Gallagher moves forward in state middle school soccer tourney

The entire Northern Division, including undefeated North Cumberland Middle School, was wiped out in the first round of the Rhode Island Principals Committee on Athletics state single-elimination boys soccer tournament last week.

Lincoln Middle School, Central Division champions, and Gallagher, second-place finisher in the Central, both won and advanced to the round of eight.

NCMS dropped a 3-2 decision to Cole, fourth seed in the Central Division. Mount St. Charles Academy, seeded second in the North, lost 2-1 to Feinstein, the third seed in the Central, McCourt Middle School was beaten, 5-4 in a shoot out against Gallagher, and Ponaganset, the North's fourth seed, was handed a 3-0 setback by Lincoln.

First-year coach Anthony Silva walked into North Cumberland Middle School last week after teaching at Cumberland High School and found out that three of his starters, ace sweeper Duncan Nunes, Ryan O'Neill and David Penco, were all ill with the flu and would not be available to his squad.

Lincoln found itself running up against a Ponaganset team bent on trying to achieve a scoreless tie and push the game to a shoot-out, and coach Scott Merritt's plan almost worked.

The Chieftains, fourth-place finishers in the North, held Lincoln's potent offense scoreless through the first half and for most of the second half by packing down its midfielders into the defensive zone so the defenders could outnumber the LMS offensive players.

The strategy was foiled when LMS fired in three goals in the final eight minutes, by Greg Forgue, Cody Poulin and Nick Lamothe.

"I give Ponaganset and their coach nothing but credit for putting together a formidable game plan, sticking to it and giving us a great game," said LMS coach John D'Aloisio. "We were able to break through late and get the win, and they probably helped us because if we see that type of defense again, we'll be more prepared for it. Ponaganset is a very well coached team."

D'Aloisio said he was confident that his offense would eventually break through and it did, but acknowledged that the game was nerve-wracking.

Gallagher and McCourt of Cumberland put on a great game that was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation and two overtimes, and went to a shoot-out.

Although Gallagher dominated play for the first 10 minutes, it was McCourt's Cody Audette who scored the first goal of the game. Gallagher's leading scorer for the season, Jackson Acciaioli, took a pass from Anthony Graziano and pumped home a goal to tie the game before the half ended.

In the second half, the teams battled on even terms and with only two minutes remaining, it appeared that Matt Karpinski had the game-winner for Gallagher, booting home a pass from Luke Moreau with only two minutes remaining.

But with less than a minute remaining, McCourt's Tyler Mobrice knocked one into the net, temporarily saving his team's season.

After a two scoreless overtime periods, the game went to a shoot out.

Acciaioli, Matt Santoro, and Anthony Graziano scored penalty kicks for Gallagher, while Brandon Hollinghurst scored for McCourt giving Gallagher a 3-1 edge with two remaining shooters. After a Gallagher miss and Tyler Mobrice's successful kick, it was 3-2 Gallagher with one final shooter per team. Both teams could not score another penalty kick, giving Gallagher the win.

"McCourt played very well and went toe-to-toe with us for most of the game," said Gallagher coach Adel Cabral "We went almost two weeks without a game and could not capitalize on our scoring chances, giving McCourt counter attacks on goal. I give credit to McCourt on a well played game. We were the favorites going in and McCourt showed that with hard work, anything is possible. It was an intense soccer match."

In the round of eight, Cole visits Davisville, Lincoln hosts Jenks, Feinstein plays at Curtis Corner and Gallagher travels to Kickemuit. The winners advance to the semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 5.