Don Denham is not letting 10 minutes define his team’s season. 

The head coach of the Barrington High School boys soccer team said his squad struggled to find its bearings early into the Division I semifinal game against North Kingstown last week. A communication miscue opened the door for a Skippers’ goal at 3:40 into the game. About eight minutes later, Barrington failed to cover a North Kingstown player during a corner kick. The error translated into the Skippers’ second goal of the game. Barrington played well in the second half, but lost the game, 2-0.

“It was an amazing, amazing season, and I am not letting 10 minutes determine it,” Denham said. 

The coach said the sluggish start may have been due to some inexperience. Barrington graduated 11 seniors from last year’s state championship team, and another player who had started the previous year decided to play another sport this fall. 

Denham said North Kingstown took advantage of that inexperience with an aggressive attack right from the opening whistle.

“We needed a way to settle that game down at the start,” Denham said. 

The Eagles eventually started playing better. They came out ready to play in the second half. Barrington dominated the shots on goal in the second half — the Eagles had 12 shots to North Kingstown’s one. The Eagles ripped one of the shots off the crossbar, and the Skippers’ goalie made three crucial saves. 

“It was all us in the second half,” Denham said. 

“I was extremely impressed by Jack Luttrell. I felt like he was running around playing three players’ positions,” Denham said. “He seemed to be everywhere as the game was going on.

“Cole Noyes did a great job. Kelly Hill. Kelly being Kelly — rock solid.”

Denham also praised the play of sophomore Josh Lepine, who entered the game in the second half and provided some key speed for the Eagles. Lepine also ripped a nice shot at the NK goal, forcing the keeper to make a big save. 

Barrington’s standout forward Ollie Cope was unable to provide the scoring punch that earned him the title “Division I Player of the Year.” Cope had 22 goals and seven assists this season, but suffered an injury in the final game of the regular season. Denham said he was very proud of Cope trying to play through the injury.

The Eagles finished the year in second place overall and earned their coach’s praise. 

“It was a phenomenal year,” Denham said. “…I didn’t expect it to be this good. We had an incredible season.”