The Dedham High girls soccer team has been among the Bay State Conference’s elite teams throughout the decade, but when the Marauders slipped to nine wins last fall and suffered a rare early tournament exit, it would have been easy to believe it was a signal their remarkable run was near a close.
It also would have been dead wrong.
Lydia Caissy’s goal with 30 seconds left delivered the Marauders a 2-1 win over Milton at Brooks Field on Thursday afternoon, and with it the outright Herget Division crown, Dedham’s fifth in the last eight years and sixth under coach Don Savi.
“We never expected to win the Herget title,” said Savi, in his 13th season at the helm. “The kids worked so hard over the summer and the whole year and this really typified the year, we just never gave up.”
The Marauders improve to 14-2-1 overall and 12-2-1 in the BSC, and wrap up the regular season at home against Walpole on Friday.
Dedham trailed 1-0 at the half and was knotted into the final minute when Patrice Vettori was fouled hard by Milton defender Cheryl Tran, which earned the Wildcat senior a red card after picking up a yellow in the first and the Marauders a free kick.
On the restart, Jenna Savi slipped a pass to Vettori, who was isolated with her defender on the right side. Vettori beat her mark and carried to the end line then cut the ball back to the middle of the box for fellow senior captain Caissy, who booted the game-winner.
Caissy had been moved up from her normal sweeper spot to midfield for the second half, a switch that provided a spark both offensively and defensively, where she shadowed Milton’s Erica Garufi.
“It was one of those games where we started out really flat but we knew what we had to do and we got it done,” said Caissy. “(The goal) was really exciting. I’m not used to it so it’s fun when it happens.”
After a lengthy pregame Senior Day ceremony, the Marauders came out slow against a Milton team already out of postseason contention. A spunky and physical Wildcat squad made them pay for it early when Erin Feeney drilled in a low blast from 25 yards out for a 1-0 lead 13 minutes in.
While the Marauders picked up their play after the goal, they went into the break down by the same margin, largely due to the work of standout Milton goalie Micaela Butlin, who was stellar throughout, making eight saves and controlling her area forcefully on 10 Dedham corner kicks.
Early in the second, Savi had a sparking bid tipped off the crossbar by Butlin, but Kayla Sharp was taken down in the box going after the rebound and a penalty shot was awarded. Savi drew the assignment and calmly tucked it inside the left post to tie the game at 1-all in the 43rd minute.
“There was a lot of pressure but she buried it,” said coach Savi. “That was big to get us back in the game.”
That’s the way it stayed until a frenetic final few minutes that had the Marauders in the predicament of whether to try and preserve a tie that would clinch a share of the title and going after the win.
The late free kick opportunity proved too irresistible and Caissy ended up not only providing a dramatic ending to the Marauders’ championship journey, but a crucial two points in Dedham’s quest for a top-four seed and home field advantage in the Division 2 South tournament.
“At the beginning of the year we thought we’d take our chances, but we really came together as a team and this is really exciting for us,” said Caissy.
