Girls Soccer Sinks BLA With 3 Early Goals

Jenna Savi hit the crossbar once, had a shot sail just over the crossbar and a couple more stopped by the goalie - oh, and she had a pair of goals.

All within the first 10 minutes of the game.

That's how Monday afternoon went for the Dedham girls soccer squad against Boston Latin Academy. They raced out to a 3-0 lead with the pair of scores from Suvi, and a beautiful header off a corner by Kayla Sharpe, the team's first goal of the match.

The quick start gave coach Don Savi an ability to rest his starters for a busy week - they play Weymouth Tuesday and Norwood on Thursday.

"It was nice to get a quick lead, we could play everybody a lot," coach Savi said.

Both goals by junior Jenna Savi came off breakaways that left her alone with BLA goalie Jillian Eweka, a freshman. Her second goal came off a touch from Renee Grassler.

"We worked hard together and connected on a lot of passes," said Jenna Savi.

Ball movement was key in the offensive zone, as the Marauders unselfishly made three or four passes inside the 18-yard box.

Dedham padded its lead 4-0 halftime lead with goals from Vanessa Robinson and a goal from 20 yards out by Kelly Quinn.

"We just moved the ball really well. We used our team speed and moved the ball pretty quickly," Don Savi said.

With the Marauder offense seemingly setting up camp inside the Dragons' 18-yard box in the first half, their defense pushed up to midfield, won nearly every 50-50 ball and swarmed any Dragon player with 2 or 3 defenders.

"They stepped quick. That's a key for us - our defense," Dedham's coach said.

BLA threatened just a few times in the first half - and once or twice in the second - but the scariest threat came off a free kick in the first half.

From 20 yards out, the kick went above a jumping wall of defenders, hit Dedham goalie Ellen Masalsky, and spun quickly near the goal line for an eternity. Masalsky beat a BLA attacker to the ball, diving on hit and gripping it tightly against her stomach for the dramatic save.

"We wanted the shutout. She made a couple nice saves," Don Savi said. "We definitely didn't want them to score, and that's how we stayed focused."