Dedham Lightning rediscover winning ways in Marlboro!!

BAYS 12U Lightning get “Kayleigh-ed” to victory over Marlboro!

Spring was finally showing herself on a fine Saturday morning that found the 12U Dedham Lightning visiting Marlboro for the first time. Right from the get go the Lightning showed that the 9AM start was not resulting in sleep-eye as an early Marlboro effort was thwarted back by Maeve Connolly. Maeve would team up with Brianna Lynch all morning to form a formidable wall in front of the goal, and in case they were tired, Jacinda and Sam Dejean made sure that Molly Egan would have a quiet beginning in goal as they cleared everything that came their way in the opening quarter of the game.

One goal for a player is nice, 2 is a bonus, and to be able to bid for a hat trick is special, and that’s what Kathryn Hunter shot for early on as she would pocket her first goal off a nice feed from Vivian Martin and Charlene Kelly to get the early lead, and then minutes later a long clear from defensive stalwart Julia Kent sprung Hunter in alone for the 2-0 lead. Unfortunately the focus by her teammates to try and get that “natural hat trick” (3 in a row) with Hunter taking some great bids also caused a hiccup on defense, and fortunately Molly Egan was ready to own the penalty area after a Marlboro goal and were able to hold a 2-1 halftime lead.

Knowing they have seen many halftime leads disappear early in the second half, the Lightning came out rolling, and Jess Shanahan did some fancy footwork through the defense and the fruits of her labor was a PRETTY touch pass that Jackie Fenore didn’t think twice on as she blasted it by the keeper for a 3-1 lead that had the Lightning thinking more. Those thoughts again led to a counter attack from the hosts, and if not for the SHOT OF THE YEAR by Kayleigh Spencer things may have played out differently. Taking a Kelly clear that Fiona Glynn crossed over to about 30 yards from the right corner of the goal, Spencer decided her first career goal would be a thing of beauty as he “rainbowed” a shot to the opposite corner that no keeper was getting, and with the 4-1 lead that took the final wind out of Marlboro’s sails with only a couple of minutes to play.

The Lightning weren’t done though, as Fenore made sure the scoring lead would be tight for another week by taking a Vivian martin clear from her newly enjoyed defensive position and went the last 40 yards herself and blasted a laser into the top of the hosts net for the 5-1 final and a 2-1 record for the Lightning as they come back to Dedham this Saturday for a 2:30 match-up with Southboro at Gonzalez Field. It will be a battle against a strong program so the Lightning will be lucky to get stalwarts Jillian McGahan and Delaney MacDougal back to fortify their efforts!