BSOC: Freshman Jenison's hat trick propels North Kingston to fourth consecutive win over rival SK

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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