BSOC: Freshman Jenison's hat trick propels North Kingston to fourth consecutive win over rival SK10/16/2025 By Steven Brien
SOUTH KINGSTOWN-–North Kingstown High’s leading scorer, freshman Brayden Jenison scored three goals to lead North Kingstown to a 4-2 victory over rival South Kingstown on Thursday night at Curtis Corner Field. The win was the Skippers’ fourth straight against the Rebels. In just under five minutes, Jenison sent the ball soaring over multiple defender’s heads and goalkeeper Matthew Clark’s outstretched hands into the top right corner of the goal, scoring his second goal of the contest, giving the Skippers a commanding 2-0 lead early in the match. “It felt awesome,” Jenison said. “As soon as I scored the second one, I was like, this is my game to score a hat trick.” He did just that with a high-powered boot that soared the ball into the top right of the net in the 61st minute. Jenison has now scored seven goals in 13 games this season, setting a blistering pace for a freshman striker. Yet, he is still focused on winning the state championship at season’s end. “He’s a very skillful player, he’s got good size for a freshman and he really strikes the ball well.” North Kingstown head coach Paul Fanning said. “If he just hits (the ball), it moves all over the place, so it’s tough to stop.” Even Alex Armstrong, South Kingstown’s head coach, was in awe of the performance put on by Jenison tonight. “I’ve been coaching eight years and I can’t remember a time where one player scored five goals on us in a season," he said. Armstrong mentioned how Jenison scored twice in the most recent matchup between the two rivals on Sept. 16, where the Skippers ended up winning, 3-1. North Kingstown’s defense held firm behind seven saves from goalkeeper Ethan Ford to stop any momentum that the Rebels tried to build. Late in the second half, after an Enzo Yamanaka corner, Skippers defender Parker Webber helped make a save by launching the ball out of the goal post with a header to the right side of the field. The Rebels, however, were able to utilize the talent of senior midfielder Sebe Kostrzewa, to score their second and final goal of the contest early in the second half. This cut the deficit down to 4-2 and was Kostrzewa’s second goal of the season. North Kingstown’s high-octane offense was on full display as Matia Bender added the Skippers' fourth goal midway through the second half by powering the ball into the top right of the goal post, just grazing the fingers of goalie Clark. “We’ve been mentally tested. The guys are really fired up and I think they were just looking to attack,” Fanning said. With the win, North Kingstown snapped a three-game losing streak, improving to a .500 record of (6-6-1). The Skippers will face Portsmouth (2-7-2) on Tuesday. South Kingstown (4-5-1) has not won since Sept. 18, when it beat Central Falls. The next match will be against Dartmouth on Saturday.
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 By Danaysha Cherry
NEWPORT -- Rogers High School rallied after giving up a set to rival Middletown for a 3-1 win, overcoming a sloppy start to secure the Division III volleyball victory Friday night. The rivalry matchup drew little fanfare with the Rogers football team hosting its homecoming game later in the evening. That left the volleyball crowd sparse, though the Vikings made the most of their chance to shine improving to 4-7, while Middletown dropped to 0-11. The opening set was where the visitors, Middletown, struggled at the service line. The Vikings used that to their advantage and started gaining momentum, cutting the score closer which forced the Islanders to burn both timeouts. The Vikings won the first set, 25-23. The second set is where Middletown started to find its groove, though. They pulled through with their attacks and on the defensive end which led to a Vikings' timeout. The Islanders pulled away to even the match 1-1 at 25-20 . Vikings senior captain Jezaleigh DeOliveira said after the match that when the Islanders took the second set, she told her teammates to not dwell on the bad, focus on the good, move on and make the next point better. The Vikings responded in the third. Junior Miranda Ventura contributed six aces while DeOliveira added four digs as Rogers limited errors to claim the set, 25-19. The Vikings rode that momentum into the fourth. Ventura and senior Maryann Gallagher both put five kills on the board and senior setter Alana Finn kept Middletown on its toes with some well-timed dumps. Middletown senior Jasmine Marks contributed four kills for the Islanders but still the effort was not enough and Rogers closed out the match with a 25-17 win in the fourth set. Although the Islanders came up short, head coach Dahlia Rafael-Tirado said that she had seen growth within her team. “This is my first year with the girls and I think they’ve improved from the first time we played Rogers,” Rafael-Tirado said. “We actually didn’t take a set on them, so to take a set on them is good improvement.” She pointed out that the team didn't communication and lacked aggressiveness, something it will work on in the next match as it continues to search for its first victory. Rogers is also adjusting to new leadership with first-year head coach Lindsay Agvent and assistant coach Julia Damore. Damore said that the transition has been really good thanks to her and Agvent having a lot of experience themselves. “We’re reflecting a lot of how we were coached and what worked for us on them,” she said. DeOlivieira said the new staff has already made an impact. “I think that our new coaches are great and probably one of the best coaches I’ve had,” she said. Although this was a victory for the Vikings, there are still things that need to be worked on. “I think they get in their heads a lot. I think them getting down on themselves and digging themselves in a little bit of a hole is the hardest part,” Damore said. “At times they can be their own worst enemy.” The Vikings' record is 4-7. They will return home on Tuesday Oct. 7 and face the top team in the division, Ponaganset, at 6:30 p.m. |
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