Hard way to the Herget title

With six Bay State Conference Herget Division titles and a Division 2 South sectional crown to his credit during his tenure as Dedham High girls soccer coach, Don Savi has plenty of championship jackets hanging in his closet. But he’ll wear the one with 2009 stitched on it with particular pride.

The Marauders clinched the outright Herget championship last Thursday in dramatic fashion when Lydia Caissy’s goal with 30 seconds left lifted Dedham to a 2-1 win over Milton.

 The next day, the Marauders wrapped up the regular season with a 5-1 victory over Walpole, finishing at 15-2-1 overall and 13-2-1 in the BSC, four points clear of defending division champion Wellesley.

“Except for the first one, you have to put it right up there because it was unexpected and how we won it,” said Savi of the title. “Some of the other ones that we won we had it wrapped up early, but this was a great race until the end. After we lost to Wellesley we won seven straight and we needed them.”

The Marauders have played the role of favorite many times in the past decade, often playing it well. But this Dedham team entered the season with a slew of question marks and spent the fall providing answer after answer.

“It was really exciting, we were played down as one of the teams that wasn’t going to do anything and just to go out and prove everyone wrong. … We really pulled together as a team and did great things together,” said senior captain Caissy.

Dedham knew it would have a potent offense to rely on with established scoring threats Patrice Vettori and Jenna Savi back in the fold up top and they did not disappoint as the pair were the league’s top two scorers.

Savi won the BSC scoring crown with 20 goals and 18 assists, the highest regular season total in program history, while Vettori racked up 22 goals and 12 assists on her way to the Dedham all-time scoring mark, which currently stands at 121 points. Vettori was recently named BSC MVP and Savi a BSC All-Star.

But graduation forced Dedham to dramatically reshape its midfield, rebuilding it with a sophomore and two freshmen. Sarah Warjas was moved up from defense to fill one central role, earning BSC honorable mention status, and was joined by freshman Kayla Sharp. Another freshman, Emily Hill, earned a spot outside opposite another new starter, junior Vanessa Robinson.

Dedham had Caissy, another BSC All-Star, already installed at sweeper and junior Kim Whelan returning as marking back, but bolstered the defense by moving senior captain Julia Kilcoyne back from midfield and junior Virginia Shiel into the stopper spot to form an effective veteran unit.

Another senior, Cara Corcoran, has been vital in solidifying the Marauders in net after the departure of all-star goalie Jess Robinson. Corcoran has given up just 21 goals in 17.5 games (1.20 GAA) and posted four shutouts.

“It’s definitely been a lot of fun,” said coach Savi. “It’s one of the more tight-knit groups we have had the team really seems to get along. The chemistry is good and it reflects out on the field during games and practices.”

Despite all the new faces and positions, the Marauders gelled early, posting impressive back-to-back 1-0 victories over Needham and Wellesley to begin the league season. The only bump in the BSC road came when a 1-1 tie with Braintree was followed by a 3-2 loss to Wellesley in the rematch to pull the Raiders within a point of the Herget lead.

But with Wellesley applying the pressure at every turn – the Raiders did not lose in their final 15 contests after falling to the Marauders, Dedham went a perfect 6-0 in league play down the stretch.

“I just think that we got off to a good start against some good teams and gained some confidence and from there it just began to snowball,” said Savi.

Unlike in the Herget, however, the Marauders, will be among the teams everyone will have their eye on in Division 2 South from the start, along with defending state titlist Duxbury and Hockomock champs Canton. Dedham receives it draw today and should open the postseason sometime over the weekend intent on erasing the memory of last year’s preliminary round exit.

“A lot depends on the draw and you have to be healthy,” said Savi of the tournament. “We hope we can do better than last year, that’s definitely a goal. We know we are playing at home that first game and we are definitely looking forward to it.”