Projo Sports Blog

BY CAROLYN THORNTON
Journal Sports Writer

CRANSTON - Allison Kelley has already made two appearances in the Division I state finals as a member of the La Salle girls soccer team, but the junior midfielder has yet to put a championship ring on her finger.
She's hoping the third time's a charm, though, and thanks to her first-half goal last night, Kelley will get a chance to find out if that old adage is indeed true, as the Rams edged East Greenwich, 1-0, in semifinal action of the 2008 MetLife Soccer Classic, played before a crowd of nearly 600 at Cranston Stadium.
"This is a young team, but we work really, really good together," Kelley said of La Salle, which started two freshmen and three sophomores last night. "Hopefully we'll get that (title) this year."
In order to do that, though, the Rams will need to get past South Kingstown.
With Amanda Graham providing nearly all of the firepower, the I-South champion Rebels earned the spot opposite La Salle in Saturday's Division I Championship and its first trip to the finals in five years, defeating Warwick Vets, 4-0, in last night's other semifinal matchup, also at Cranston Stadium.
La Salle and South Kingstown will meet in the title game, Saturday at 1 p.m. at Pierce Stadium.
Kelley's game-winning tally came 5 minutes and 5 seconds into the game when sophomore Briel Crespi found her open in the middle and sent her a nice cross, which Kelley promptly converted.
"It was a great pass from Briel," Kelley said. "It seemed so hard to get (that first goal). After that, we kept up the pressure really good."
"Psychologically, [getting an early lead] really gives them an advantage because now they can feel a little more confident," said veteran coach Joe Avila, who is in his first year at the helm of the I-North champion Lady Rams. "They're not trailing. They're not pressing. . . . . For us, I think we've been very fortunate this year, where we've always been able to score first."
East Greenwich had several good opportunities to score in the second half, including one each by Kiley Powers and Alyssa Petrucci in the final minutes. But the Avengers were unable to get any of them past Caroline McCabe, who finished with six saves.
"This was her 13th shutout of the season," Avila said of the sophomore keeper. "We only allowed seven goals, so obviously she has a good backline, no question. They don't allow too many people to get on net. But when she gets called upon, she's there for us. Carly is really kind of a backbone for us, and we have a lot of confidence in her."
South Kingstown similarly took control early in the nightcap despite missing five players - one because of injury and four (two of them starters) because of disciplinary reasons.
The Rebels handled the unexpected absences so well in large part thanks to the hot foot of Amanda Graham. The leading scorer in I-South this season, the junior put her team on the board 7-1/2 minutes into the game, taking a pass from Katie Dufficy and parking a shot into the top righthand corner of the goal.
Graham made it 2-0 with just under 4 minutes remaining in the half, taking another feed from Dufficy and firing a shot into the top lefthand corner.
"(Graham is) probably one of the quickest kids in the state. I wouldn't want to mark up against her," said South Kingstown coach Jim Kelly. "She does work hard out there - even if she's double-teamed. It was her night and we're very happy for her."
She struck again at 20:53 of the second half, coming out of traffic to the left of the goal, making a slick three-quarter turn and then booting the ball into the net.
Lauren Casey scored on a direct kick with 5 minutes left for the Rebels' final tally.
Kelly said he told his players at halftime not to be comfortable with a two-goal lead.
"That's the worst lead you can have," he said. "Just keep going at them. And that's what we continually did. We got some great support out of our bench, and I thought Katie Dufficy played a tremendous game in the middle. She was everywhere. She's normally playing a forward position. Sara Rosa on the outside; she stepped in front and she denied everything. Erin (Sorlien) kept everything away. Obviously the shots that they had, our goalkeeper got them. The defense did a tremendous job. Bryce McGillivray, she was in the middle along with Katie. So it was tough for (Warwick Vets) to come down the middle, and we were shutting them down."