PROVIDENCE — After recording a miraculous win in its first playoff outing earlier in the week, the East Providence High School boys' soccer club suffered a merciless 9-1 loss to top-seeded LaSalle on the road Friday night, Nov. 3, in the quarterfinal round of the 2023 Division I championship tourney.

The eighth-seeded Townies stunned ninth-seeded Central with a three-goal rally in the final five minutes of their preliminary round game on October 30 to take a 4-3 decision.

A few days later in the state's capital, the host Rams took control of the contest with a pair of goals within a minute of each other midway through the first half to turn a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 advantage by intermission.

LaSalle then broke the game wide open about 15 minutes in the second, scoring two tallies in quick succession to begin the onslaught and put away the visitors.

For the Townies, their initial season under head coach Tim Calouro came to a close with a 7-8-1 overall record in league games, 8-8-1 in total.

LaSalle improved to 14-1-0 in D-I contests and advances to the state semifinals November 8 at Rhode Island College at 5 p.m. opposite fourth-seeded Cumberland. The Clippers edged fifth-seeded South Kingstown 1-0 in their quarter.

The Rams haven't lost a Division I league game since dropping their season opener to Bishop Hendricken  1-0 back on September 6.

The D-I tourney bracket held form as well on the other side. Second-seeded Hendricken and third-seeded North Kingstown meet in the second semi Wednesday at 7 p.m.

"Eight unanswered goals is a tough thing to watch as a coach. We had a decent year. I’m excited for the program," Calouro said.

He continued, "Best of luck to (Rams) coach Mario (Pereira) and LaSalle. It’s a great learning opportunity for me to see the level we need to get to."

Last Friday's quarter opened benignly enough, neither team really stepping forward to do much in the early stages.

That changed at around the 10th minute when LaSalle scored the first goal. The sequence began with a long ball over the top of the EP defense down the left wing, then a cross into the middle where the Rams' John Rodehorst chipped a shot over Townies' starting keeper James McShane for the tally.

Unfazed it appeared, East Providence got the goal back some eight minutes later. The Townies quickly countered a LaSalle exploration into their end with one into the Rams' half.

Eddy Rodrigues sent a cross from the right side towards Nathan Capelo, himself making a parallel run on the same side. The Townies' senior co-captain ripped a one-timer by LaSalle keeper Nik Panagos to level the score.

Now properly in the contest, East Providence seemed poised to make a game of it, but much in the way LaSalle turned a close encounter between the sides into a rout during the regular season, the Rams were about to do the same in the playoffs.

Back in late September, LaSalle led the Townies 1-0 at the half then scored five unanswered goals in the second to earn a 6-0 win.

The Rams didn't leave it that long in last week's quarter, scoring goals in the 24th and 25th minutes of the first half to build a 3-1 lead by the break.

LaSalle's Edgar Barillas accounted for what proved the game-winning tally with free kick goal from about 20 yards out following an EP foul to make it 2-1.

Rodehorst then scored his second of the night, a soft goal to be fair, off a shot from distance.

Said Calouro of the what proved the game-deciding sequence, "Calls were questionable at moments. And at 1-1 we just didn’t lock in defensively."

How LaSalle opened up the Townies, the first half especially, was with some precise passing in close quarters even as EP attempted to keep upwards of six, seven defenders behind the ball.

Over the final 40 minutes, the Rams first took advantage of a stretched Townies formation as the visitors attempted to claw back the score, then later added vanity goals against EP substitutes, including at keeper.

LaSalle scored in the 55th, 60th, 70th, 73rd, 75th and 78th minutes, including two goals on penalty kicks.

Calouro further explained East Providence's play later in the game, "Lack of proper marking during their attacks from the outside, ball watching and not getting goal side was awful. You can’t lose marks with talented players. (LaSalle) is great with first touches into space and they overload sides well."