By ALEX SPONSELLER

The Johnston girls soccer team is looking to rebound after dropping back to back games against Providence Country Day and St. Ray’s. PCD topped the Lady Panthers 3-0 while St. Ray’s took a 5-0 decision.
“In the first half (against St. Ray’s) we held up pretty good, we were marking up and we told them that they were going to have a strong offensive presence. We only played this team once last season so we really stressed the importance of marking up. Unfortunately, we had one breakdown which led to others at the end of the first half,” said Johnston coach Lauren Fagundes.
St. Ray’s scored a pair of late goals in the first half to take the 2-0 lead into the break and would roll throughout the second half.
“We lost our momentum there right before halftime. We lost some steam too, we’ve been battling injuries, so we need to figure out rotations and our bench,” Fagundes said.
The team fell to 3-8 on the season with five games to play. Fagundes believes that more urgency on offense will help the Panthers collect a few wins and make a push toward a postseason berth.
“Scoring early and scoring first. That changes the shape of the game and it changes their mentality when they’re playing. It keeps that momentum,” said Fagundes. “Our defensive lines work really hard. We are one-sided in a lot of these games so we need more shooting, more passing. We click but we click late.”
The Panthers faced Westerly on Thursday, but the results were not available at press time.
The Panthers’ most recent win came in the form of a 3-2 victory over Hope. Alexia DiLorenzo scored a pair of goals while Ava Melo added another. Goalie Ava Waterman recorded 12 saves in net.