By ERIC BENEVIDES

Sports writer

WOONSOCKET --- For the past three weeks, Shea High has played some superb soccer and rolled off five straight wins to lock down third place in the Division IV-North ranks.
On Friday afternoon, the Raiders brought that win streak to Woonsocket to battle the top squad in the division, unbeaten defending state champ Woonsocket High, which handed them their worst loss of the season, a 6-0 setback, back on Sept. 9 at Max Read Field.
This time, the Raiders gave the Novans a much better game in their rematch at the Rivers Edge Recreation Complex, but goals from Kristin Cahill and Krislyn Godin allowed the Novans to come away with a 2-0 victory on their ‘Senior Day’ that raised their unbeaten streak (dating back to last season) to 28 games.
The Novans outshot the Raiders, who took the field in that first meeting without two of their top defensive players, by a 16-5 margin and raised their record to 11-0-1, which is two points better than Tolman High (10-1-2) in the standings.
“We got the best of them in the first game because they were shorthanded,” said Novans coach Kathleen Fagnant. “But we had to work for this win. I didn’t expect to blow them out of the water. I knew they were going to play well. Hope’s the No. 1 team in the South and they tied each other, so I knew we were going to have to work hard to earn this.”
The Raiders fell to 9-1-3, with their other loss coming late last month to crosstown rival Tolman High, and they only trailed by a goal through most of the afternoon until Godin doubled the hosts’ lead with her 10th goal of the season 18 minutes into the second half.
“We’re very happy,” added Shea coach Danielle Bishop. “The playoffs are coming and you never know what’s going to happen, so we’re going to just move forward from here and change some things around, and we’ll see what happens.”
The only goal the Novans needed came 11 minutes into the game on Cahill’s 20th goal of the season, the third straight year she has reached the 20-goal mark. Cahill set the team’s record for most career goals on Wednesday in the Novans’ 6-0 win over Bishop Keough High and currently has 81.
While none of the Raiders’ shots seriously threatened Novans netminder Kayla Cullerton, Shea goalie Ashley Carreiro, who did not play in the two teams’ first meeting, was called upon to make a few key saves to keep the gave a one-goal duel, but Godin soon found the back of the net midway into the second half to zap some of the drama out of the game.  
While Fagnant was pleased with the victory, she wasn’t thrilled with her team’s play for most of the game and she let that be known in her post-game thoughts.
“I don’t know if my team was ready to play in the cold, but there were a few people who fundamentally were making mistakes,” said Fagnant. “But we pulled a win off. It wasn’t our greatest game -- I wouldn’t say it was one of our worst, but it wasn’t our best.”
The Novans will play their final three games of the regular season on the road, beginning with a game against fourth-place Central Falls High on Monday and continuing with tests against Davies Tech on Wednesday and a makeup game against Hope on Friday.
 “Our easiest games came in the middle (of the year), and our toughest games are coming toward the end,” said Fagnant. “We’re going to have to work hard. We have three games, so there’s not a lot of practice time, but we’ll get it in and we’ll be ready. They want to go undefeated and they want it bad, so they have to keep playing like they want it.”
The Raiders also have two challenging contests left on their schedule (both in the friendly confines of Max Read Field) before setting their sights on the playoffs. They will take on Tolman on Monday and Central Falls on Wednesday.
“We switched some things around and made the changes that we needed to make in order to make our team better as a whole,” said Bishop, who is anticipating a quarterfinal-round matchup against the second-place team in the South, Rogers High. “The girls are working hard and working better as a team, and they will be ready for the playoffs.”
**
Shea        0 – 0 – 0
Woonsocket    1 – 1 – 2
First half: Kristin Cahill (unassisted), 11:00.
Second half: Krislyn Godin (unassisted), 58:00.
Shots on goal: Shea 5, Woonsocket 16. Goalie saves: S -- Ashley Carreiro (14 saves); W – Kayla Cullerton (5 saves).