South Kingstown stops Mt. Hope's unbeaten start

Visiting Rebels score in final five minutes to upset first-place Huskies in girls soccer

By Nick Friend
Posted 10/12/16

A goal with five minutes left in the contest by visiting South Kingstown was the difference as the Rebels ended Mt. Hope High School's unbeaten start to its Division I girls' soccer season by beating …

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South Kingstown stops Mt. Hope's unbeaten start

Visiting Rebels score in final five minutes to upset first-place Huskies in girls soccer

Posted

A goal with five minutes left in the contest by visiting South Kingstown was the difference as the Rebels ended Mt. Hope High School's unbeaten start to its Division I girls' soccer season by beating the host Huskies, 1-0.

Despite 29 shots towards net from the Huskies, South Kingstown managed to do just enough to end the best start for Mt. Hope in recent history. Mt. Hope fell to 9-1-1 with the loss, but remained ahead of unbeaten LaSalle (8-0-3) for the moment as the Huskies had 28 points to 27 for the Rams. South Kingstown improved to 7-4-0 (21 points) in the league standings.

“I thought we dominated and it was a well fought game,” Mt. Hope head coach Kerri Ferreira said. “Up until this point, I think the last time Mt. Hope had an undefeated season going like this was back in the 90s. I always tell them that being at number one, every team will bring their 'A' game and we need to be ready for that. I think we were ready, we just didn’t finish.”

To begin the game, the Huskies immediately gained offensive possession on multiple occasions. This eventually led to a shot from Michaela Goglia, who made two defenders miss, before putting a ball on net that was saved by the reaching Rebel keeper. 

For the first 10 minutes, Goglia and Kaelen McKenna paced the Huskies’ offensive attack, but failed to get quality shots on net. Mt. Hope continued to build momentum, getting several shots from within close range, though all of which ended up wide or being saved. 

South Kingstown finally mustered a response on offensive, but the Rebels failed to get the ball in deep on Mt. Hope’s defense. Perhaps the best opportunity of the night for Huskies came in the 29th minute when Goglia kicked a nice shot that rang off the post. And just 30 seconds later, McKenna put a shot of her own on net that was easily saved. The two teams would proceed to play good defense in the final minutes of the first half with the game still scoreless. 

To begin the second half, it was more offensive control from Mt. Hope and included a disappointing miss at a wide open net. Then, in the 50th minute, the Huskies put several more shots just outside of the six-yard box, but again failed to score. Something the Huskies had done so well for the first 10 games. 

“We had so many opportunities within 10 yards,” Coach Ferreira said. “If you don't finish, you are not going to win. I think we were unlucky. We have all the confidence in the world.” 

In the 60th minute, the intensity and pace of play started to pick up as both teams became more aggressive. For the next five minutes, the Rebels were able to maintain possession for the most part. However, the Huskies’ defense stood strong to keep the visitors off the board.

In the 75th minute, with frustration and anxiety raising for both teams, South Kingstown earned a breakaway. Mt. Hope goalie Thea Brum rushed out of her net to grab the ball, something she had done many times during the game, but this time the Rebel was able to push the ball over her. Just seconds later, Mt. Hope defenders watched in disappointment as the ball snuck inside the right post to give South Kingstown a 1-0 lead. 

Over the last several minutes of the game, the Huskies failed to garner any legit scoring opportunities as Mt. Hope suffered its first loss of the season. 

“It is what it is,” Coach Ferreira said. “It is sad, but we rather lose now than later and we have to use it as fuel.” With five games remaining on their regular season schedule, Coach Ferreira tries to refocus her Huskies on their ultimate goal. 

“Every one of the last five games has to be a ‘W’ and then take it into the playoffs,” the fourth-year coach said. “Our goal is a state championship. That is our goal and it has always been our goal.”

Mt. Hope High School, Huskies soccer

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.