Lady Huskies crush Tollgate, 8-1, look to make playoff run

EastBayRI.com ·

Huskies junior Kaelen McKenna scored three goals and an assist in leading the Mt. Hope girls soccer team over Tollgate, 8-1, at Vendituoli Field on Friday evening. Olivia Medieros, Jenna Cimbron, Jess McKenzie, Krista Squatrito and Kelsey Dias also scored for the 7-3 Huskies.

“Kaelen has been unbelievable this year, She’s a very technical player. we try to get the ball to her as much as possible. She likes to take players on one on one. She has great vision of the field and she’s one of our go to girls,” said Huskies head coach Kerri Ferreira.

Playing along side Olivia Medeiros (12 goals and 4 assists on the season) the duo has been formidable for the Huskies this year, said coach Ferreira.

Tollgate was overmatched right from the start. Medeiros scored at 22:16 on a pass from Rayna Medeiros. At 20:38, Jenna Cimbron scored for Mt. Hope on a free kick. Then McKenna scored three goals in a row. The first came with 3:16 left in the first half. Maddie Withers pushed the ball up on the left side to McKenna. She collected the ball and ran in from left and blasted a shot by Tollgate goalkeeper Caileigh Blackmer to give the Huskies a 3-0 lead at the half.

In the second half it was more of the same. McKenna collected a pass at midfield from Tess McKennzie and with Blackmer and a Tollgate defender playing up, she used her speed and bolted around them both for an easy tap-in goal at 37:24 in the second half, to give the Huskies a 4-0 lead. Nine minutes later, McKenna scored again for a 5-0 lead and the route was on.

The Huskies have been very successful feeding the ball to their forwards.

“We work on that a lot in practice. We like to get the ball up top because we have a lot of speed. We also like to switch the field and play possession as well,” said the coach.

“So far I’m very pleased. They bring a lot of energy every day. And we are looking to make a run in the playoffs,” said coach Ferreira.

The Huskies season is just getting started. They are currently in fifth place in Division I and have a few difficult games ahead against South Kingstown, Prout, Cumberland, Lincoln and Coventry.

“We have some tough games coming up. I’m looking for our veteran players to take charge, step up and work together. Every game we have to bring it. We have to finish out the season strong and get healthy and make a run in the playoffs,” she said.