Tigers Run Out Of Time vs. Clippers [VIDEO]

PROVIDENCE – In the end, the game clock and a five-minute lapse in the second half proved to be Tiverton‘s worst enemies, as the lost 12-10 in the Division II girls’ lacrosse title game to Cumberland at Rhode Island College.

With 20:45 left in the game, senior captain Kara Lotz assisted on a goal by junior Jacqueline Wilson, giving Tiverton a 7-6 lead. It was the last lead the Tigers would hold, as they went scoreless for about nine minutes.

At that point, the top-seeded Cumberland Clippers rallied, scoring five straight goals over the next six minutes. Game MVP Chloe Andrews had two goals and an assist for the Clippers in this stretch, and finished with four goals.

Samantha Welchman finally broke the scoring drought with 11:12 left, but Cumberland answered with two more goals. With 9:34 remaining, Tiverton trailed 11-8.

Lotz scored twice more, with 6:40 and 5:22 left, and it looked like momentum was back on Tiverton’s side. However, Cumberland won the ensuing faceoff and scored 12 seconds later.

In the final 5:10, Tiverton only got one shot on goal, and struggled to wrest possession away from Cumberland. The Clippers played conservatively and passed the ball around, killing off the game clock.

With the win on Sunday, the two teams flip-flopped narratives from last year. The win completes an undefeated Division II season for Cumberland. The Clippers also won a Division II title in 2007. In 2011, Tiverton went 14-0 in the regular season and .

Game Marred by Rowdy Fans, Complaints About Officiating

With 13:26 left in the second half, complaints about the game and the officiating on the apart of Tiverton fans went from bad to ugly.

On the field, a Tiverton goal was waived off. According to the game referees, the follow-up motion of a Tiverton player’s stick struck a Cumberland girl in the face. The Cumberland player was done for several minutes.

However, while the girl laid on the field and was treated by coaches, Tiverton fans kept up with their officiating complaints. One screamed to the girl on the field, “Just stay down!”

After the girl was helped off the field, referees had the public address announcer read off a warning statement. Spectators were told they would be ejected if any more negative comments were heard, and they reminded to stay positive and to cheer for their team.

Following the game, a group of about three to five Tiverton students chanted before and during the awards ceremony.

Shortly before, while the Cumberland team celebrated and gestured to their fans in the stands, the group of Tiverton students shouted, “Give the refs a trophy, they earned it!”

During the individual Cumberland introductions for the awards ceremony, the same group started a “ref-fer-rees” chant, as well as saying, “Why don’t you give the refs a medal?” During the Tiverton portion, they yelled, “The real winners!”

The majority of the fouls did go against the Tigers, however, they also played more physically throughout the game in an attempt to counter Cumberland’s passing and speed.

Field conditions also probably played a factor. While it didn’t rain during the game, it was in jeopardy of being called off because of heavy rains throughout warm-ups and in the last 10 minutes of the Barrington-Moses Brown tilt. The result was a sloppier, quicker-playing field, and much more contact between the teams than the Division I final.

Patch Goes 0-for-3, Brackets Go All-Chalk

In the two other games at Rhode Island College on Sunday afternoon, schools in Patch towns went winless, for a combined 0-3 record. All three winners on Sunday were also the top seeds in their respective divisions.

Before Tiverton vs. Cumberland, Narragansett lost 12-6 to Smithfield in the boys’ Division III final. Barrington lost 14-10 to Moses Brown in the Division I girls’ state championship.

However, something does have to give tonight – Both South Kingstown and East Greenwich have Patch sites.