Downing Keeps Dedham Field Hockey's Unpredictable Ride Going

The magical field hockey season will continue until at least Wednesday as the 19th-seeded Marauders upset sixth-seeded Scituate 1-0 on the road.

Sophomore Kerianne Downing provided the lone goal with five minutes left in regulation, and Dedham held off a late surge from the Sailors to advance to the MIAA South Division 2 semifinals.

"Meaghan [Dwan] just hit it from the side and I was there. I just stopped and put it in like we've been practicing," Downing said after the game.

A regulation playoff win is rare nowadays with Leigh Shea's club. They earned their in overtime and their second round game victory in on Friday.

"I'm glad we didn't have to go into overtime," Shea said.

While each team had chances in the first half, Dedham came out firing on all cylinders to start the second half. Dedham's offense peppered Scituate with eight second-half shots on goal.

"It was frustrating, but I knew someone would get something eventually," said Downing, but admitted she didn't know she'd be the one.

The Marauders had a chance to take the lead just four minutes into the half, but a penalty shot by Dedham's Meaghan Dwan clanged off the right goalpost.

Time after time Dedham's offense pummeled Scituate goalie Michaela Doughty, but saves the Sailor defense bailed itself out several times.

Scituate just couldn't clear the ball, a problem that plagued them all game long. Dedham adjusted at halftime to put its defenders in a position to counter any clear attempts by Scituate. Senior Taylor Donovan and junior Tara Celata kept Scituate's offense from moving into their end.

"In the first half, we were kind of holding off on them a little bit, so I made them step up so [the defense] would beat them to the ball," Shea said.

With five minutes left on the clock, Dedham didn't sit back and just try to fend off an attack, but they kept pressing and possessing the ball.

"I knew we'd be able to defend [the lead] at the end of the game," Downing said. "We had it covered."

The final minutes were spent in Dedham's offensive end in the corner of the field, where Scituate's defense couldn't garner control.

Unsynchronized clocks caused a slight controversy at in the waning seconds, as the field's scoreboard was roughly 15 seconds ahead of official time. With fans counting down the scoreboard, Dedham's bench ran onto the field when that clock hit zero – with time remaining on the official clock. Referees blew whistles to stop play, and awarded Scituate a free hit. Sailors coach Amanda Bird-Clemmer called for a penalty shot and continued to plead her case with officials after the match ended.

Dedham won for the third time in six days, and will turn around to travel to second-seeded Canton on Wednesday for a 4:30 match.

"It's been amazing. I never thought we'd get this far," Downing said. "I think we have the ability to [go further]."

Dedham lost at Canton in the third game of the season 4-0, but Shea said that Marauder team had more injuries, and they've improved in the past two months.

"I watched them the other day, and they looked good. But they are definitely beatable," a confident Shea said.

The team is playing loose and relaxed, even in the tight situations they seem to always find, Shea said.

The Cinderella pumpkin ride continues to roll, and the Marauders sit two wins short of a division championship.

"We're just having fun," Shea said. "Really, we're the 19th seed, so we're just riding the wave."