Quakers squash cinderella Mt. Hope boys' soccer championship dreams

PROVIDENCE — The cinderella run that was the Mt. Hope High School boys’ soccer team's journey through the Division II playoff tournament came to a halt Saturday afternoon, Nov. 12, at Rhode Island College, as the Huskies suffered a 5-0 loss to unbeaten Moses Brown in the championship game.

Mt. Hope, seeded seventh, had strung together upsets of second-seeded Smithfield (3-2) and third-seeded Coventry (2-0) en route to the finale, but the top-seeded Quakers would not fall prey to the locals.

In the first half, it was all Moses Brown as the Quakers jumped out to a 2-0 lead and never looked back as they went onto the shutout victory, earning the school's second state soccer title and first in D-II. The Quakers previously won the D-III championship in 2007.

“Today, and I am not trying to create excuses, but the injury bug really hit us hard,” Mt. Hope head coach Oscar DeLemos said. “We had several players go down and I could tell they had jitters. Take away nothing from Moses Brown. They are a great team.”

To start the contest, Moses Brown showed why its are so hard to beat as the Quakers took immediate possession on a chance that was later turned aside by a Mt. Hope defender. In the third minute, Huskies’ goalkeeper Brian Gamez was forced to make a save on a shot that was nicely placed from 15 yards out to keep the Quakers off the board.

In the sixth minute, Mt. Hope earned its first scoring opportunity off of a deflected pass, but nothing more materialized. In the 12th minute, Gamez was forced to make another diving save on a shot from inside the box. Just two minutes later, the Quakers earned another quality scoring opportunity on a shot that went off the hands of Gamez leaving Moses Brown a wide open net that was missed.

Then, in what seemed like an inevitable end, Moses Brown scored after controlling the first 15 minutes of play as Mt. Hope found itself in a 1-0 hole. Moses Brown continued to provide consistent pressure on Mt. Hope’s defense, and a beautiful pass and shot upped the Quakers lead to 2-0 in the 24th minute.

In the 25th minute, Travis Waleryszak managed to kick a ball out of Mt. Hope’s defensive zone to prevent another Quaker opportunity and just seconds at the other end of the pitch later earned a free kick that went just wide of the goal. In the 32nd minute, Mt. Hope had likely their best chance of the game on a crossing shot from Joseph Scolaro, but that sailed just over the head of a couple Huskies who were driving to the net. One more save from Gamez and Mt. Hope headed into the half down by a pair.

To start the second half, Moses Brown gained possession right away as Gamez was forced to make a couple of easy saves. In the 44th minute, Gamez made a save with the sun in his eyes as he threw his hands up at the last second to shove the ball away. Several minutes later, though, off of a free kick, Moses Brown scored again to increase its lead to 3-0.

Over the next several minutes, Mt. Hope gained slightly more momentum, but failed to earn any quality scoring opportunities. In the 56th minute, Moses Brown had another goal taken away due to an offside penalty as the Quakers proceeded to attempt their ninth corner kick of the game. In the 62nd minute, the Quakers added on another goal to put Mt. Hope in a 4-0 hole. Just seconds later, a free kick from near midfield went in for Moses Brown as the top seeds jumped out to a commanding 5-0 lead.

“The boys need to be proud of their season this year,” Coach DeLemos said of his Huskies. “They worked hard and were focused all year long. They deserved it.”

For Mt. Hope, its season came to a close with a 7-6-5 overall record in league games, including the two playoff wins. Moses Brown's near-perfect campaign ended with a 17-0-1 mark. The lone blemish for the Quakers came in their regular season finale as they and Prout played to a scoreless draw. Among Moses Brown's other wins was a 3-0 victory over the Huskies in mid-September.