Opening its season against perennial powerhouse, Westwood HS, the Lady Dragons were dominated by their hosts, 19-5, last Monday afternoon off Route 109.

Opening its season against perennial powerhouse, Westwood HS, the Lady Dragons were dominated by their hosts, 19-5, last Monday afternoon off Route 109.

It was a tough way to start the season, as the Wolverines unloaded 22 shots on Duxbury goalie Stephanie Hoomis, and made it clear to the visitors that they are still the #1 power in eastern Mass.{sidebar id=4}

Fortunately for Duxbury, they had a couple of days off to shake off their drubbing and get ready for Norwell last Thursday afternoon in Duxbury.

The Clippers have turned into Duxbury’s chief competition on the South Shore, and they showed it in the Lady Dragons’ home opener.

Norwell struck just over three minutes into the game when Rose O’Connell put one past Hoomis, but five minutes later the Lady Dragons were on top when seniors Trish Babson and Jill Caramello scored less than two minutes apart to make it 2-1.

Katie Griffin took advantage of Duxbury’s momentum and came down the right side to beat Norwell’s Justine Sullivan to make it 3-1 at the 14:34 mark.{sidebar id=1}

Norwell’s Jill Cammett took matters into her own hands in the final 11 minutes of the half, scoring three consecutive goals, including the go-ahead goal as the gun sounded to end the first half.

O’Connell duplicated her first-half feats by scoring the first Norwell goal of the second half for a 5-3 lead, but Babson responded by scoring off a restart to narrow the margin to 5-4 with 15:20 left in the game.

Norwell’s Olivia Huie made it 6-4 with 13:34 showing on the clock when she came out from behind the net to bury one past Hoomis, and her teammates looked like they were on their way to an upset victory when O’Connell notched her third of the game with 6:43 remaining.

Valuable time was ticking off the clock, as the Lady Dragons had numerous scoring bids with little success.

With 2:28 to go, sophomore Marley McDermott broke a 13-minute scoring drought when she ripped a shot over the shoulder of Sullivan to cut the deficit to 7-5.

Momentum was clearly on Duxbury’s side, as Meg Muncey worked her way inside with 1:37 to go and beat Sullivan to get within one.

There was little time left for patience on offense, as one more Norwell possession would have killed the clock, so the call went out to Caramello and Levesque to put their speed and skills to good use.

Caramello gained possession in the middle of the field and burst through an assortment of Norwell defenders, losing possession of the ball as she approached the net. Trying to see though a maze of players in front of her, Sullivan lost sight of the ball as it dribbled past the goal line, bringing a load protest from Norwell players and the coaching staff.

Twenty-seven seconds remained with a face-off at midfield, and it all came down to possession.

Levesque scooped up the loose ball amongst a group of battling players, and showed her explosive speed by blowing past the Norwell defense and firing her shot to the right of Sullivan where it found the back of the net with 17 seconds left for an 8-7 Duxbury win.

“We had a lot of turnovers today,” said Duxbury Coach Sue Paull. “ They played us tough and they were doubling up on Erin because they knew she was our top scorer. I think we got lucky at the end and the kids proved they just didn’t want to lose.”

After yesterday’s game in Hanover, the girls return home for a Thursday battle with Cohasset starting at 3:30.{sidebar id=6}