By ERIC BENEVIDES
Sports writer
PAWTUCKET – The magic Lincoln High weaved through last year’s run to the Division II state championship appears to be alive and kicking again this season.
For the third time this season, the Lions found themselves being dominated for the better part of a game with three-time Division II regular-season champion Shea High, but unlike the 5-2 and 4-1 defeats they suffered during the season, the Lions were able to bus home with the upset of the state tournament on Thursday afternoon.
Junior forward Cody Furtado scored a pair of goals in the first 22 minutes of the second half to wipe out a one-goal deficit, and the Lions’ defense made their slim lead stand up by holding off a furious Raider attack in the closing 18 minutes before celebrating a hard-fought 2-1 quarterfinal-round victory at the McKinnon-Alves Complex.

By BRENDAN McGAIR

Sports writer

By ERIC BENEVIDES

Sports writer

WOONSOCKET -- Central Falls High’s final regular-season home game of the year took place on Mount St. Charles Academy’s upper field on Monday afternoon, but that didn’t stop the Warriors from feeling right at home in winning their sixth straight match.
Junior striker John Osorio produced his first multi-goal game of the year for the Warriors, who did all of their scoring in the final 25 minutes of the first half and ended up with a 4-0 victory that cemented the Division I-North champions’ best regular season in six years.
Not only did the victory boost the Warriors’ win streak, it also allowed them to head into the postseason with a 12-4-2 mark and wraps up the second half of their schedule with an 8-0-1 record that saw them allow just four goals and post five shutouts.
“We beat some good teams along the way,” offered C.F. veteran coach Bobby Marchand, whose squad has also totaled 21 goals in its last five games. “We are peaking and we are peaking at a very good time. We have a good goalie and a good defense, and while we’re not a big scoring team, we’re scoring enough to win.”
The Warriors, who will be the fourth seed in the playoffs, will now take on the survivor of tonight’s opening-round duel between fifth-seeded Bishop Hendricken High and 12th-seeded Coventry High on Thursday night at 6 p.m. at the Higginson Avenue Complex – provided the field is in playable shape.
While the Warriors cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Knotty Oakers in the middle of their recent unbeaten streak, they also suffered their worst setback of the season in the form of a 6-2 loss to the Hawks back on Sept. 24, which was the last time C.F. has tasted defeat.
“That was the worst defeat that we’ve had in five or six years,” confessed Marchand. “but we’re hoping that we get a chance to avenge that and then advance to the semifinals.”
While the Warriors head into the playoffs on a roll, the Mounties, who are the 11th seed, venture into the postseason in a slump. The defeat was the fifth in the last sixth games for MSC, which concludes its regular season with a 6-10-2 mark.
To make matters worse for the Mounties, they have to trek down Routes 95 and 4 tonight for their first-round opener at 6 p.m. against sixth-seeded South Kingstown High.
The Mounties turned in a strong effort in a 1-0 setback to the Rebels in their lone meeting on Oct. 10, but that game took place on MSC’s smaller playing surface on its lower field. Tonight, they will have to contend with the Rebels on their larger home turf at the Curtis Corner Middle School.
“South Kingstown is going to be tough,” said MSC coach Miles Henderson, whose team posted a 3-2 win over the Warriors in their initial Sept. 8 meeting. “They’re very physical and well-coached and they have a lot of talent on their team. It’s going to be a challenge, but I definitely give us good odds.”
Both teams were supposed to play last Monday afternoon, but due to that day’s inclement weather and both sides already facing their share of makeup matches during the week, the contest was moved to Saturday, but again, Mother Nature refused to cooperate.
“This was the only day we could play,” offered Henderson. “It’s tough when you have to play back-to-back games, but unfortunately you have to play the cards that you are dealt.”
Yesterday’s forecast brought plenty of sun and a gorgeous fall day for outdoor activities, but the weekend’s heavy rain made the middle of the Warriors’ field a slippery quagmire and forced the contest to be played on the Mounties’ campus.
Nevertheless, junior standout Victor Parra netted the only goal the Warriors needed at the 15-minute mark by tapping in a pass from Diego Giraldo. The goal was Parra’s division-leading 15th of the season and ninth in his last five games.
Osorio’s goals came within less than three minutes of each other, as he found the back of the net off an assist from Emmett Dixon at 25:10 and again with the help from Francisco Catano at the 28-minute mark, and Olavo Monteiro concluded the scoring by scoring off a pass from German Santos with 2:20 to play in the half.
While Marchand was pleased with the triumph, he was also equally proud to report after the game that his team went through the entire regular season without picking up a single card.
Last season, the Warriors picked up just one yellow card, which was the second fewest in the state behind Portsmouth’s zero, but this season, it was the Patriots who ended up with just one card – ironically, during their 3-1 loss to the Warriors last Wednesday.
“We are the only high school team in the state that went through the whole season with no cards,” reported Marchand, who has never received a card in his 23 years of coaching. “I’m very proud of this team for winning the division and receiving a bye. But we have a very nice team, and to know that we also have very nice kids is a coach’s dream.
“I remember three or four years ago, we got 14 cards, and if we got one more, we would have got kicked out of the playoffs. Since then, (assistant) coach (Carl) Africo and myself have made it a point that while we want to win, we also want to be true sportsmen, and we wanted to combined those two things.”
“I have to compliment C.F.,” admitted Henderson. “This is the second year in a row that they have shown tremendous sportsmanship in terms of the count of their yellow cards. That shows a tremendous amount of discipline on their part, and I have a ton of respect for coach Marchand and everything that he does over there at C.F.”
***
Mount St. Charles        0 – 0 – 0
Central Falls               4 – 0 – 4
First half: CF – Victor Parra (Diego Giraldo), 15:00; CF – John Osorio (Emmett Dixon), 25:10; CF – John Osorio (Francisco Catano), 28:00; CF – Olavo Monteiro (German Santos), 37:40.
Second half: No scoring.
Shots on goal: Mount St. Charles 3, Central Falls 14. Goalie saves: MSC – Brendan Combes (11 saves), CF – Bryan Barrios (3 saves).
 

