Bristol girls win soccer title in dramatic shootout

Posted 7/29/19

The Bristol and Cranston U12 girls’ soccer teams faced off last month at the Bristol Town Beach and Sports Complex in a battle to win the Rhode Island U12 Gold State Title. Going into the game, …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Bristol girls win soccer title in dramatic shootout

Posted

The Bristol and Cranston U12 girls’ soccer teams faced off last month at the Bristol Town Beach and Sports Complex in a battle to win the Rhode Island U12 Gold State Title. Going into the game, the two teams were close in the standings, with Cranston finishing first in the regular season and Bristol a close second.

The home team took a quick lead at the beginning of the game, with Thea Jackson scoring a goal by going down the left side of the Cranston defense after gaining possession at midfield. Cranston turned things around quickly, scoring three goals in 15 minutes.

After halftime, Bristol dominated. Jackson sped by two defenders then got taken down in the box, resulting in a penalty kick for Bristol. The Bristol “go-to” kicker, Mia Hanson, made the shot, cutting the team’s deficit to one. 

Not more than 10 minutes later, Jackson struck again to even the score at 3-3. 

Then Sarah Nencka scored to give Bristol a lead of 4-3 with 10 minutes left in the game. But Cranston managed to tie the score before the final whistle, ultimately sending the match into a penalty kick shootout.

After both teams missed their opening penalty kicks, Thea Jackson, Sarah Nencka, and Sophia Borges all made their shots for Bristol, while Cranston did the same. Bristol goalkeeper Mackenzie Lema then seized the moment by deflecting a high shot off the crossbar. She then stepped out of the net to take her team’s final shot. She beat the Cranston keeper, and Bristol won the U12 Gold state title.

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.