforts from the entire roster.

“The standout is basically every one of them and that is why I like this team so much,” he said. “As long as we sneak into the playoffs, I think we can make a push.”

The Tigers entered this week with six games left before the regular season ends as they jockey for playoff positioning. “Our goals are communication, play hard, come prepared for every game, and be mentally tough,” Coach Murray said. “We have a chance to make the playoffs as long as we take care of business.”

Jacob Souza scored twice and Micah Hrycin once in the Tigers' victory over PCD. Keeper Nathan Bedford stopped five of six Knights' shots on goal. Jesse Nicholas netted a pair for Tiverton against Cuffee while Tyler Murray added the other. Greg Johanning backed the stout Tiverton defense in net, recording the shutout on just one save.