Knights Battleground Week 1: Check out what you missed to kick-off the 2024 Season

Women's, Men's Soccer return to action, a hat-trick, and Volleyball on the horizon.

September 16, 2024

Women’s Soccer

Coming into the season with a national ranking of #7, the Lady Knights looked to begin their 2024 Campaign against Southern Maine on 9/7. A rifle of a goal by Abby Stinnette in the first half put the Knights in the lead early on. Then, halfway through the second half, the Seawolves gained momentum and went on a scoring run, scoring 3 goals as a team in a span of just over 12 minutes. This would put the Knights off to a 0-1 start.

On Wednesday, they traveled to Holyoke Community College for a 4 PM matchup. They were looking for their first win of the season. The Knights cruised to victory behind goals from Kylie Brito, Abby Stinnette, and Herlinda Guiterez for a final score of 3-0. It was a hard-fought victory on the road, and the first win for the Knights.

This past weekend the Knights welcomed Bunker Hill to Campus. The offense exploded for Rhode Island, scoring 6 goals on 4 assists in a 6-1 rout of the Bulldogs. The offense was led by Herlinda Guiterez who put on a scoring clinic with a hat-trick. Abby Stinnette added to her season total (3) with a goal, while Ashanty Flores and Mayah Santos added a goal, their first of the season. Kassidy Sisco (2), Kylie Brito (1) andHailee Manteiga (1) all had assists for the Knights.

With two wins in a row, the Knights have now climbed to #6 in the National polls.

Women’s Soccer will play Wednesday, 9/18, at Quinsigamond Community College at 4PM, then will play host to North Country Community College on Sunday, 9/22, scheduled for a 1 PM kickoff.

Please Join us in Celebrating Hispanic Hertiage Month with a taste of delicious Hispanic cuisine from Pa’l Monte Food Truck during the Women’s Soccer game on Tuesday, September 24th, and the Men’s Soccer game on Wednesday, September 25th from 3:30 – 5:30 PM.

Men’s Soccer

The CCRI men's soccer team welcomed Southern Maine Community College to the Flanagan Campus in Lincoln on Saturday, 9/7 for the first game of the season. It was a beautiful day on the Flanagan Campus. The Knights had a solid first half, keeping an even playing field. The efforts started with a solid defensive line led by sophomore Tyler Pendergast and freshman Braiden Corbett. Freshman, Cole Carreiro and Nichols Pires also contributed to the solid backline for the first half of the game. Returning players, Andrew Jackson and Ethan Paiva worked hard to gain control of the midfield throughout the game. At the forward position, last year's leading scorer, Sebastian Velez was back in his position looking to start his goal count this year. In net for the Knights was freshman, Botan Bakir. The Knights had some chances in the game but were unable to finish. Twenty minutes into the second half, after a mistake in the midfield, Cristo Lembissa from the Seawolves broke loose and was able to put one past the Knights keeper. With 5 minutes left in the game Cristo Lembissa put another shot past the Knights defense and keeper. The Knights had some more chances to equalize but they could not come back. The final score was 2-0, and the Knights dropped to 0-1 on the season.

On Tuesday, 9/10, the men's soccer team welcomed Bunker Hill Community College to the Lincoln campus on another perfect fall day. Andrew Jackson and Ethan Paiva anchored the middle with Freshman, Jose Reynoso in front of them trying to push into the offensive third. Coach Toro is working on increasing their connectivity at this point in the season so they can create offense and feed Devin Cabral and Elijah Cruz on the flanks.

Sebastian Velez, another returning player from last year continued to look for his first goal of this season as the forward for the Knights. Bunker Hill struck first after their forward was brought down in the penalty box during the first half. A.Camora from Bunker Hill struck the penalty kick past Knights goalkeeper Botan Bakir which gave Bunker Hill the 1-0 lead going into the half.

In the second half, the Knights did show some positive signs and had some services into the area from Andrew Jackson and Tyler Pendergast. Braiden Corbett attempted a diving header that went just wide of the goal. With about 25 minutes left in the game Bunker Hill struck again, with a goal by J. Baptiste making the score 2-0. The Knights did show some fight and kept trying to push the ball forward but were not able to find the net.

“The players kept fighting until the final whistle," Coach Toro said. "This is a good mentality to have as the team works on developing their chemistry early in the season."

The final score was 2-0 and Bunker Hill took the victory. Rhode Island falls to 0-2.

This past Saturday, 9/14, the CCRI Men's soccer team welcomed the Northern Essex Community College to the Lincoln campus in a rematch of last year's playoffs. CCRI came out and looked composed for the first 10 minutes of the game. Coach Toro has been trying to work on the team's ability to possess the ball for a extended period of time. CCRI continues to improve in this area. Northern Essex had a strong offensive weapon in # 10, Jadiel Bomfim. At the 16th minute, Bomfim began his scoring by putting Northern Essex up 1-0. Bomfim would score 4 goals by the end of the match. The game was 4-0 by halftime. Northern Essex added three more goals in the second half. CCRI was able to get one goal at the end of the game, when Victor Pedroza was able to run by two defenders and put one away for the Knights. The final score would be 7-1, as CCRI falls to 0-3.

CCRI's next game is scheduled for Tuesday, 9/17/24, for a 3:30pm kick-off as they will be traveling to Boston to play Bunker Hill again for the second time this season.

Week 1 Player Spotlight: Herlinda Guiterez

Sophomore Herlinda Guiterez is off to an extremely hot start to the season. Over 2 games, Guiterez has tallied 4 goals, including a hat-trick in a 6-1 win over Bunker Hill last weekend. As a freshman, Guiterez appeared in 8 games, starting 6 of them, and tallying 8 goals and 2 assists during that time. She looks to continue that success this season and is already halfway there. Her lightning speed on the field is something to keep an eye on for the #6 Nationally Ranked Knights.

Women’s Volleyball

Women’s Volleyball is almost back! They begin their season this Saturday, September 21st with a Tri-Match at Bunker Hill. They will play Bunker Hill first and then Bristol Community College at the same site. Last season, the Knights went 11-6 and reached the District Championship match.