CRANSTON — As expected it wasn’t easy, but the East Providence High School girls’ lacrosse team avenged its only loss this spring en route to capturing the 2022 Division III championship after the Townies hung on late to defeat previously unbeaten and top-seeded North Smithfield 12-11 in the league title game Sunday afternoon, June 5, at Cranston Stadium.

Freshman sensation Isabel Tavares netted what proved the game-winning goal for the locals, which put EPHS up 12-7 about 10 minutes into the second half.

From there, the second-seeded Townies, who lost to North Smithfield 10-6 a month ago in the regular season, fended off the hard-charging Northwomen, specifically the one-two punch of Kate Zonin and Jamie Wilkes. Nos. 5 and 12, respectively, the duo scored the last four goals of the game, but in the end when it mattered East Providence’s defense, including another freshman, goalie Ava Williams (5 saves), did just enough to secure the victory.

“It’s just been amazing. Going into the season we were underdogs. Last year, the team only won two games. So it was just a win itself to get this far,” said Tavares, who had a team-best five goals in the final.

Of the sense late as the Townies hung on, she said, “We had to keep composed. We had to play our own game. We knew what we had to do. We had to settle down, think for a moment and make the right pass.”

For East Providence, which went just 2-9 last spring in head coach Haley McCusker’s initial year at the helm, it was the first ever title in the 15-year history of the program and just its second ever championship game appearance. The locals lost 15-10 to South Kingstown in the D-III final back in 2010.

“It was a nail-biter for sure. It almost put me right over the edge. But, no, they worked hard. And like I told them at the end of the day, it’s about who wants it more and they proved to me that they wanted it more and they came out with the championship,” said McCusker, who was assisted by long-time EPHS teacher and coach Kathy Dias. “It was an incredible season with just an amazing group of girls. And I couldn’t be anymore proud.”

The Townies’ best-ever spring came to a close with a 15-1 overall record, including wins over Johnston and Cranston East in the quarterfinals and semis. For North Smithfield, 2022 ended with the same 15-1 mark, but minus the trophy.

“It’s crazy. I can’t believe we won. North Smithfield played a great game, but we played really well as well,” said EPHS junior Ryleigh Grant, who, like Tavares, had a first-half hat-trick for the Townies. “We just needed to stay calm, act like it wasn’t the championship, like it was just another regular game. So we definitely needed to stay calm and to play our game, and we ended up winning in the end.”

EPHS in control
Zonin broke the ice Sunday with her first goal some three minutes into the game. The Townies, however, answered almost immediately with junior Ryleigh Grant’s first on the afternoon.

Wilkes then put the Northwomen up with a one-hopper high just inside the crossbar above Williams’s shoulder at 18:59 of the opening period. Some 40 seconds later, Alina Bienkiewicz put North Smithfield up 3-1 on a nifty crossing play in from the E.P. net.

Williams followed up a save, which set the Townies off on their next scoring excursion, a drive by Grant to make it 3-2 and started a five-goal run for the locals.

The E.P. keeper’s older sister, senior Olivia Williams then leveled the game for the Townies at 14:19. The elder Williams then took a pass from Grant and sent a kind of hook shot past North Smithfield keeper Carla Sund (8 saves) to put EPHS on top for what proved the rest of the day, 4-3, with 14:05 remaining in the first.

Grant, off a foul, and Tavares, on a low back-hander, completed the spurt and made it 6-3 Townies.

Zonin scored the final two North Smithfield goals of the half, including one at 10:50 to stop East Providence’s run. Tavares, likewise, added two more tallies and assisted on Kenna Wigginton’s goal, a neat one-timer, before the halftime horn sounded with E.P. up 9-5.

Late-game jitters
Wigginton’s second just after the start of the final 25 minutes put the Townies up by a four. Wilkes then raced from behind the EPHS net to get the Northwomen on the board again. And over the next several minutes, Sund kept her side in it by making about a half-dozen saves during two sequences on multiple shot attempts each by Olivia Williams and Eva Laroche.

Wilkes then scored to cut North’s deficit to 10-7, but Tavares, who led the Townies in goals during the regular season with 49, stepped to the fore. She scored two near-identical goals in less than a minute, driving off the right side both times to put East Providence up 12-7 with 16:35 left in the game.

It was the turn of Ava Williams and the Townie back line to step up for the better part of the rest of the game when East Providence became a bit unglued and committed a number of turnovers, which allowed North Smithfield to score four goals and make a game of it late.

McCusker talked about some jitters for sure, but also pointed to water breaks requested by the Northwomen coaches to combat the muggy, warm conditions as something that broke the Townies’ momentum in the second half.

“I would say nerves and the whole water break thing through everyone for a loop,” McCusker added. “But I also think it was a lot of nerves, anticipation. We started to think about things, the clock was winding down and they were scoring.”

Williams, who only became the starting keeper midway through the season and had never played the position previously, did just enough to stymie the Northwomen, including both Wilkes and Zonin, with the help of defensive mates Sarah D'Agostino, Haley Massa and Makayla Rebelo among others.

Williams’ most clutch stop came on North Smithfield’s last legit opportunity to score when, after the Northwoman was fouled, she stoned Zonin with 34 seconds left in the game.

“It was thrilling,” Williams said of the game’s final moments. “It was really exciting. It was actually real at that point. We worked so hard to get here, so it was worthwhile at the end.

She added, “I was definitely just in awe of how good the players were. I think our defense held together really well in front of me. I couldn’t have done it without the defense.”

Season notes
Though earlier in the year she sensed the team had potential, McCusker said she really didn’t know if the Townies were of title-winning quality until the playoffs started. EPHS proceeded to thump Johnston, 17-0, and Cranston East, 16-5, leading up to the final.

“You don’t really know anything until you hit playoffs. Playoffs when the ballgame really starts, and they hit the ball running. And I think just our record alone showed they wanted it. And the fact that they were just excited the whole season,” McCusker explained.

The coach also made a key decision when she placed Williams in goal during a non-league game against cross-border neighbor Seekonk on April 25, a 15-7 EPHS win. It was that moment and the play of the defensive unit the rest of the way that solidified the Townies as a whole.

“Absolutely phenomenal, our defense has been great all season,” McCusker said. “They’re the reason why we’re here. And Ava has really grown tremendously since I first threw her in net. Literally, we were playing Seekonk in a scrimmage and I said I’m just going to try it today and that was it. And she really loves it and keeps going with it. I’m very impressed by it.”

Said Williams on becoming the EPHS starting keeper, “It’s been a big new thing for me. I’ve never played lacrosse before so being put in goal was really scary at first. And I tend to get down on myself, but I definitely have to keep my head up all the time.

One negative to the end of the 2022 season for the Townies is the expected loss of Tavares, who is leaving the program to attend Moses Brown, which is the dominant program in Rhode Island Division I. The Quakers had won six state championships in row before Barrington stopped their run the previous evening, June 4, also at Cranston Stadium.

Of her impending move to Moses Brown in the fall, Tavares said, “It’s bittersweet because I love my team. They’re a great group of girls. And just having the experience of playing with them for a year is just incredible. I’m going to miss them, but it’s just a great opportunity.”

— East Providence Post and eastbayri.com contributing photographer Julie Furtado shot the accompanying gallery of photos.