Moses Brown’s Chloe Schmitz, who scored four goals in the second half last night and five for the game, chases the ball ahead of North Kingstown’s Taylor Bastien.

The Providence Journal / Ruben W. Perez

NORTH KINGSTOWN –– Chloe Schmitz knew Moses Brown School had a chance to do something special last night –– hand North Kingstown its first loss of the season.

With her team trailing, 6-4, early in the second half, she took it upon herself to make that something special happen.

It was a lofty goal, but the senior honorable-mention All-America came through in the clutch by scoring five goals, including three in a row in a two-minute span early in the second half to put the Quakers ahead, 7-6.

Moses Brown held on the rest of the way to deliver North Kingstown its first loss, 12-9, and shake up the Division I standings.

“This is huge,” Moses Brown coach Jeanne Carhart said of the victory.

North Kingstown didn’t have an answer for Schmitz, who scored four of her goals in the second half.

“She’s a special player,” Carhart said. “She was an All-American honorable mention last year and she’s just a special player. You can tell her, ‘Do what you need to do,’ and she’ll do it. She’s fast. She’s got good stick skills. She’s a special player.”

Schmitz gave the Quakers their biggest lead of the game, 10-6, with a goal in the 34th minute, and the Quakers withstood a late North Kingstown surge to close the gap atop the Division I standings.

“She’s very difficult to stop when she gets rolling and she got rolling,” North Kingstown coach Keith Higgins said of Schmitz.

Schmitz wasn’t the only player from Moses Brown to have a good game. Leah Saris scored three times, Jessica Rubine scored twice, and Elisabeth Jones and Lauren O’Brien each scored a goal.

Moses Brown freshman goalie Caroline Burke made 11 saves, including three in the final minutes of the game when the Skippers were trying to rally.

“She’s just done a phenomenal job,” Carhart said.

Taylor Bastien (two goals) and Sydney Ferguson, who will be playing for the U-19 USA team that will play the Czech Republic and Italy in July, and Rebecca Tiernan, Kate Field, Anya Colucci, and Michelle Babat (two goals) each scored at least one goal for the Skippers.

“I’m proud of the girls,” Higgins said. “They showed a lot of guts. We were in this situation the first time when we played them too and we came back, so the belief was there. The effort was there. We just weren’t crisp and we lost a bunch of one-on-one battles that ultimately turned into them marching down the field.”

There are now three teams –– Moses Brown (7-1), North Kingstown (8-1) and seven-time defending state champion Barrington (6-1) –– with only one loss on the season.

“The parity in the league is tremendous,” Carhart said. “I think on any given night any team can win and everybody has to play their best every single game. It’s a competitive league.”

This is Moses Brown’s inaugural season in the Interscholastic League. The Quakers have had plenty of lacrosse experience playing in the SENE, however. Moses Brown won the SENE Division I title last year.

“The girls are thrilled to be playing in the Interscholastic League this year,” Carhart said. “We had a great season last year and after the first game they were ready to prove that they can compete in this league.”

Moses Brown is considered to be one of the favorites to win the state title, along with Barrington, which has won every state championship since girls lacrosse became an Interscholastic League sport in 2001, and North Kingstown, which has been to the state title game four times in the last seven seasons.

MOSES BROWN (12): Chloe Schmitz 5, Leah Saris 3, Jess Rubine 2, Lauren O’Brien, Lizi Jones; assists - O’Brien, Rubine, Zoe Katzen. NORTH KINGSTOWN (9): Anye Colucci 3, Syd Ferguson 2, Michelle Babet 2, Taylor Bastien, Kathryn Field; assist - Ferguson. Halftime - NK, 5-4. Saves - Caroline Burke, MB, 11; Abby Palmer, NK, 11.Girls Lacrosse

Moses Brown

12

N. Kingstown

9

More Stories...