March 28, 2024

Dighton-Rehoboth Girls Soccer Surging Toward Playoffs

Dighton-Rehoboth 5, GNB Voc-Tech 0

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NEW BEDFORD - When the MIAA soccer playoffs start in November, the days of 70 degrees and sunny will likely be long gone, replaced with temperatures like Wednesday’s: low 50s.

The Dighton-Rehoboth girls soccer team got a taste of November on Wednesday on a cold, wet and windy afternoon on the artificial turf at GNB Voc-Tech. Five different girls found the back of the net and the Falcons cruised to a 5-0 victory and improved to 10-3 on the season.

“We did some nice things. We moved the ball well,” D-R coach Trish Madsen said after the game. “It was cold and it was windy, but they adjusted.”

The Falcons clinched a spot in the postseason tournament earlier in the week with a 4-1 victory over Apponequet on Monday. At 10-3, Dighton-Rehoboth has five games left to increase the win total to better its seed in the Div. 3 South Sectional tournament.

There’s good news and bad news on that front for the Falcons. The bad news is three of their five remaining opponents - Old Rochester, Bishop Feehan and Somerset Berkley - have beaten D-R this season. The good news, however, is all three teams are in Div. 1 or 2 for playoff purposes, so while any road through the postseason tournament is tough, the Falcons will not have to go through any of the three teams who’ve beaten them this year.

“We’re going to keep trying to win games to get the highest seed we can get,” Madsen said. “Against tough teams we’ve struggled, like ORR and Bishop Feehan. We need to play better against stronger opponents.”

The Falcons will get a chance to do just that Friday at home against undefeated Old Rochester (12-0, 9-0 SCC), which is likely going to be the No. 1 seed in the Div. 2 tournament. The Falcons scored four times against ORR earlier in the season in a 6-4 loss; it was the most goals scored against the Bulldogs this season.

REPORTERTODAY.COM MVP: Sophomore midfielder Sophie Murdock had a goal and an assist to lead the D-R offense.

BACK OF THE NET: Freshman Lily Nees put the Falcons up 1-0 in the first on an assist from sophomore Caitlin Morgado. Junior Emily D’Ambrosio staked D-R to a 2-0 halftime lead later in the first half on another assist from Morgado. Senior Captain Julianna DaCosta increased the lead to 3-0 on a penalty kick at 34:45 in the second half. Sophomore Julia Tavares found the back of the net on an assist from Murdock at 13:50, and Murdock capped the scoring with the fifth goal with an assist from sophomore Bella LaBree.

BALANCE ON OFFENSE: “We’ve had multiple girls putting the ball in the net this year,” Madsen said after Wednesday’s match. “Today we had five different girls. Game after game it’s the same thing. We don’t have that one prolific scorer. We have multiple girls who want to score and can put it in.”

ON THE MEND: Morgado is back in the lineup after recovering from an ankle injury, and Madsen said sophomore Carleigh Hall will hopefully be back on the field in a week as the Falcons get some reinforcements for the stretch run.

GNB VOC-TECH COACH ROBERT HARVEY: “We came out with a different look, but they’re the same old D-R putting five up on us at the end of the day. … The scoreline looks bad but I think we played pretty well. A lot of the goals we let up were on set pieces and poor marking in the box. Aside from that, there was a lot of good soccer going on.”

QUICK HITS: “I thought the defense played pretty well. (Goalie) Meg (Reed) didn’t really get tested out there, so the defense did its job,” Madsen said. … How good is the SCC this season? The top four teams (ORR, Somerset Berkley, Dighton-Rehoboth and Seekonk) are a combined 40-8-1. … The match was the only outdoor D-R or Seekonk game that wasn’t postponed on Wednesday because of the rain. The game likely wouldn’t have been played if it weren’t for being on GNB Voc-Tech’s artificial turf surface. … Dighton-Rehoboth has outscored opponents 45-19 this season. … GNB Voc-Tech dropped to 4-10-1 on the season. “We got to keep our heads up. It’s been a bit of a tough season but we’re optimistic. We’re playing tough and hard.”

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