EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence High School boys’ soccer club was shut out, 2-0, by visiting rival LaSalle Thursday night, Oct. 27, in its 2022 Division I regular season finale, but the Townies maintained their top-half spot in the table heading into the state championship playoffs.

East Providence wound up with a 6-5-3 record and with 24 points, good enough for sixth place in the 15-team Division I standings.

The Townies  face 11th-seeded Classical in the preliminary round of the state tourney on Tuesday night, Nov. 1, in city at Townie Stadium on the EPHS campus. Opening kick is 5:30 p.m.

The Purple (3-7-4) were the last team to earn the minimum 13 points necessary to qualify for the postseason. East Providence actually clinched its berth two weeks ago with a 2-1 win over Classical in Providence.

The top five overall seeds — N.K., LaSalle, Bishop Hendricken (7-2-5, 29 points), South Kingstown (8-3-3, 27) and Portsmouth (7-2-5, 26) — earned byes into the quarterfinals. East Providence is on the half of the playoffs draw with the second-seeded Rams and third-seeded Hawks.

The other preliminary round games have seventh-seeded Cumberland 5-7-2 20 facing 10th-seeded Moses Brown (4-5-5, 17) and eighth-seeded Tolman (5-5-4, 19) meeting ninth-seeded Central Falls (5-7-2, 17).

Against LaSalle, the Townies started on the front foot, pressuring the visiting Rams for the first five minutes of the game. That effort, however, only led to two soft shots on net from distance.

LaSalle, which finished second behind unbeaten North Kingstown (14-0-0) in the league ranks with an 11-2-1 record, gradually asserted itself. The Rams eventually tested EPHS keeper Nick Bento (6 saves), forcing the goalie to make a couple of difficult saves.

LaSalle, like the Townies, had nothing to show for their toils and the game remained scoreless into the second half.

Bento needed to make an early save at the start of the final 40 minutes to keep level. The Townies then had their best offensive sequence in quite a while, though Sam Jackson’s header from above the six-yard box floated wide of the top right corner of the LaSalle net.

Two decisions by the referees, both questioned extensively by EPHS coach Tony Vieira, eventually led to both LaSalle goals.

The Townies were whistled for a foul about 20 yards out in front of their goal. The Rams’ Jonathan Penco proceeded to rip a shot, bar-down, past Bento for the tally in the 57th minute.

A non-call resulted in LaSalle’s insurance goal in the 78th minute of 80.

The Townies, Vieira included, felt Bento was impeded as he jumped to make a save on a free kick from about 25 yards out by the Rams from the keeper’s right. Neither of the two officials agreed, the ball breaking through Bento’s gloves and to the foot of LaSalle’s Arthur Carret for the poke-home goal.