'I actually did it,' says Gavin Claxton on his D-IV title-winning goal for Mt. Pleasant
PROVIDENCE — Gavin Claxton needed to take one last look just to be sure.
The shot left his right foot and found the back of the net. He took a quick picture with his mind, turned to a screaming section of Mount Pleasant fans and raised his arms.
Then the senior midfielder looked back toward the net at RIC's Alumni Stadium, realizing what he’d just done. The Kilties had never brought home a boys soccer championship until Sunday, one secured thanks to his lone strike against Woonsocket.
Claxton and his teammates cemented their legacy just around the corner from their downtown campus. Mount Pleasant needed overtime to slip past Woonsocket, 1-0, and claim the Division IV crown.
“It just didn’t feel real,” Claxton said. “I hit the goal, I turned around, everyone was screaming. I was like, ‘I actually did it.’
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“But it felt good. We deserved this after last season.”
This was a program that won just two matches over the last three regular seasons. To say it rose from the ashes would be to assume there was anything to burn down in the first place. The Kilties had reached just one final since their 1970 founding, and that was a defeat in 1991.
“It’s just the mesh,” Mount Pleasant coach James Peters said. “The group of kids, they were unbelievable. They worked hard.”
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Penalty kicks loomed for the first time this weekend until Claxton made his contribution. He had a left-footed shot saved by Nathan Brunelle just seconds earlier, a diving stop to the keeper’s left. The ball eventually found its way back to Claxton in the center of the penalty area, and he had better luck with the second attempt.
“It felt like the end of hard work,” Claxton said. “It felt good. Amazing.”
The Villa Novans (11-3-3) wouldn’t have seen extra time without Brunelle, who made a fantastic stop midway through the second half to deny a clear chance. Anderson Rodriguez slipped a pass through three defenders to Denis Lopez, and he was alone on the right wing. Brunelle came out to cut the angle and managed to get his left foot on the shot toward the near post.
“I did not want to go to a shootout,” Peters said. “I knew they could win it on the field, and that’s what I wanted them to do. And they did it.”
Mount Pleasant (12-1-4) played a pair of 1-1 draws with Woonsocket during the regular season. The Kilties also took note of the semifinal fireworks display the Villa Novans produced, a wild 8-5 victory over Davies. Peters adopted some defensive tactics entering this one, taking attacker Roodley Darius from the front and using him as an extra layer of protection in the defensive midfield.
“We really only had one forward,” Peters said. “Normally we would have had a little more pressure, but I figured we’d play defense first. Try to get that one goal and keep them from scoring.”
WOONSOCKET (0). MOUNT PLEASANT (1): Gavin Claxton.
Halftime — 0-0. End of regulation — 0-0. End of first OT — MP, 1-0. Saves — Nathan Brunelle, W, 9; Reymondo Alvarez, MP, 7.
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Mount Pleasant tops Woonsocket for D-IV boys soccer championship
