Barrington edges Portsmouth for Division I boys' soccer title

Eagles earn record 13th state championship

By Nick Friend
Posted 11/12/16

PROVIDENCE — Alexander Senich’s third goal of the playoffs proved to be just enough for Barrington High School boys’ soccer team to beat Portsmouth, 2-1, in the Division I state …

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Barrington edges Portsmouth for Division I boys' soccer title

Eagles earn record 13th state championship

Posted

PROVIDENCE — Alexander Senich’s third goal of the playoffs proved to be just enough for Barrington High School boys’ soccer team to beat Portsmouth, 2-1, in the Division I state championship game played Saturday afternoon, Nov. 12, at Rhode Island College.

For much of the first half, Barrington controlled the play until Harrison Browne’s shot found the back of net in the 32nd minute to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. In the second half, both teams struck within the first two minutes which gave Barrington a 2-1 edge. Despite several chances for Portsmouth, the Eagles managed to hang onto the lead, earning the program’s record 13th championship.

“They had so much respect for the coaching staff that even when things were tough they trusted us,” Barrington head coach Don Denham said of his players. “That improved the bond between us and that makes this season that much more fun.”

To start the game, Barrington possessed the ball for the first couple of minutes highlighted by a crossing attempt that was put aside by Portsmouth’s Thomas Rabenold. In the seventh minute, the Patriots earned their first offensive possession after Mikael Boahin turned a Barrington pass the other way, but was later headed out be an Eagles’ defender. Barrington’ s advantage in play continued through the first 10 minutes as they spent most of their time in the Patriots’ zone.

Time and time again Boahin found his way to the ball to clear the zone for Portsmouth. In the 13th minute, Portsmouth’s Kenneth Armijo delivered a beautiful pass to Matthew Sousa that earned the Patriots a corner kick which was later turned aside by a couple Eagles’ defender. Just a minute later, Barrington’s Alex Nicholson struck the ball well from just 15 yards out that curved just wide of a diving Portsmouth keeper William Swart.

As the teams went back and forth, Sousa earned another scoring opportunity as a shot from just outside the box found its way right into the waiting arms of Eagles’ goalkeeper Benjamin Gentile. For the next couple of minutes, Barrington spent significant time in the offensive zone as Nicholson finally put a nice shot on goal from within the box that was saved by a diving Swart. In the 25th minute, the Eagles had another great scoring opportunity off of a corner kick. Patriots’ goalkeeper Swart proceeded to misjudge the ball which looked to give Barrington its best chance of the game until Portsmouth's Liam Callahan headed it out.

Up to the 32nd minute of the game, Barrington continued to control play leading to a corner. Nicholson proceeded to put the ball in play for the Eagles, finding Harrison Browne who kicked it into the open side of the net to give his team a 1-0 lead.

The story of the half continued as the Eagles spent much of their time in the Patriots’ zone, but the stout Portsmouth defense managed to keep the ball out of the back of the net as Barrington took the 1-0 lead into the break.

Just 22 seconds into the second half, however, Senich, the hero of Barrington’s 1-0 semifinal win over LaSalle, delivered again to put the Eagles up 2-0.

“That kid is unbelievable,” Coach Denham said. “He has so much energy. He scored a goal in every playoff game which is unbelievable.”

Less than a minute later, Barrington failed to clear the zone which gave Portsmouth’s Sousa another chance and this time he found the back of the net from 15 yards out to shrink the Eagles' lead to 2-1.

Over the next several minutes, both teams proceeded to battle for possession without much success for either side. In the 56th minute, Portsmouth finally gained some momentum which earned the Pats a corner kick. Barrington failed to clear the box, but a push in the back call on Portsmouth gave the Eagles possession. The trend continued as both teams struggled to maintain possession as tensions started to rise with Portsmouth’s championship hopes in the balance.

In the 69th minute, a Barrington defender looked to head the ball deep within his own zone, but hit it the wrong way which forced Eagles’ goalkeeper Gentile to make an easy save. For the remaining 10 minutes of the game, the Eagles had more chances than trailing Portsmouth which failed to gain a clean offensive entrance. Portsmouth earned one last great chance off of a corner kick, but was turned aside by a Barrington defender after several looks for the Patriots.

As stoppage time started to expire and both benches came to their feet, one last kick went out of bounce and Barrington celebrated a championship while some Patriots kneeled over in disappointment. The championship gave the Eagles a "baker's dozen" of titles and first since 2012.

“It tells you so much about this team and the program,” Coach Denham said, who has guided the Eagles to their last four championships including those in 2008 and 2010. “Some of these kids were ball boys and now they are part of it today. I am very blessed to coach this team.”

Despite the results, Portsmouth head coach Mike Stinton remained very impressed with his team saying, “We had a great season and played pretty well today, but unfortunately someone has to lose and that was us today.”

The Eagles, the fourth seed in the playoffs, finished their season with an overall record of 12-3-2 in D-I games, including a 3-0 victory over Classical in the quarterfinals to along with their win over LaSalle in the semifinals. Portsmouth, seeded third, wound up with an 11-4-2 mark in league games, including 1-0 wins over Tolman in the quarters and Hendricken in the semis.

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