Best yet to come for Tiverton boys lacrosse as injuries take their toll

SCITUATE – After dropping its first two games of the season, there’s really only one question to ask about the Tiverton boys lacrosse team.

How good are the Tigers going to be when they can actually field an entire team for an entire game?

Thursday the scoreboard said Tiverton lost to Scituate 14-8, but what the score doesn’t tell you is the circumstances the Tigers were dealing with. Thanks to injury and off-field circumstances, Tiverton had 10 players dressed on Thursday – a full team – and after an injury early in the game, played a man down and hung tough.

“There’s no moral victories, but I told them you can’t be upset with it,” head coach Shane Parker said. “We played two games this week with eight guys against two quality teams.

“…As we start to get some kids healthy and come back, we’ll get up to 13 or 14 and I know it doesn’t seem like a lot, but for eight to 14 is a monumental jump.”

Tiverton came into this season hungry after struggling down the homestretch of the regular season last spring before Scituate ended its season in the quarterfinals.

Graduation hit the Tigers hard, but they still had a solid core of talent and a star in Miles Cormier, the best attackman in Division IV. That gave Parker reason to think they could contend for a title this season.

But he could never have planned for a start like this.

Parker noticed his roster was depleted in the preseason and had some games moved around as he tried to fill out a roster, but this week decided to jump into play and go with what he had.

The Tigers started the season Monday at North Smithfield and had eight field players and, at some points, only had seven on the field in an eventual 15-7 loss.

“It was frustrating for these kids and we didn’t know when we were going to play games,” Parker said. “… There’s nothing we can do, but we’re not quitters and nobody really wanted to quit.

… Even with nine, we think we can compete with what’s out there in the league.”

Thursday’s game was off to a better start when Parker sent goalie Christian D’Acchioli out on the field with a full nine players in front of him, but before the first quarter ended the Tigers were down a man to injury.

Scituate dominated possession early – Grant Bailey’s play in the circle was a big part of that – and converted chances, taking an 8-0 lead before Tiverton could catch its breath.

The Tigers kept fighting to prevent the game from getting to a running clock situation. Cormier took over the game in the second half, but playing a man down – and, after penalties, two men down – was too much to overcome.

“A little bit at the end, when other guys were dying, I told him just go and make plays,” Parker said. “As we start putting six guys out on the field [on offense] it will take the pressure off of him because we can start running offensive sets. We played a lot of [Thursday] with four out of six on offense and he just kind of goes sometimes.”

The good news is Parker doesn’t expect this to be a problem all season. The situation isn’t ideal, but the players who are out there are going to be in better condition than anyone else in D-IV come playoff time. Tiverton will be battle tested and once bodies start coming back – and we’re talking three or four players, not an army – it should help get the Tigers back on what they hope is a championship path.

“Our short-term goal is to get a full team on the field. Once that happens, we should definitely be a playoff team,” Parker said. “There’s a lot of good teams in this league and when we’re full strength, we can play with any of them.”

Vikings’ quest

The Rogers boys lacrosse team fared better against Scituate this week than its area rival did and sit at .500 in Division IV two games into the season.

Monday was a nice bounceback win for the Vikings, who opened the season at North Smithfield on April 2 and took a 9-3 defeat. The defense wasn’t quite as strong Monday at home against Scituate, but the Vikings did enough on the offensive end to pull off a 14-13 win.

Rogers is currently scheduled to play one game next week, taking on the Cranston/Johnston co-op. The Vikings will cross the bridge to take on the Thundercats on Monday night before getting the next week off. Rogers is scheduled to play three games the following week.

Portsmouth, road warriors

The schedule hasn’t been ideal for the Portsmouth boys lacrosse team, which opened its season with three straight road games.

Last week the Patriots took on Hendricken and suffered a 15-5 loss to the Hawks, who have raised a few eyebrows with their strong start in the early goings of the Division I season.

Portsmouth was back on the road Monday at Mount St. Charles and battled, but fell short in its search for its first win in a 13-12 defeat.

Next week Portsmouth is set to play two home games, starting with North Kingstown Tuesday at 5:30p.m. The Skippers are 1-2 this season with a  one-goal win over East Greenwich in its opener. The Patriots follow the NK game with a matchup against 10-time defending champ La Salle on Friday night.

Defending D-II champs struggling

After winning the Division II title with a senior-laden team last spring, the Middletown boys lacrosse team knew it was going to suffer from growing pains this season.

The start hasn’t been ideal. The Islanders opened hosting Pilgrim in a rematch of the D-II title game and the Patriots got their revenge with a 15-6 win. Middletown followed with a 16-8 loss at Prout on Tuesday and Thursday, couldn’t quite keep up with Chariho in a 13-11defeat.

Middletown has three games next week that could help get the season turned around. The Islanders start at Coventry on Monday night, travel to play South Kingstown on Wednesday, then host Cranston West on Thursday night.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Newport County boys lacrosse teams open season with uneven start