The Mt. Hope High School boys' soccer club closed out the home portion of its 2026 regular season slate Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 20, with a 1-0 victory over Westerly in a Division II encounter.

Tom Levis' tally for the locals accounted for the lone goal of the game. Gavin Avila had the assist. Cole Tavares made three saves to post the clean-sheet in the senior's first full 80 minutes of action in net since returning from an early-season injury.

The Huskies concluded their slate by playing host Tiverton to a 1-1 draw on Thursday, Oct. 22. Mt. Hope finished with a 6-3-7 and in fourth place in the league power rankings. Cyrus Belisle-Braun scored the goal for the locals. Rocco Minella had the assist. Tavares made seven saves.

Eleven teams qualified for the playoffs, the top five receiving byes into the quarterfinals. The fourth-seeded Huskies will host fifth-seeded Coventry Thursday, Oct. 29, at RWU. Mt. Hope defeated the Knotty Oakers, 1-0, in their only regular season meeting also played at RWU on September 22.

"I feel that we're right where we need to be going into playoffs and we set ourselves up to where we feel we can make a run," said MHHS head coach Tucker Shepard. "It won’t be easy. but we worked hard to stay and keep that fourth seed. This team is young, but will continue to fight."

Football
The MHHS football team suffered a consequential loss last Friday night, Oct. 23, a lopsided 48-6 defeat to host Classical in a cross-over outing in Providence.

The previously winless Purple, from Division II, throttled the Huskies from the opening kickoff, taking the game's first possession back 65 yards and into the endzone to build they would only build upon from there.

Classical improved to 1-6 while the Huskies fell to 3-4 in counting games. The loss to a team at a level above didn't necessarily hurt the locals in their chase for a Division III playoff spot, but it didn't necessarily help either. Mt. Hope fell into a tie with Pilgrim for sixth-place in the league power rankings at the time.

The first Purple possession foreshadowed much of the opening 24 minutes for the hosts; a long drive and a score.

After the Huskies punted to end their first possession following the Classical score, the hosts went on a 14-play, 80-yard drive crossing into the second quarter and which ended on another short, five-yard run. The kick for point was good, giving the Purple a 14-0 lead.

MHHS next drove deep into the Purple end, but the possession stalled at the 20. The hosts flipped the field, going on an 11-play, 80 yard drive that concluded with a two-yard TD run. The PAT was no good, but Classical up 20-0 just before the break.

The Huskies received the second-half kick, though they couldn't sustain possession.

Unlike in the first half, the Purple struck quickly to begin the third quarter and after starting its drive at their own 45. Three plays later they connected on a 60-yard throw-and-catch off slant pass. The kick made it 27-0.

The Huskies' heartbreak continued on their ensuing possession when quarterback Will Francis was taken down awkwardly on a read-option play to begin their ensuing series.

Freshman back-up Brennan Correia entered the game, but two plays later his pass was picked as he and receiver Jaden Fox weren't on the same page on a go route to the right. The interception was returned to the MHHS 25.

Two plays later Classical converted the turnover to six on a post route for the 25-yard TD pass. The kick made it 34-0 hosts.

The Huskies again couldn't move the ball, forcing punter Jake Mancieri to kick from the back of the endzone. The punt landed at the Mt. Hope 31. And again it took just wo plays for the Purple to find the endzone on a run from the 26. The point-after kick upped the Classical edge to 41-0.

The game continued to spiral for the locals even as they got a bit of rhythm on offense. At the edge of the Purple red zone, Correia's attempt to throw step-back screen was picked and returned all the way back for a 75-yard score. The PAT made it 48-0.

The Huskies avoided the shutout in the fourth quarter, capitalizing on their lone sustained drive of the night. Correia ran it in from the four. The visitors couldn't add the conversion, bringing the scoring to a close.

Mt. Hope closes out its 2026 regular season slate likely facing a proverbial "must-win" situation in regard to their postseason chances when the Huskies host North Providence Halloween morning, October 31, at Veterans Field in Warren. Kickoff is set for 9:15 a.m. The Cougars visit with a 4-3 record and in third-place in D-III power rankings, coming off a 30-0 victory over the Moses Brown/Excel Academy co-op.

Cross country
The MHHS cross country teams tuned up for their class championship meet this coming weekend by running in the East Bay Challenge hosted by Portsmouth over the 5-kilometer course at The Glen October 22.

The Huskies finished fourth out of six teams in the boys' race with 110 points. The host Patriots won the meet with 40.
Alexander Deal was the top performer for the locals, clocking a time of 17 minutes, 55.23 seconds to finish 16th. Chariho's Leo Haxton won the race in 16:47.83.

Jacob Lopes was the next Husky in, running 18th in 18:03.79. Noah Rozea ran 24th in 18:33.88 followed by Chase Aiksnoras in 27th with an 18:38.14. Adam Cobb was the fifth scorer, running 43rd in 19:29.92. Max Weldon was right behind his teammate in 44th in 19:35.78.

Only four Huskies ran in the girls' race, meaning they did not have a team finish. Jourdan Cicchinelli ran sixth overall in a time of 22:03.14 to pace the locals. Carly Gill of Barrington won the race in 18:45.39.

Raegan McGinn was the next MHHS placer, running 12th in 22:36.51. Evelyn Towers ran 16th in 23:23.64 and Ellie Donovan ran 31st in 27:44.47.

The Huskies travel to Ponaganset's Covered Bridge Trail, where the state meet is also annually held, to vie in the 2026 Class B Championships Saturday, Oct. 31, beginning at 10 a.m.