Coach’s prediction comes true

It was the first meeting of the season. The Bridgewater under-12 girls had yet to play a game.

“He was real passionate about it,’’ said Bill Maloney, whose daughter is on the team. “He truly thought that we had a great group of girls and early in the season, everyone was like ‘yeah, yeah.’ But I have to give the guy credit, he stuck with it and worked the girls and look what happened.’’

Last weekend, the group won the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions in Lancaster, claiming its first state title. The team defeated Sutton, 1-0, in the championship game, capping a 4-1 playoff run and a 9-2-1 overall mark for the season.

A majority of the players have been together for the last three years. They didn’t advance to the state tournament last year, but this year they proved that defense can win matches.

Goalkeeper Julia Schneider displayed her talent in the net throughout the season, and in the postseason recorded three clean sheets. But it may have been the semifinals when Schneider put up her best performance.

Bridgewater and Stoneham battled to a 1-1 tie after regulation and overtime and were forced to decide the game on penalty kicks. Schneider stopped four consecutive shots, while her twin sister, Kristina, and Samantha Sherrick, the coach’s daughter, converted their attempts to give Bridgewater the 2-0 advantage and victory.

“They were so determined not to go home,’’ Scott Sherrick said. “I was so excited for them.’’

The team advanced to the championship game, in which Emily Roan assisted Samantha Sherrick on the only goal of the match midway through the second half.

This season, Sherrick said his team’s defense was going to be critical. With Schneider in goal, and her sister along with Shannon Morrissette and Sarah Maloney on the backline, the defense proved to be tough. The team allowed seven goals all season and scored 20.

In the state tournament, Bridgewater won its first two matches by a combined score of 4-0 and lost the third match 2-0, but still emerged the winner of the four-team division.

When Sherrick told the team that he believed they would win a state title before the season, even his daughter was a little skeptical. When asked if she thought her dad was crazy, she said, “We all did. We knew that our team would be good, but we didn’t think we would be that good.’’

It didn’t take long for the girls to prove to themselves and everyone else they had a strong team.

“The entire team did it,’’ she said. “We couldn’t have done it without every player.’’

When it comes time to meet for another season, Sherrick said he will stop short of any major predictions.

“It’s a whole new year,’’ he said.

Not only did Bridgewater walk away state champions, but another group of players from the area were part of a title run last month.

Three area players were part of the FC Stars of Massachusetts under-17 girls fourth State Cup title: Alexia Hay of Randolph, Emily Wingrove of Westwood, and Erika Garufi of Milton.

This weekend, the Stars are competing in the US Soccer National Championship Series Region I Championship in West Virginia. If the group advances beyond the regional tournament it will earn a berth into the national championships that will be held July 21-26 in Lancaster.

The Stars are coached by Greg Cosgrove, who helped the team earn its fourth consecutive regional berth. It is a run that began when the girls were competing at the under-14 level. Among the achievements for the club includes five shutouts in the state cup tournament, with only one goal being allowed in the championship game.

Wingrove (Brown) is among six teammates in the class of 2010 who have verbally committed to Division 1 colleges for soccer.

The club’s girls’ under-13 and under-15, and boys’ under-18 teams all also won state titles.

Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com.