This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Islanders Strike Early in 3-0 Injury Fund Win Over Rogers

The Middletown High girls' soccer team drilled three goals in the opening 12 minutes of play and went on to defeat Rogers High, 3-0, in an Injury Fund exhibition match Friday at the Gaudet Middle School.

Scoring early and often, the girls’ soccer team pinned a 3-0 defeat on Rogers High of Newport in the opener of a six-match Rhode Island Injury Fund program held Friday afternoon and evening at the in Middletown.

Carla Peter netted two goals, Elizabeth Durgin added one score and the Islander defense limited the Vikings to just two shots on goal during the two 25-minute periods as Middletown asserted its dominance from the opening kickoff and never relented.

Keeping Rogers pinned in its defensive zone for most of the contest, the Islanders scored their three goals in the first 11:20 of action, then misfired the rest of the afternoon while still applying extensive pressure. Middletown exhibited a fast and quick front line, a solid defense, and a physical and aggressive style of play that consistently beat the Vikings to loose balls.

Find out what's happening in Middletownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We were okay today, but I saw a lot of areas where we need improvement,” said Middletown Coach Dave Kolator. “Our set plays were disorganized, but we showed some good ball movement and speed up front.”

Instead of being shell-shocked by the Islanders’ early assault, the youthful Vikings actually regrouped and played much better during the second period, with goalkeeper Hannah Davis especially excelling. Rogers, however, generated precious little offense and spent much of the contest in its defensive zone or in the midfield.

Find out what's happening in Middletownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Overall, I think we played great,” said Rogers Coach Mary Aswell. “We have only four seniors this year and the rest of our girls haven’t played together for a long time. We definitely pulled it together in the second period and I was pleased.”

Middletown struck first just three minutes into the contest when Peter took a feed from Chelsea Dowler and beat Davis with a high, left-footed boot into the back of the net. Four minutes later, Durgin capitalized on the Vikings’ failure to clear their zone, picking up a loose ball in front of the goal and booting it past a diving Davis and into the net to give the Islanders a 2-0 cushion.

Less than four minutes later, Peter tallied her second goal to give Middletown its 3-0 edge. The Islanders peppered Davis for the remainder of the period, but the Rogers keeper was up to the task and maintained the three-goal discrepancy.

In the second half, Middletown kept Davis busy, but never located the back of the net again. Meanwhile, the Vikings had two scoring bids by Autumn Wosencroft sail wide of the net.

Both coaches said they were cautiously optimistic heading into their 2011 regular-season schedules.

“If we improve our possession skills, I have high expectations for this season,” Kolator said. “Right now, some of our players are lackadaisical and think they can turn it on whenever they have to.”

“We have to work on making runs and shooting,” Aswell said. “I think our girls were nervous today, but they’ll get better.”

In later Injury Fund outings held Friday in Middletown, Barrington High nipped Tiverton High, 1-0, and Narragansett High blanked Mount Hope High of Bristol, 2-0. In night action, Rogers faced Barrington; Middletown battled Tiverton; and Portsmouth High made its lone appearance of the day opposite Narragansett.

Middletown and Rogers will both launch their Division 3 schedules next Wednesday. Rogers will visit Burrillville High at 3:30, while Middletown will host Mount Pleasant High of Providence at 6.

Follow MHS sports

  • Click on the "Keep me posted" button below.
  • Subscribe to the Middletown Patch daily Newsletter.
  • "Like" Middletown Patch on Facebook.
  • Follow MiddletownPatch on Twitter.

Download the movie

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?