Gallagher girls down Chieftains; in final eight

The Northern Division has had a finalist in the Rhode Island Principals Committee on Athletics girls state soccer championship in each of the past five seasons and won the state title the past three seasons.

Not this year.

All four Northern Division teams were swept out of the playoffs in the first round last week, and the only area team still playing is Gallagher of Smithfield.

The biggest surprise came when Lincoln Middle School, regular season champions, was downed by Davisville, the fourth-seeded team from the Central Division, 4-2.

"We just came out flat and never really recovered," said a disappointed coach John LaFleur.

The division's second seed, Ponaganset, hosted Gallagher, and the girls from Smithfield put up an impressive 4-0 win. North Smithfield was the third seed in the Northern Division, and it fell to Exeter/West Greenwich, 3-0, and fourth-seeded Burrillville took on Cole of East Greenwich, the top team in the Central Division, and was crushed, 7-0.

Gallagher coach Kate Busam said she knew that it would be a tough trip to Ponaganset, pointing out the Chieftains have knocked Gallagher out of the playoffs twice in recent years.

"They always have a very good defensive team and we knew we would have to put out a really good effort to beat them," said Busam. "We were kind of on our heels early, but then we got things going on offense."

Speedsters Ashley Shilko and Vickie Carter began working their way behind Ponaganset defenders, and when Molly Smith put a centering pass across the goal mouth, Shilko fired a shot and didn't miss, giving Gallagher a 1-0 lead. Before half, Miranda Peloquin found Carter with a pass and the team's high scorer knocked it into the net and GMS led, 2-0.

"But it wasn't like we were dominating because Ponaganset was getting its chances," said Busam.

Jenna Pike, GMS keeper, had to record nine saves in the first half. Goals by Stephanie Ricci, from Molly Smith and Carter rounded out the scoring.

A key point in the game came when Ponaganset was awarded a penalty kick and Amber Fortune, who replaced Pike in the nets, came up with a great save, killing any momentum that the Chieftains had built.

GMS was scheduled to travel to North Kingstown this week to play Wickford.