by Charlie Adams, TSM Writer
CRANSTON, RI - “The sky's the limit for our potential,” said Assistant Coach Garrett McWeeney after Wednesday’s game. Cranston East’s girls soccer began their season against St. Raphael Academy at Cranston Stadium, where they fought their way to a 2-2 draw.
Starting goalkeeper Bella Dupret was serving her 1 game suspension, forcing junior Aubree Josephson to start in goal for the ‘Bolts, recording nine saves. Josephson received big support from Lily Guyon, who scored both goals for the Thunderbolts.
St. Raphael struck first with a goal by Samantha Marsis that deflected off of Josephson’s hands and into the goal with 27:51 left in the first half. They tacked on another with a goal by Sara Lebeuf with a little over 8 minutes in the first half to push their lead to 2-0 heading into halftime.
The ‘Bolts faced a tall task at the break, as they needed two goals after not having many scoring opportunities in the first half. McWeeney credited the second half comeback on “...a productive halftime team huddle that sparked the girls to play together more, which helped to collectively up their intensity and aggressiveness.”
Junior midfielder Lily Guyon brought the Thunderbolts out of halftime fast, getting close to finding the back of the net with a corner kick that was just barely saved. However, with 17:33 left in the second half, Guyon was able to split the lead in half as she recorded East’s first goal of the contest, assisted by Bella Acevedo.
Guyon recorded her second goal of the contest with 6:38 left on a free kick to tie the game at 2. The ‘Bolts threatened multiple times in the final minutes to score but couldn’t finish it off as the contest concluded in a draw.
Following a 1-15 year that dropped the team down to Division-III, a comeback draw against last year's second best regular season team in their new division is definitely a good way to start the season.
Based on that, Guyon said after the game, “It’s just really cool being a part of a team that sticks together even though we had a tough season last year. We all just want to play soccer and have a great season. It was all about working together and teamwork.” She also mentioned how the support from parents, as well as the boys soccer team helped to keep them in the game.
The ‘Bolts spent more time in the second half pressuring Saint Ray’s defense, and it paid off as the Thunderbolts brought the game all the way back to salvage a tie in their opener. They stayed persistent all the way through and were rewarded with two late goals to start the year on a high note.
The girls’ soccer team is back in action September 13th at 4:00 PM where they’ll travel to face Toll Gate High School.
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