By TERRY NAU

Sports editor

LINCOLN – There’s a new football team in town that everyone is talking about.
Coached by Mike Leech and Jeff Bernier, this Flag Football squad features six players from Lincoln High’s varsity football squad along with several Special Olympians from the Blackstone Valley, including Leech’s 21-year-old son Steven.
The squad has been practicing for six weeks, preparing for Sunday’s New England Regional Special Olympics Flag Football Tournament at Gillette Stadium.
“Special Olympics has never had a national flag football program,” Leech, an assistant coach at LHS, was saying on Monday. “Some states have initiated flag football programs and leagues in recent years. I got a call from Megan Hoffman in September. She’s involved with Special Olympics in Massachusetts and told me about the tournament, which brings in teams from all over New England. That’s when we decided to put a team together to represent Rhode Island.”
The Rhode Island team will wear uniforms similar in style to what Lincoln High’s squad uses during its varsity football season. Minus the shoulder pads, of course.
“The uniforms are arriving this week,” Leech said. “We can’t wait to see them.”
In Special Olympics Flag Football, five-player teams match up against one another. Two of the players are unified partners and the other three are Special Olympians. There are 12 players permitted on each team’s roster with everyone getting a chance to play.
“We have six unified partners from the Lincoln High varsity football team,” Leech said. “My son Scott is one of the six, along with Anthony Palombo, Kyle Jackson, Anthony Joyce, Billy Tower and Asjed Hussain. It has been a rewarding experience for all of the kids. The high school players have to learn a different kind of blocking, for instance, where we sort of screen off players from the other team. There’s no aggression in flag football.
“I think some of the high school players were a little surprised at first at the skills the Special Olympians possessed,” Leech continued. “My son Scott sort of knew all along because he grew up with Special Olympians. He knew what they were capable of doing.”
Sunday’s tournament hopefully will bring more attention to flag football from the national Special Olympics committee.
“The Kennedy family originally was the driving force behind Special Olympics,” Leech pointed out. “They all played (touch) football but flag football  -- for some reason -- never became a part of Special Olympics. There’s been a push the last couple of years to get the sport included.
“This is the first time a team from Rhode Island has been involved in a tournament,” Leech said. “By next year, we hope to have a league in Rhode Island with 10 or more teams involved.”