Providence Team Helps Narragansett Soccer Player Score His Biggest Goal
Thursday, October 10, 2019
An incident at a Rhode Island high school soccer scrimmage this week has coaches speaking out — for all the right reasons.
Aaron Auslander, who coaches the club soccer team at St. Patrick Academy in Providence, said that his goalie Gabriel Aofolajuwonlo allowed a player at Narragansett High School with special needs to score a goal at the end of a tied game — which ensured that Narragansett won.
Auslander is a seasoned soccer coach, who only just last year joined St. Patrick’s to help guide a newly formed club that did not often have enough players to field a team, practiced in a small field — not a soccer pitch — at a church adjacent to the school, and struggled to find teams willing to scrimmage them.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTA Narragansett alumni - where he also previously coached, Auslander spoke with GoLocalProv about the scrimmage this week that had him telling the teachers and staff at St. Patrick’s that “they should be extremely proud.”
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“I was shocked, really,” said Auslander, of when a shot was taken at the end of the tied game on St. Patrick’s goal — what happened next.
"Goal Heard Across Town"
With the game tied 1-1, Auslander expected his players to make a final push to win the game.
Aofolajuwondo however simply rolled the ball to Narragansett player Matthew Totten, who shot the ball, and scored.
“I swear you could hear it all the way across town,” said Narragansett coach Kevin Kennedy — who was unable to make Monday’s came, but had coached the previous scrimmage where Narragansett prevailed 3-0.
Kennedy said he certainly heard about the unexpected goal after the game, and spoke to the key role that Totten plays on the team.
“Matthew’s been with us for a few years, and I like to say he’s my player assistant coach,” said Kennedy. “We all love having him around and we all take care of him, and he takes care of us. We all laugh and have a great time when he’s around. You can’t have a bad day when you’re with Matthew.”
Kennedy noted that Totten has “scored plenty of goals” in practice, but he believes this was his first goal during a game — which his mom was there to see.
And he’s also known for something else on the team.
“He’s always is best dressed,” said Kennedy.
Schools Coming Together
Auslander said that while the St. Patrick’s club struggles to find teams willing to scrimmage them, that the team — which has grown in now its second year — is always focused on working to improve.
“Last year we trained indoors for a little bit after the season, but when basketball started, we couldn’t anymore,” said Auslander.
“St. Patrick’s, it’s fun. A lot of coaching I’ve done, the kids might have been spoiled, or thought they knew it all,” said Auslander. “These kids show up, they work hard, they want to get better — it’s actually an enjoyable experience.”
Auslander said that Aofolajuwondo had actually played on the field the previous week, but asked Auslander if he could teach him how to play goalie for the next game.
And Kennedy said scrimmaging St. Patrick’s has helped his team, which plays on a recently built turf field.
“Some of the freshman and JV players who don’t get to see much time, this helps them,” said Kennedy. “And after the games, regardless of the score, we do a shoot-out, which the kids look forward to and gives them more practice.”
Letter to School
Auslander sent the following note to St. Patrick’s Dean of Students Charles Toste following the game.
Good morning Charles,
I wanted to send you a quick email regarding an incident that occurred in yesterday's game vs Narragansett. As you know this is the second time we have played Narragansett this season, and in the first game we lost 3-0. Yesterday's game was a very competitive game with the score being tied 1-1.
Apparently, Narragansett had a young boy on their team whom I believe is Autistic. He definitely suffered from some sort of physical ailment. I had not noticed this during the first half as I was caught up in coaching our team. During the second half I realized that Narragansett was going out of their way to try and get this boy the ball near our goal so that he could have a chance to score. At first our team did not really realize what was going on as they were trying to win the game.
With the final seconds winding down, Gabriel our goalkeeper made a great save. Upon making the save our team had pushed forward expecting Gabriel to punt the ball so we could make one last push for a game winning goal. Instead, Gabriel rolled the ball directly to the boy from Narragansett and allowed him to dribble in and score a goal as time expired. Technically giving Narragansett a 2-1 win, but more importantly creating a memory for a boy that will last his lifetime.
Now I do not know if the team has spoke about doing this during the course of the game or if Gabriel took it upon himself. All I can say is that I am extremely proud of Gabriel and what he did and how this group of young men and women have come together throughout this season. While this team may not have the most talented team skill wise, they do have an incredible group of teammates that come together for a common goal. You, St. Pat's, and their parents should be extremely proud of the guidance and difference you all have made in their lives.
In a time where most adults look to point out everything that is wrong with our youth today, I just wanted to take a moment and let you know about yesterday's events and how proud I am to be part of this team.
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