Coming into her fourth and final year playing for the Tigers, Kayana Urrego, the lone senior and co-captain of the Tiverton girls’ varsity soccer team, had only known losing seasons.
Little did …
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Coming into her fourth and final year playing for the Tigers, Kayana Urrego, the lone senior and co-captain of the Tiverton girls’ varsity soccer team, had only known losing seasons.
Little did she know that by the end of this, her last chance, she’d be standing in the middle of the Johnston High School field as she and her teammates were crowned this year’s Division III State Champions after defeating the Narragansett Mariners 1-0 on Monday night.
“We’ve been working since June for this victory,” Urrego said. “To come into the season and really dominate, it means the world.”
The Tigers’ win — their first since 2009 — did not come easily. After 85 minutes of scoreless play, the game was anyone’s for the taking as each team prepared for a second overtime round. Throughout the night, both teams’ defenses had held strong. Sophomore Mikayla Andrews fronted the Tiverton side, with junior Kayley Nagle — still nursing an injury from the semifinals against Cranston East — having her back, while at the other end, Narragansett’s Rylie Mitchell attached herself to the Tigers’ top scorer, Mariah Ramos. Both goalies appeared to be unshakeable as the ball endlessly looped from one side of the field to the other.
Twenty-four seconds into the second overtime, though, the golden opportunity Tiverton was waiting for arrived. Ramos, after bringing the ball deep into the left corner of the field, sent the ball soaring into the middle. Mariners goalie Shannon O’Connell couldn’t keep a hand on it, and the ball went flying into the middle of the field where a wide-open Jillian Swass was standing. The junior and co-captain of the Tigers knew she had to make a choice — and quickly.
“I heard Coach Gauch in my ear and I’m like, ‘oh my gosh, I have to shoot this,’” she recalled.
A split second later, Swass’ shot was sailing past O’Connell and into the back left corner of the net. Less than five minutes after that, Tiverton was storming the field as champions.
“This is what we wanted, from the very beginning,” said head coach Jim Gauch.
Still, it was a surreal moment for Coach Gauch, who, in his first year of coaching the Tigers, was consistently impressed b the strength and determination his girls exhibited. They won 11 games in a row during the regular season, blazed past both Classical and Cranston East during their playoff run, and ultimately avenge an early loss against the Mariners during their final competition of the season.
“I couldn’t expect anything more from them.”
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