The Townies have twice as many wins this season as the last four. How'd it happen? Their new lax attitude

EAST PROVIDENCE — Her team was leading by nine goals, but Haley McCusker was not pleased with what she was seeing.

“We know we can drive, girls,” the East Providence girls lacrosse coach shouted at her team midway through the second half against Mount St. Charles. “No one is allowed to shoot on the drive for the rest of the game.”

It seemed counterintuitive because when the Townies drove through the Mounties' defense, it seemed to be rather effective.

But this is a new era of East Providence girls lacrosse. McCusker and the Townies aren’t just trying to win games this season — they’re trying to build a program that will win games in the future as well.

“It’s good to get building because lacrosse for [East Providence] at least, it’s not something we’re used to,” EP senior Olivia Williams said, after scoring five goals in the Townies’ 18-9 win over Mount on Tuesday. “We need to lay a foundation for the upcoming people.”

“It’s great watching the program grow and continue and that’s where it starts,” McCusker said. “They haven’t really had a coach yet who played the game and knows the game, so we’re trying to bring them up.”

Tuesday’s win over Mount improved the Townies to 8-0 in Division III this spring, which doubled their win total from the previous four seasons combined. Since starting girls lacrosse in 2008, East Providence has had four seasons over .500. The Townies were a combined 0-25 in 2018 and ’19 before winning two games last spring.

Those wins were crucial for jump-starting the team heading to this season. The lessons McCusker — who scored 284 goals playing for Pilgrim before moving on to Coker College in South Carolina — taught the team were sticking. With an influx of freshmen on this year’s roster, East Providence has been a bona fide force for maybe the first time in program history.

“It seems like we’re helping each other out,” said freshman Izzy Tavares, who scored four goals in Tuesday’s win. “It’s a new community and a new game for a lot of the girls and it’s great.”

“We really keyed in on playing better last year, really worked on the correct form, the correct skillset. This year they’ve been able to take that and play with their hearts,” McCusker said. “They’ve been phenomenal with sportsmanship and their play, but they’ve really been able to understand the game now.”

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East Providence showed it all off in Tuesday’s win. Williams and Tavares had big games, and East Providence also got four goals from junior Ryleigh Grant, three from junior Emma Nordquist and two from sophomore Kenna Wigginton.

It wasn’t just that the Townies scored in bunches, but it was how they scored. After McCusker yelled for her team to work on their passing, their next three goals all came after players made great cuts to get open in front of the net.

When McCusker shouts instruction, the players understand it’s for a purpose and it's why they’re having success now and should contend going forward.

“We do need it. She’s great and she always pushes us to be the best we can be,” Tavares said. “She always strives for the next step, to always do better and always achieve the next goal.”

The Townies' next goal is to try to beat North Providence on Saturday. While there is a larger goal, EP also has a very specific goal in mind for this season as well.

“We have the potential to win it all, but we really have to take it day by day,” Williams said. “It’s building, but Coach is looking to win it all.”

“Obviously the championship, that would be great if we won it all,” Tavares said. “But our goal is to just win game by game and play great.”

Despite the loss, Mount maintains similar goals.

The Mounties are now 1-6, but they’ve been in more games than they haven’t. Mount knew Tuesday’s battle with undefeated EP was going to be tough, but wasn’t letting it shake team morale as the second half of the season rolls on.

“You can’t play negatively,” said Mount’s Kate Shea, who scored three goals in the loss. “If you play negatively, you look worse, so if you play with a positive attitude you can not always have the best outcome but still have an outcome you can learn from.”

The Mounties are back in action at home against Johnston on Thursday where a win will be needed for their postseason hopes. There won’t be time to let the loss linger, but that really hasn’t been a problem all season.

“That’s our team mentality,” Shea said. “If we don’t have a next-game mentality, we’re never going to get anywhere.”

Despite their standing, East Providence maintains the same mentality. There’s a lot of the season left and while the team has been riding high, the Townies don’t want to slip up.

After all, this season means a little more than ones they’ve played previously.

“Last year was their first two wins — they’ve never seen a win before last year and now they’re undefeated,” McCusker said. “My expectations are higher for them … and while this wasn’t our best game skillwise, we’re going to keep building one day at a time.”

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI girls lacrosse: East Providence rolls over Mount St. Charles