Mariners Vie for Division III Title, Perfect Season Today

The Narragansett Mariners will take on the Middletown Islanders 4 p.m. today at Rhode Island College in a rematch of last year’s Division III girls’ soccer championship.

Narragansett earned its spot in the championship game with on Friday night at Gaudet Middle School in Middletown. On the same night in the late game, Middletown , 2-1.

Last year, on a second half goal by Carla Porras, then a sophomore. Barring a huge upset though, Sunday’s game should feature significantly more scoring.

In the regular season, the Mariners averaged about six goals per game, which they’ve actually surpassed in two postseason games with 15 goals. Middletown scored even more – 101 goals – but gave up four more.

There is also the difference in records. Narragansett is now 18-0, while Middletown is 15-2-1, both impressive marks.

However, one of Middletown’s losses was a 7-2 match at the hands of the Mariners about a month ago. The Islanders might also be without the services of senior Elizabeth Durgin – She scored two goals against the Wizards, but was only about to play about 10 minutes because of injuries.

It will be interesting to see what tactics Middletown attempts to use to slow down the Mariners.

The only teams that have given Narragansett trouble have been bigger squads with larger defenders, such as West Warwick, Moses Brown and St. Raphael’s. Both relied on playing Narragansett’s forwards and midfielders physically. Although all three lost, they limited the Mariners to three goals each.

However, Middletown typically plays a faster, quicker style, much like the Mariners. Like many squads in the playoffs, their bench is also thinner than usual because of injuries. In contrast, all of Narragansett’s regulars are healthy, excluding Maggie Salomone, who has missed the whole year.

If Narragansett wins, it’ll be the 11^th Division III title for the school, according to records at RIHS Sports. It would be the 20^th Division III title for Middletown.

Narragansett has won two girls’ soccer titles – last year in Division III, and a Division II title in 1988. Middletown won Division III titles in 2002 and 2004.

We'll be providing score updates on our Twitter account and on Facebook, so follow along if you can't make it in person! If the Mariners win, we'll go live with a breaking news alert sometime around 6 p.m.