Strong 20 Minutes Propels Dedham Girls Soccer

Coach Don Savi knew his girls soccer team had to jump out to an early lead against rival Norwood on Thursday – and his team responded with three goals in the first 20 minutes of play.

The Marauders held on throughout the second half to win 3-1 as Norwood applied the pressure seemingly for 40 straight minutes.

"We stopped playing after 20 minutes," said the coach. "We got the lead then sat on it."

The early lead proved pivotal for Dedham, as after Jenna Savi notched her third and fourth goals in three games, the Mustangs began double, and triple-teaming her. Savi found herself on the ground a lot that usually came after a forearm to the back.

"[Jenna] got a couple goals early and they wanted to take her away, which is a smart thing to do," coach Don Savi said.

What Norwood found out just nine minutes into the game is the Marauders have a two-headed monster up front as sophomore attacker Emily Hill scored. She also added an assist.

"We got a couple good looks early, and we put them home," coach Don Savi said. "After the second half, we didn't really get any looks at all."

Once Dedham went up by three goals, coach Don Savi said his team stopped playing, and the offense needs to work better on transitioning and brining more of an attack inside the 18-yard box.

"We got the lead then sat on it," he said after the game. "We just need to step up a little bit more."

Norwood started to get back into the match on a penalty kick by Cory Ryan, who's headed for the University of Maryland next fall and regularly tabbed as one of the best players in New England.

"Any time [she] had the ball, we sent a second person at her," coach Don Savi said.

But with years of experience playing against Ryan, Dedham's coach said he knew his defense had to shut her down – or at least contain the star – in order to come out with a victory.

"She's so dangerous. There is a reason why she's going Division I next year in college," he said. "The less touches she has, the more successful we're going to be."

With the wind whipping hard throughout the game, the team shooting on the north-end goal had the advantage. Dedham took care of its advantage in the first half, but although Norwood sustained solid pressure, the Mustangs never broke through in the second half.

"We did keep them out of the box. We kept everything to the outside, for the most part," he said.

After a long week with three games in four days, Savi's Marauders head into a weekend of rest with a 2-1-1 record. But with a dangerous Framingham squad looming on Wednesday, it'll be back to work next week.

"It's another game where we're going to have to outscore them. We're going to have to score some goals to win that game," he said.