Vets stays perfect with 4-0 victory over Bain

Warwick Beacon ·

Warwick middle school sports are in their inaugural season, but one couldn’t tell by looking at the Warwick Vets girls’ soccer team.

The ’Canes are off to an 8-0 start after taking care of Bain on Tuesday afternoon, 4-0, on the road and increased their subdivision-best goal differential to plus-28. Alanna Coffie bookended the scoring while Gabby McGowan and Lily Brown each added a goal.

“Being new to the league as far as middle school sports is concerned, this is just an example where consolidation was a good thing,” Vets head coach Nicole Kenney said. “I had a lot of choices in being able to put this team together. The decision to make the team was really, really difficult for me because I did see so much talent come in.”

Maddy D’Amato helped form a wall on defense, keeping Bain out of the box for most of the first half. She was emblematic of the ’Canes’ toughness, even taking a ricochet off the face in the waning minutes but refusing to come out of the game.

“She refuses to come out, she’s so tough,” Kenney said. “She plays a couple of different sports and she just came out, I’m not sure how much playing experience she’s had in the past, I know she played rec. and some competitive, but to see her come out on this field, it’s impressive. It’s great to watch her play, and she loves the challenge of playing defense.”

Vets had some trouble advancing past midfield in the opening minutes, but eventually it found some momentum.

A Bain miscue during a goal kick allowed the ball to trickle out to Coffie, who darted past her defender to scoop it up and put it in the net.

Vets would add another in the 16th minute after another defensive lapse. Goalkeeper Zasia Barron had trouble collecting a corner kick, and it rolled just in front of the goal line to McGowan. She tapped it in to double the lead, and the defense took over from there.

Bain stepped up its offensive intensity over the final 44 minutes, but the ’Canes’ back line was there to answer the call every time. Sophia Schobel and D’Amato helped anchor the defense, forcing dangerous loose balls out of the box to prevent Bain from capturing any momentum.

“When they do [get tested], they know each other, they can read each other and get [the ball] out quickly,” Kenney said. “We definitely got tested more in the second half, but that’s usually what ends up happening when the team warms up.”

Brown was able to add another with some dazzling footwork to begin the second half. She was able to dribble amid three defenders before firing a shot across the box between them, zeroing in on the top left corner of the net.

“She’s just a phenomenal athlete,” Kenney said about Brown. “She never wants to come out of the game. She never wants to give up, she wants to keep trying, keep improving herself. She’s constantly learning.”

Karol Matamoros had one of Bain’s best opportunities to strike back. She collected a misguided clear attempt at the top of the box, but the Vets defense closed in to neutralize the threat. Goalkeeper Janelle Mixner was also aggressive when she needed to be, meeting the ball before any Bain forward could.

Coffie added her second for good measure in the closing minutes, securing Vets’ second consecutive four-goal victory.

The win kicked off a four-game road trip for the ’Canes, which will continue today at Park View (0-7) at 4 p.m. Vets sits atop the Central-East division by nine points over second-place Western Hills.

“We had a lot of home games and now we’re traveling more, so that excitement I think derails them a little bit,” Kenney said about keeping the team focused with an undefeated record. “I say this before every game, ‘Don’t take anything for granted,’ because as [they]’ve gotten better as the season’s gone on, the other teams have gotten better, too.”