RallyNorth.net

Dover-Sherborn sends Georgetown home

Tuesday, November, 15 By Jeff Hamrick

LYNN — A playoff run that lasted far longer than expected went into a second overtime last night for the Georgetown girls soccer team.

The storybook postseason, however, ended a bit sooner than the Royals had hoped.

In a match between teams seeded eighth or lower in their respective district tournaments, Dover-Sherborn, seeded eighth in the south, scored the night's only goal 89 seconds into the second overtime in the Eastern Massachusetts championship at Manning Field.

A Victoria Ortega kick from about 30 yards set up on a corner kick by Nadine Cutler found the top right of the Georgetown net for the game winner.

"Basically we played our game," Dover-Sherborn coach David Wainwright said. "This is when the mental part comes out. I thought we had good tempo and pace. We had some frustration because we couldn't put it in the net, but we finally got one through."

The Raiders (15-5-3) advance to the state finals to be played either Friday or Saturday in Worcester.

Ortega's goal was the only attempt a strong Dover-Sherborn offense was able to put past Georgetown goal Jamie Block, who had 10 saves and kept the Royals (13-4-7) in the match.

"(The Raiders) are a good team," said Georgetown coach Colleen Gibbs, whose 2009 squad also dropped a 1-0 decision in the Eastern Mass final. "They controlled the ball very well, and with their throw ins and corner kicks they had many opportunities.

"Jamie has been solid all year long, and she's a great keeper. She's been playing hard all year, and she made some great saves tonight. But she's come through for us a lot."

The Royals, playing without senior playmaker Ashley Mueskes who sprained her ankle in the North title game victory over St. Mary's, managed only four shots of their own against Dover-Sherborn's freshman goalie Meghan Hall. Junior midfielder Kristin Hogan had a pair of first-half attempts and senior Ashley Federico added a second-half attempt while senior Nicoline Holland managed the only shot in the overtimes.

The Dover-Sherborn goal was only the second given up by Georgetown in the postseason, during which the Royals outscored its five opponents by a combined 13-2. Meanwhile, Dover-Sherborn now have shutout all five of its playoff opponents while scoring 18 of its own.

"It's tough to go out like this," Gibbs said. "But I'm proud they made it this far."