Poor Second Quarter Sinks Mariners; Rebels In Title Game Tonight

PROVIDENCE – The Narragansett High School boys’ lacrosse team couldn’t overcome a five-goal deficit they dug for themselves in the second quarter, and fell 12-6 in the Division III title game to Smithfield.

A Smithfield play with one second left resulted in a goal for senior captain Ryan Benoit, and capped off a five-goal run in the final 6:34 for the No. 1 seed. Benoit finished with three goals and was named MVP.

Narragansett never recovered – The Mariners closed within three goals with 6:25 remaining in the game, but Smithfield scored 17 seconds later, and twice more in the final four minutes.

Narragansett head coach Mark Chafee said his team looked a little ruffled out there, especially in the second quarter.

“I was a little surprised that they [Smithfield] played more zone defense,” he said. “They just wanted it more. They got to more groundballs, more loose balls.”

Coming into the game, Chafee said they wanted to control time of possession as much as possible, in part to limit Smithfield’s high-powered offense. The Mariners succeeded at this in the first quarter, using two long possessions to keep Smithfield’s defense stretched. The game was tied 2-2 after one quarter.

“If we have the ball, they can’t score,” Chafee said. “We needed to keep tem off the field.”

However, like a similar team at NHS – the playoff Division III football squad – the Mariners struggled to stay poised once they did go down a few goals.

In the final seven minutes of the second quarter, Narragansett was called for a crosscheck and a late hit, and had to play a man down after both penalties. Smithfield took advantage by scoring after each penalty.

The Mariners also couldn’t capitalize on their own power play opportunity in the second quarter. Smithfield was called for tripping with 6:02 remaining, but killed the penalty and then scored at the tail end of it, with 4:55 left.

Despite the loss, Chafee said he was “extremely happy” with the season overall.

“It’s really been a great season,” he said.

Division II Title Game Tonight – South Kingstown vs. East Greenwich

Tonight, South Kingstown looks to topple a Division II repeat effort, and to ruin East Greenwich’s perfect record in the process.

The Rebels take on the Avengers at 6:30 p.m. at Rhode Island College. The game was rescheduled from Sunday because of , and from Saturday because of the rain and thunder on that day.

East Greenwich is 13-0 in league play this year. Despite going just 7-6 in the 2011 regular season, the Avengers took the title that year as well, even though they moved up from Division III play in 2010.

According to records kept at RIHS Sports, South Kingstown has never won a boys’ lacrosse title. Girls’ lacrosse won the now-defunct Division III title in 2009 and 2010.

Patch Goes 0-for-3, Brackets Go All-Chalk

In the two other games at Rhode Island College on Sunday afternoon, schools in Patch towns went winless, for a combined 0-3 record. All three winners on Sunday were also the top seeds in their respective divisions.

Following Narragansett vs. Smithfield, Barrington lost 14-10 to Moses Brown in the Division I girls’ state championship. In the Division II final, Cumberland survived a game effort from Tiverton, 12-10, by limiting the Tigers to one shot in the final four minutes.

However, something does have to give tonight – Both South Kingstown and East Greenwich have Patch sites.