By ERIC BENEVIDES

Sports writer

CUMBERLAND -- Defense was one of the big reasons why Cumberland High seized the Division I-North regular-season title this year, and defense was also a big reason why the Clippers were able to advance to the state quarterfinals on Wednesday.
The Clippers limited East Providence High to just four shots on goal and kept one of the state’s top goal scorers (EP’s Maxwell Osei) in check for most of the night en route to a 4-1 victory in their Division I preliminary-round contest at Tucker Field.
Senior striker Josh Robison’s unassisted goal just 6:14 into the match set the tone for the Clippers, who raised their record to 10-5-4 and jump right back on the pitch tonight with a 7 p.m. clash against second-seeded Barrington High at the Eagles’ Victory Field.  
The Eagles, who won the Division I-East crown with a 14-2-2 mark and earned a bye into the quarterfinals, claimed their Oct. 6 regular-season meeting with the Clippers by a 1-0 score by netting their goal with 14 minutes to play in the game.

The Clippers turned in an exceptional performance in that loss in the eyes of their coach, Josh Lopes, yielding just five shots on net to the high-scoring Eagles (who netted a state-best 69 goals), and the veteran mentor firmly believes that his squad can get the job done in tonight’s rematch.
“My team is capable of beating any team in the state on any given day,” added Lopes. “I know we lost to (Barrington) here, but we played really well. Anything can happen, and I think we’ll be OK.”
The win kept the Clippers unbeaten in their last seven matches. They entered the playoffs on a roll by going 5-0-1 in the last two weeks, with one of those victories being a 4-0 win over the 10th-seeded Townies (5-11-3) on Oct. 15 back at Tucker.
In that game, the Clippers did everything they could to contain Osei, a senior striker who netted 14 of the Townies’ 21 goals this season, and on Wednesday, they again made life miserable for him.
Osei, who took three of the Townies’ shots, eventually got the visitors on the board with less than three minutes to play in the game by firing home a pass from Michael Dias, but by then, the contest was out of reach and Lopes had cleared most of his bench. 
“He’s an excellent player,” said Lopes. “We had a player on him the whole game and we did a good job stopping him. We didn’t let him play because he’s really good. If you give him some time, he’ll score goals.”
Three different players netted goals for the hosts, but the backbreaking score was an ‘own goal’ just eight seconds into the second half that increased the Clippers’ command to 3-0.   
“We scored at the right times, especially in the second half with that third goal,” admitted Lopes. “We expected (East Providence) to come right at us in the second half because of the wind factor, but that goal just killed the game right there.”
Before the fans could get settled into the cold bleachers, Robison put the Clippers on the board with his team-leading 12th goal of the season by slamming in the rebound of a shot off EP goalie Aldair Lopes from 15 yards out.
With 13 minutes to play in the half, Sean Buxton doubled the Clippers’ lead by taking a nice go-ahead pass from Dan Hecht that Hecht slipped between two defenders and firing a line drive to the right of Lopes and into the twines.
After the own goal took some of the wind out of the Townies’ sails, the Clippers kept the pressure on the Townies, and at the nine-minute mark, Riley Bouchard produced only his second goal of the season by putting away a pass from Robison.  
“The kids did a nice job,” said Lopes. “We stepped up, and all the way around, we played a good game. I’m proud of them.”
**
East Providence 0 – 1 – 1
Cumberland  2 – 2 – 4
First half: C – Josh Robison (unassisted), 6:14; C – Sean Buxton (Dan Hecht), 26:28.
Second half: C – own goal, :08; C – Riley Bouchard (Josh Robison), 9:05; EP – Maxwell Osei (Michael Dias), 37:07.
Shots on goal: Cumberland 12, East Providence 4. Goalie saves: C – Chris Duarte (3 saves); EP – Aldair Lopes (8 saves).