The Barrington High School girls' soccer team gave up two goals in the first half and two in the second and lost to Portsmouth, 4-0, in a Division I game at Victory Field on Monday night.

The Eagles dropped to 0-6-1 with the loss while Portsmouth improved to 5-2. The Patriots are in sole possession of second place in the division standings. 

“We just weren’t able to play a full eighty minutes,” said Barrington head coach Steven Pickford. “I thought we played well in stretches. We had a tough time keeping up with Portsmouth’s speed but we’ll get there.”

The first 38 minutes of play were very even with both teams creating their own offensive opportunities but not able to find the back of the net. Portsmouth generated a couple of chances that hit the crossbar and post. 

Portsmouth's Claire Williams broke open the scoreless tie with two minutes remaining in the half. Williams ripped a shot into the Barrington net off a rebound. 

Less than a minute later, the Patriots scored their second of the half when senior Abigail Kaull put a free kick in the back of the net giving the visitors a 2-0 lead headed into the second half. 

Portsmouth picked up where they left off in the second half as they scored just one minute in when sophomore Sarah Nolan scored off of a cross giving Portsmouth a commanding 3-0 advantage. 

Coach Pickford liked the way his team started the game and the way they responded after giving up goals late in the first half of play.

“It was even for the first thirty-eight minutes and then they scored three goals in a three minute period if you overlap halftime," he said. "I think the girls responded well and fought hard for the remainder of the first half. They’re a good group and eager to get better.” 

With about 16 minutes left in the game Portsmouth added its fourth goal of the game this time coming from sophomore Sydney Bryske.

“Well any win is a good win for us. I think Barrington came out really strong. It’s always been a tough place to play,” said Portsmouth head coach James Blaess on his team’s win. “I think that after we settled down we found the goals we needed. We were certainly knocking on the door quite a bit. In the end we were able to find the goals we needed in the first half and then the second half we just seized the counter-attack a little bit better.” 

The clean sheet is the third in as many games for the Patriots and coach Blaess feels that it is because of the switch in formation going to a 4-3-2-1 instead of the 4-4-2 they were originally running.

“It gives us more control in the center of the field which I think helps us and our style of play that is a possession game," he said. "We have some talented outside defenders and you saw the result of that. I think that style is better for this team and the talent we have.” 

Barrington goalie Jenna Park finished the game with 10 saves.