Mary Louise Dixon racked up a whopping nine points, five goals and four assists, and Abby Bunting added five tallies of her own to lead No. 3 Wellesley past No. 2 Franklin, 12-3, Wednesday evening at FHS and into the South Division 1 final. The Raiders will meet top-seeded, unbeaten Westwood, the only team to beat them during the regular season, Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Flahive Field in Westwood.
Dixon was simply unstoppable early, potting four of her quintet in the first 15 minutes of the contest to put Wellesley in control. Franklin scored its last goal with about 17 minutes to play in the game, drawing within 8-3, then the Raiders put it away with a four-goal flurry to close the game.
All-American Blake Dietrick collected WHS' two other goals and chipped in two assists.
The Raiders' domination surprised even Dixon and Bunting, who recalled a preseason loss to the Panthers and expected a close rematch. Now, they hope the redemption trend continues when they face the Wolverines, to whom they lost, 15-14, in this year's regular-season finale, and 9-8, in last year's South final.
"We prepared really well for this game," Dixon said. "We knew [Franklin's] strengths and weaknesses because we'd seen them at a preseason jamboree. I'm really proud of how we prepared on defense."
Wellesley employed a full-field pressure defense it calls a diamond attack, which hampered Franklin's ability to even cross the restraining line, let alone generate scoring opportunities. The Panthers managed only eight shots in the evening drizzle.
"I can't tell you how hard we've worked," Raiders head coach Chris Molonea said. "We talked about this at our banquet the other night: Last year's team [which included 10 now-departed seniors] was so good at that defense, but they'd been learning it for three years. We've been trying to hammer it into this group in three months."
Meanwhile, Dixon and Co. so consistently found gaps in the Franklin D that even one of the best goaltenders in the state, Hockomock League MVP and Eastern Mass. first-teamer Anne Versprille, was unable to stem the steady flow of rubber to twine.
Dixon opened the scoring less than two minutes in, capitalizing on a close-range free position. Franklin's Christine Hurley tied it, 1-1, midway through the first half, but just 22 seconds later, Dixon found Dietrick for the goal that gave Wellesley a lead it never relinquished and set off a string of six straight scores.
Kellie Getchell recorded a Panther tally with eight seconds left in the half, but even then the Raiders were in total command, up, 7-2, at the break.
"We've grown so much as a team since the beginning of the season," Bunting said. "We weren't sure how we would do, having lost so many seniors, but everyone has really stepped up."
Molonea knows her team's stiffest challenge awaits Saturday night, in the form of a Westwood team that is 46-1 over the last two seasons.
"Until proven otherwise, they're the state champions," she said. "They know how to win. They proved that the day we played them [last month]."
