Dixon’s aggressive attack sinks Sterling

DIXON – It seemed like everybody got involved in the offense for Dixon on Wednesday against Route 2 rival Sterling.

The Duchesses placed 20 of their 34 shots on goal, and four different players scored – with nearly a dozen taking at least one shot – in a 5-0 victory over the Golden Warriors on Senior Night at A.C. Bowers Field.

“We had a lot of shots on goal, and we had a lot of chances. Only a few went in, but we worked great as a team, and that’s really all that matters. As long as we put a few in net, that’s the big thing,” senior Carlie Cook said. “It’s great, especially as a senior, seeing everyone work well as a team. It means a lot. I’m glad we have a team that cares about each other, a team works as one, and that’s all that matters out there.”

Dixon (14-6-1) played 95% of the game in Sterling’s half of the field, and despite stellar play from Warriors freshman goalkeeper Caylee White and her defense, the Duchesses finally managed to break through midway through the first half.

Rachel Lance scored the first two goals about two minutes apart. Jenna Harrison corralled a centering pass in front of the goal, and before colliding with a Sterling defender, pushed a pass to Lance on the left side. Lance booted it past White for the first goal with 23:06 left in the half.

The second one came at the 20:57 mark, as Adysen Johnson dribbled up the middle and connected with Lance on the left side; Lance had a great touch to control the ball and punched it past White for a 2-0 lead.

“People that don’t normally shoot took shots tonight, and I thought that was really cool to see,” Lance said. “I saw the opportunities and I took them. We wanted to play from ahead versus of trying to catch up from behind, and it was early and I wanted to make sure we got ahead so I could give a chance to the seniors to have their opportunities to score.”

Sterling (4-18) kept Dixon off the scoreboard for the rest of the half as White made a few nice saves and the defense didn’t give up too many good looks. For the game, White made 15 saves, including a couple of shots that were above her head and a couple where she had to dive to the side to knock them away.

“She’s very calm and collected in the goal,” Sterling coach Raul Sanchez said. “She’s very tall, so she can get to those high shots, too. I really love the effort she gave today.”

Dixon’s first two goals of the second half came less than two minutes apart. Harrison converted on a breakaway off an Ava Littlejohn assist, beating White 1-on-1 into the lower left-hand corner of the net with 26:45 remaining.

Micki Worrell then cleaned up a deflection off a defender in front of the goal at the 24:54 mark for a 4-0 lead.

“Us talking a lot and communicating with each other, keeping our eyes up and looking for passes, that’s the key. Just talking to each other, we really connect with that,” senior Madeline McLane said. “We just really wanted to win on Senior Night.”

Senior Leah Stees knocked Harrison’s crosser off the right post and into the net to cap the scoring with just 19.9 seconds left.

As much as the offense flourished, the defense was just as solid for the Duchesses. Sterling managed just one shot, and goalkeeper Zoey Williams made the save; she only touched the ball a half-dozen times all game because her defenders didn’t let much of anything get through.

“I feel like our back line, we’re very connected and we shift with each other,” senior Meredith Foulker said. “We’re very good at covering, so if the ball gets past one of us, the others go behind and shift over and cover. We do a really good job with our team defense.”

With the postseason starting next week, the Duchesses were pleased with how everyone got involved in their aggressive attack.

As for Sterling, the Warriors never stopped playing hard, and Sanchez will look for his team to continue playing with that plucky attitude at regionals.

“Our goal this season is just to keep fighting, and we did that tonight,” he said. “We tried to get some chances late – they kept trapping us on the offsides, so that kind of killed some of our offensive momentum – but we didn’t give up.”