Girls lacrosse beats Scituate 13-6, moves on to semis

Peckham and Polofsky combine for 11 goals

Zoe Peckham and Julia Polofsky combined for 11 goals as the Tiverton girls lacrosse team beat Scituate 13-6 in the Division 4 quarterfinals at Portsmouth High School on Thursday night. The 10-5 Tigers move on to face Classical in the semifinals on Tuesday night. Place and time are to be determined. The winner will face the winner of North Smithfield and Lincoln in the Division 4 championship to be played at Brown University on Saturday at noon. 

The game was knotted 6-6 at halftime. Then the Tigers’ offense took over, scoring 7 unanswered goals. Peckham, a senior, scored 6 goals to lead Tiverton in their attack. Polofsky, also a senior, scored 5 goals. 

“We really improved in the second half,” said Rachel Motta, who is in her tenth year as head coach of the Tigers. “We did not have to play much defense, because Julia kept winning the face-offs which allowed us to keep playing offense.”

“Zoe has been a true leader the last 2 years,” said Coach Motta. “She has been the most sound player I have had. She has excellent lacrosse IQ and that separates her from other great players that I’ve had.”

Peckham has been a force this season, scoring 72 goals in 15 games. She has 

Coach Motta named Polofsky, the player of the game, due to her wins in the face-off circle.

“Julia had tremendous draw control,” she said, “Plus 5 goals and numerous ground balls. The seniors really stepped up and took leadership.”

Sophomore Samantha Borden scored 2 goals for the Tigers. 

 

Tigers’ defense struggles in the first half

Goalkeeper Elyse Meyers made 11 saves between the pipes, though Tiverton struggled playing defense in the first half. 

“We kept losing our offensive player and left Scituate players unmarked,” Coach Motta said.  

The Tigers’ will have to keep Classical on their heels in the semifinals game if they are going to exact revenge for two regular season losses. The Purple beat Tiverton badly both games, a 17-8 beating on April 25 and an 18-8 loss on May 20.  

“It’s always fun to play against schools with great traditions,” said Coach Motta. “It’s how we measure ourselves up against other schools. This will be a great challenge and we’re very excited.”

 

Doster triple sinks Shea 7-6

Tigers move on to winners-bracket final

Lia Doster hit a walk off triple in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Tiverton a 7-6 victory over Shea in the winners-bracket semifinals at the high school on Saturday. Jersey-Ann Hastie came around to score from second base after she singled with two out.

The Tigers were down 6-5 heading into the bottom of the eighth. Then the heroics began.

“I don’t think you can find a more pressure situation,” said head coach Mike Brigham. “We were down a run with 2 outs in the last inning with no runners on. Sara Poland ripped a single and then Eilish Condon hit a double into the gap to tie the game.” 

“It was a great game,” he said. “We showed our grit, mental toughness and the girls always battle to the end.”  

The Tiverton offense smashed 10 hits during the game, with the middle of the lineup providing much of the punch. Poland, the freshman three-hitter, smashed a double and two singles, scored twice and drove in a run. Condon, the senior clean-up hitter, doubled, singled and drove in two runs. 

Senior pitcher Abby DeMello struck out 9 and allowed 13 hits, 2 walks and 6 runs in eight innings. She held Shea down in extra innings. 

The Tigers move on to play at Cranston East in the winners-bracket final on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.

 

Lacrosse team falls to Rogers 10-3 in quarterfinals

The Tiverton lacrosse fell to Rogers 10-3 in the Division 4 quarterfinals. Juniors Aiden Champ, Seth Aguiar and Miles Cormier scored for the Tigers. Goalkeeper Christian D’Acchioli made 22 saves in the loss.