The Cranston East-North Providence boys lacrosse co-op fell to visiting North Smithfield in a 15-14 thriller on Monday afternoon in a Division IV showdown.

The Bolts had the final two shots of the game but they would hit off the post and the Northmen would hold on for the win.

James Dufault led East-NP with five goals and an assist while Robson Pinto added four goals and an assist. Shep Rasmussen added three goals while Chace Machado recorded two goals and an assist in the loss.

The Bolts fell to 3-6 and have four games remaining in the regular season. Although the East-NP roster has plenty of upperclassmen, few have played lacrosse prior to this season, making the roster less experienced than most in the division.

The co-op has been led by captains Dufault, Pinto, Antonello Lucchetti and David White, as well as first-year goalie Alex Roderick.

“We don’t have experience. We started out slow but I would tell the kids, ‘One step at a time on the ladder.’ We would make mistakes and shoot ourselves in the foot, sometimes with basic skills like passing and catching. Spring is tough, it’s so fast, but after (the North Smithfield game), it shows that we can play with all the top dogs. There are still some wins out there for us,” said East-NP coach Matt Davis.

All eight teams qualify for the playoffs in Division IV and the Bolts currently sit in sixth place. North Smithfield sits ahead in fourth place, so the Bolts were excited to prove a point despite the defeat.

“If it wasn’t for a couple mistakes, one or two penalties, we probably would have won that game. I’m not sure if (North Smithfield) thought that we would just lie down, but our kids made good passes, caught the ball and took good shots. That’s what lacrosse is. Earlier in the season we struggled to pass and catch, we just couldn’t get the shots to go in. To be at 3-6, that’s a successful season. It takes guts for them to come out here and to learn a new sport,” Davis said.

The next two games will be the team’s toughest stretch, taking on unbeaten Rogers then second-place Lincoln. The Bolts will then wrap up the regular season with games against Classical and Scituate.

Davis is looking for his team to use the momentum to its advantage and to hit its stride by playoff time.

“This absolutely raises the bar,” Davis said. “I told them, ‘There shouldn’t be any game less than this the rest of the season. Sure, Rogers is in first place and Lincoln is in second, but let’s give them a run for their money.’”