Boys soccer returning to tourney
The Marauders got a hard-earned sweep of rival Norwood on Thursday and Friday, taking a 4-3 decision last Thursday in a regularly scheduled BSC match on the strength of a hat trick from Jamir Benitez and then a 2-1 overtime win at home on Saturday night in the championship game of the Needham Bank Tournament.
Thursday’s win secured a postseason spot for the Marauders in the MIAA Division 2 South sectional tournament via the Sullivan Rule while Saturday’s win is officially recorded as a 1-1 tie because the MIAA does not recognize overtime during the regular season.
Brian Boggie scored in the 10th minute, and Benitez added goals in the 33rd, 38th and 45th for a 4-1 lead before the Mustangs scored a pair and even hit the post on a tying bid in last Thursday’s game in Norwood.
On Saturday, Chris Rush got on the end of a Pat Bligh corner kick in the 69th minute to tie the game at 1-1. Rush set up the tournament-winner in the 97th, with a long throw-in that resulted in Mike McFarland’s goal.
An injury-riddled side came up short on Tuesday, falling to Braintree 3-1 as Mike McFarland scored off a corner kick taken by Benitez late in the second half to pull within a goal before the Wamps added a third.
The defensive quartet of Mac Farrell, Ricky Green, Kevin Rosa and Tim Regan held up well as the Marauders were without Jeff Farrell and Alvaro DeLaPuente for the contest and lost Rush, Pat Bligh and Boggie during the game.
Girls soccer expands Herget edge
The Marauders moved a few steps closer to reclaiming the BSC Herget title with wins over Newton North and Norwood, moving to 11-2-1 overall and 9-2-1 in the league, three points ahead of defending champion Wellesley.
Patrice Vettori and Jenna Savi combined for four goals against Norwood, hooking up three times on restarts as the Marauders broke open a tie game at the half with four goals after the break in a 5-1 victory last Thursday.
Vettori buried a trio of Savi services to erase an early Norwood lead. The senior captain’s hat trick propels her past Jenna Savi’s older sister and former teammate Nicole Savi, now at Assumption, into second place on the all-time Dedham scoring list.
Vettori also put away the lone goal in a 1-0 win over the Tigers on Monday, finishing a pretty connection with Sarah Warjas to break a scoreless tie 10 minutes into the second half. She now stands at 108 points for her career.
After Norwood took a 1-0 lead eight minutes in, Dedham got the equalizer with 10 minutes left in the half when Vettori headed in a Savi corner kick. Vettori nearly got a second off another Savi corner kick before the half was up, but it caromed off the crossbar and the teams went into the break tied at 1-1.
The Marauders took the lead for good just 1:40 into the second when a Savi direct kick settled right in front of Vettori in the middle of the box and she tucked it inside the left post. The pair connected a third time 10 minutes later, with Vettori ducking down to head one in off a bounce, for a 3-1 advantage.
Dedham sent in yet another header when Emily Hill found Melissa St. Preux in deep with a cross from the right to make it 4-1.
Savi added one more tally, banking a shot off Norwood goalie Noura Mezian and in from a tough angle.
Golf finds way into sectional
The Marauders dropped their final two Bay State Conference matches to Natick (58-50) and Milton (52.5-45.5) to finish the regular season at 4-13, but will still be advancing to the Division 3 South Shore sectional next week thanks to last Wednesday’s 85.5-25.5 win over Matignon, the only Division 3 opponent on their schedule.
Matt Baron led the way against Warriors with a 1-over 37 at Dedham Country & Polo Club while Dan Riley, Walker Macon and Bobby Sennott all carded 40s.
Struggles continue for volleyball
The Marauders had a busy week with four matches, but were swept in all of them though they did have a few solid sets in the mix.
Tuesday in Brookline Ally Hargis had a strong match throughout, but Dedham dropped to 0-16 overall and 0-14 in the BSC, with a 25-17, 25-13, 25-17 setback against one of the Carey Division’s better teams.
“I thought we gave them a decent match,” said Dedham coach Marge Bohen. “We work so hard for our points, but then our unforced errors are just too much.”
They were unable to capitalize on three set points in the first on Friday in the home finale against Norwood, falling 26-24, 25-15, 25-15.
Julia Berkey played well last Thursday with six kills, but Dedham was swept 25-20, 25-12, 25-17 by the Eagles in a non-league match. She was played well defensively at the net with four blocks in a 25-13, 25-16, 25-13 loss to Newton North.
XC concludes regular season
The Dedham boys closed a winless regular season with a 15-50 loss to Norwood on Tuesday.
Billy Loftus was the Marauders top finisher with a time of 19:22, good for ninth overall. He was followed by Dan Dwan (13th), Chris Dempsey (19th) and Mark Hannon (20th).
The girls lost to Norwood, 20-38, to finish off a winless regular season. Rachel Collins finished in second place behind Norwood’s Kelsey Colbert.
Swimmers caught by Tigers
The Marauders dropped a narrow 93-88 decision to Newton North on Tuesday and are now 1-7 in the BSC.
