Dedham 'Sweeps' Framingham Soccer Tournament

A few weeks ago, former coach and soccer guru, Beth Emery, was looking over rosters of Boys U14 soccer players. Last October, she had hand-picked a team for coaches Chris DeMeo and Doug Chin.

This team entered and won the 2012 Mansfield Columbus Day Tournament, a first for a soccer team from Dedham. In Beth's mind, winter sports were behind them, and it was time to try again. 

Hand-picking a soccer team is no easy feat. You have to have the perfect balance of fast-moving forwards, smart midfielders, and strong defensemen, all to compliment a talented goalkeeper.

Well once again, Beth Emery put together a power-house group on paper, teamed up with winning coach Chris DeMeo, and entered a team in the 32nd Annual Memorial Day Classic Soccer Tournament. Framingham was the host of this competitive tournament, featuring some of the best soccer players available from around New England. 

We have followed soccer from 3v3 and 5v5 at the Rustcraft Fields, to town games, and on to travel teams. This team (the Dedham Raptors) 11v11 however, was something very special.

Fifteen boys, never having practiced or played together, were up and out on Saturday and Sunday morning by 6 a.m.

There was a cold, steady rain falling as they met at a field in the middle of the woods in Framingham. The game-time temperature was 39 degrees, and it never got much better. 

As the opening whistle blew, parents, friends, and family members, sat on the sideline to cheer these boys on. Over two days of play, we saw goal-scoring by Alejandro Castro-Fernandez, CJ DeMeo, Dan Emery, Eric Guccione, Alex Heilmann, and Kyle Micciche.

There was incredible play calling and ball movement from Dylan Maida, Andy Mackler, Tommy Nolan, and Brian Ruane. This went along with stellar defense from Tomas Gonzales, Corey Kilroy, Kevin Lynch, and Dan Perno. We also watched as Oscar Littmarck worked his magic in goal. 

The Dedham boys took on and defeated Oakmont (3-1), Natick (4-0), and Framingham (3-0) by 9 o'clock Sunday morning. All of this hard work and effort took the team to the championship game against an equally strong, talented team from Lexington on Sundayafternoon. 

Dedham entered the match undefeated (3-0) having given up only 1 goal in two days. Lexington entered the game undefeated as well (3-0), also only giving up 1 goal against their opponents.

Early in the first half, the boys from Lexington scored on Dedham and took a 1-0 lead. For what seemed like an eternity, the Dedham team put pressure on Lexington, but just couldn't put one in the net.

As the second half wore on, nobody – coach DeMeo, parents, or players - gave up. Luck changed for the Dedham team when Alejandro Castro-Fernandez was fouled in the box and scored on a penalty kick, tying the score at 1 apiece.

Both teams pushed, and both teams pushed back. As evenly matched as these two teams were though, you couldn't end with a tie in a tournament! With just under 2 minutes left in the game, Dedham's CJ DeMeo got ahold of the ball in the crease, kicking it past the Lexington goalie for a 2-1 lead.

From that moment on, Dedham just had to hold off the squad from Lexington, and they did just that.

As the final whistle blew, the entire Dedham team ran to the field, as the boys from Lexington walked off with their heads bowed. Coach DeMeo told us that he “couldn't be more proud of this group of fine young men.”

“These boys played some of the best teams in the area, under some of the worst conditions and just never quit,” he said.

This was the second time in under a year, that Dedham had entered a team in such a competitive tournament and “won it all.”

As for Beth Emery, we're sure that she has a pen in her hand, looking over rosters, preparing for the next tournament to enter.