Dedham 13, Brookline 7: Marauders earn first win

Recapping the week of Oct. 28 - Nov. 3.

As the only team in the Division 2 South state tournament with a record under .500, the odds were already against the Dedham High field hockey team before yesterday’s preliminary round game against Foxboro.

The Dedham High field hockey team will open the postseason on Wednesday (2:30 p.m.) against Foxboro in a Division 2 South preliminary round game. The Marauders are the No. 17 seed entering with a 6-11-1 record, qualifying via the Sullivan Rule. While Foxboro, which plays in the Hockomock League, is No. 16 with a 6-5-7 record. The winner will earn a trip to top-seeded Harwich (15-1-2) on Friday.

The effort left plenty to be desired, the execution was lacking and consequently the result was nothing short of a disaster for the Dedham High football team on Friday night.

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.

Patrice Vettori owns a lot of lasts on the Dedham High girls soccer team. The senior captain is the last Marauder to make the varsity as eighth-grader, the last five-year starter and the last link to the most successful team in program history, the 2005 Division 2 state finalists.

Recapping the week of Oct. 21-27.

Dedham junior linebacker Rob Salter did all he could to keep the Dedham High football team in the game as long as possible against unbeaten Walpole on Saturday, but the Rebels eventually pulled away for a 35-0 win at Stone Park.

It’s not very often that the Dedham High field hockey team gets off to a 1-6 start to the season, but given the rigors of the Bay State Conference, the loss of nine starters from a year ago and learning a new system it should not have come as a complete shock either.

Recapping the week of Oct. 14-20.