Power grab by Canton and Walpole
Two teams made the trip to Mashpee with the goal of defending their South Sectional championships, while two came with the hopes of dethroning those champions.
The day belonged to the usurpers.
In the Division 2 South Sectional championship, Canton (20-0-1) defeated defending state champion Dedham, 3-1, thanks in large part to the strong play of Meghan Wheeler and goalie Kristine Stigas. Canton defeated Dedham, 3-2, in a nonleague game earlier this season.
"It sometimes make you nervous, playing a team again that you've beaten," said Canton coach Christine O'Connor. "You know they're coming out for a little bit of revenge and to win the championship."
Wheeler opened the scoring at 10:59 of the first half, taking a pass from Lisa McNeil and firing a shot from 8 feet.
A minute and a half later, Canton went up, 2-0, when Katie White slammed home a rebound from a scrum in front of the net. "It just got the momentum going for the girls and gave them more confidence to play their game and to hold on," said O'Connor.
Dedham (18-3-1) came out strong in the second half and Kathryn Kelley scored off a corner to make it 2-1 but Canton's Lauren Mooney scored less than seven minutes later to give the Bulldogs some breathing room.
The win was preserved by several spectacular, sprawling saves by Stigas, especially in the second half when Dedham had 10 corners.
"She made some outstanding saves," said O'Connor. "Some crazy saves." Canton will play Watertown in the EMass final Wednesday at Bentley.
Division 1 South: In a rematch of last year's sectional final, Walpole knocked off defending champion Falmouth, 3-2, with two goals from Lauren Hartnett. "We got over the hump," said Rebels coach Marianne Murphy. "The three captains have been great leaders. The kids look up to them; they're role models."
Hartnett scored at 25:53 of the first half to open the scoring and added another goal 1:30 before halftime.
"They wanted it bad," said O'Connor. "We score early in a lot of games and that's our psyche: to get out after them."
Rachel Murray added a goal for Walpole (21-1) and Jayna Whitcher and Kelly Duchemin scored for Falmouth (21-1).
Walpole will play Reading in the EMass final tomorrow at Bentley.
Division 1 North: Reading captured its first sectional championship since 1992 with a thrilling 1-0 overtime victory over Acton-Boxboro in North Andover. With 1:27 left in overtime, senior Danielle Pandolfo fed a beautiful pass to Erica Lessard on a penalty corner. Positioned in front of the A-B net, Lessard redirected the pass past A-B goalie Liz Stanford.
"We weren't getting anything done [on our other penalty corners], so we changed the play for that one," said Pandolfo. "That's the way we draw it out in practice and it worked perfectly.
Division 2 North: Previously unbeated Amesbury may have dominated opponents for most of the season, but it was Watertown again showing the Indians which team dominates when it comes to the postseason. The Raiders ousted Amesbury in the state tournament for the second straight year, this time, 2-0, in the sectional final at North Andover. No. 3 Watertown (21-1) controlled the tempo, generating consistent pressure in the Amesbury zone and outshooting the Indians, 8-1.
The top-ranked Indians hung tough, but appeared overmatched in the second half, stymied by a strong Raider defense that held Amesbury's all-time leading scorer, Ashley Waters, and the rest of the Indians off the scoreboard.
"We knew this Amesbury team was going to come right at us and that they were a strong passing team," said Alexandra Quinn, who scored her 48th point of the season on Watertown's first goal. "Our defense was ready for them tonight."
