[VIDEO] Playoffs: Girls’ Soccer In, Volleyball Out

NARRAGANSETT – Like 15 other teams, Shea had no answer for the high-powered Narragansett High School girls’ soccer offense, losing 6-0 Monday afternoon in the Mariners’ playoff opener.

Narragansett played its usual style against the Raiders, relying on precise passing to allow for easy runs to the goal by Chelsea Sahagian. It was a career day for the young freshman, who finished with four goals.

“She’s been a force for us throughout the season,” head coach Kathryn Mahoney said.

The win improved Narragansett to 17-0 overall in Division III. Mahoney was generally happy with her team’s play after a long layoff – They last played on Oct. 27.

“We did what we needed to do,” she said. “But there are things we need to tweak and work on … It wasn’t our strongest game.”

Although Mahoney was confident that her team could win its semifinals match, she noted that it was being held at Cranston Stadium, even though the Mariners were the higher seed and facing the Cranston East Thunderbolts.

“We’ve talked for the last four years about having a neutral site [for the semifinals],” she said, adding that the game could have been moved to another location.

However, Mahoney said her team would make the best of the opportunity.

“I think it’s a chance to overcome the odds, and it gives us motivation,” she said. “From the first day of the preseason, it is evident how much they want it [a championship].”

The Thunderbolts gave the Mariners their toughest challenge of the year, .

“I think we’ve developed since then, and we do have Carla [Porras] back,” Mahoney said.

The semifinals are 5 p.m. Thursday at Cranston Stadium, weather permitting. The winner will play in the finals 4 p.m. Sunday at Rhode Island College, against either West Warwick or Middletown.

The Islanders might have done the Mariners a favor – They eliminated Moses Brown from the playoffs, which had given Narragansett a tough match in late October.

West Warwick, the No. 7 seed, upset No. 2 seed Burrillville. The Broncos were blown out by Narragansett on Senior Day in the regular season finale for both teams, and their poor play carried over into the playoffs.

Special thanks to Keith Ranaldi for taking portions of the video for the soccer game.

Volleyball Struggles With Errors in Quarterfinals vs. West Warwick

Taking the court about three hours in West Warwick about 90 minutes after the end of the soccer game, unfortunately, the Narragansett High School girls’ volleyball squad had a slew of unforced errors in a sweep at the hands of the Wizards.

The Mariners came close to winning the third game, after dropping the first two 25-18 and 25-12. Narragansett lost the third 26-24, but took its first lead of the night at 24-23, thanks to a kill from junior Hannah Maymon and a rare error by the Wizards.

However, the Mariners couldn’t take advantage of a set point, and the Wizards rallied, scoring the next three points to take the match.

Narragansett head coach Joni Stern-Lonczak said that she tried to use her timeouts early in the match to calm her team down.

“I was just trying to get them to calm down, and to remind them that they belong here,” she said.

However, by the third game, she said she wanted them to work through it without a timeout.

“They really have to figure it out together,” she said. “They have to be able to grab that momentum themselves.”

The Mariners struggled with errors in the first two games. At one point in the second, West Warwick scored 11 straight points, putting an 11-10 game out of reach.

“We had a couple players who were off today,” Stern-Lonczak said, noting that Maymon was fighting through an illness, and that another player had missed practice earlier that week.

When asked if she thought her team had turned the corner in that third game, Stern-Lonczak said yes.

“I thought we had that match,” she said. “I’m just sorry we had to end it this way.”