Dover-Sherborn girls roll to stress-free shutout over East Bridgewater in soccer sectional

After pulse-pounding wins in penalty kicks and double overtime in its first two tournament games, the Dover-Sherborn girls soccer team finally allowed itself some stress-free moments in the second half of Saturday night’s Division 3 South final.

The No. 2 Raiders scored three times after the break to pull away from No. 6 East Bridgewater for a 4-0 victory to secure its first sectional title since 2011. Four different players registered goals as Cerys Ballmer, Annie Parizeau, Kate Mastrobuono and Hope Shue all found the net.

“Honestly, that kind of sums up the team,” said Balmer. “I don’t think that we have one exceptional player that does everything … it’s not one superstar. Our team chemistry and all of us are so great when we are working together, and that’s when we are at our best.”

Dover-Sherborn (17-2-2), which had reached at least the South semis in each of the last four postseasons, advances to face North champion Stoneham in the state semifinals Tuesday night at Lynn’s Manning Field.

“The girls have really earned it,” said D-S coach Evan Gunduz. “It’s unbelievable — we have played such good teams. It seems like every single tournament game has been great competition, which is what you want in the tournament and what Division 3 in the South is all about. It’s just a strong part of the state.”

It looked like it might be another nail-biter for the Raiders after 40 minutes as they led just 1-0, taking advantage of a mistake when the Vikings missed a clear attempt of a Shue cross and Balmer buried one from the middle of the area in the 26th minute.

D-S took control immediately in the second half as Parizeau snuck in a corner kick just 54 seconds in to double the lead. A corner kick netted the third goal as well as Mastrobuono expertly headed a Parizeau service into the far side for a 3-0 edge in the 63rd minute.

EB generated a number of promising chances, with star forward Avery LeVangie a looming threat throughout the contest, but D-S keeper Sabrina Doyle denied her several times as part of a sturdy five-save shutout performance.

Shue put it out of reach in the 68th minute on a feed from Parizeau, the second point of the night for Shue and third for Parizeau.

“We have so many different weapons, but they are so unselfish, and I think that’s what you see,” said Gunduz. “They really want success for each other.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/37d4GKM