After rebounding with a big win over Hingham that looked like it had the Lady Dragons headed in the right direction, Coach Pam Manley’s squad took on the iron of its schedule last week when it hosted Hopkinton and Hanover.

In between battles with the two perennial powers, Duxbury got a break when they traveled to Middleboro on Tuesday and crushed the Sachems, 9-0, as they unloaded an incredible 53 shots on the host’s net and earned 10 corners.

Mimi Smith had a big day for Duxbury, as the junior forward notched four goals and was joined in the scoring by senior Tracy Clough and junior Lila Haffey, who scored two goals each. Senior Jackie Coakley registered the other Duxbury score.

The Lady Dragons weren’t as fortunate in their other two games as they dropped both affairs by 1-0 scores.

LAND OF THE GIANTS: Duxbury’s Lila Haffey shows no fear as she penetrates the Hanover defense and puts a shot on net that’s kicked out by Indian goaltender McKenzie Curran.

Duxbury put on a solid effort in Thursday’s key Patriot League game with Hanover, but a solid Indian defense made it tough for the Dragons, who managed 12 shots on net, but couldn’t get one by Hanover goalie McKenzie Curran.

It didn’t take long for the visitors to get what would prove to be the winning goal when Erin Bodie scored less than three minutes after the opening face-off. The Lady Dragons could not contain the Hanover pressure in their defensive end, and the goal would prove costly.

The Indians controlled play for much of the first half, but momentum started to swing Duxbury’s way when Smith’s shot slid by the right post with 13:49 left in the half, signaling that the Lady Dragons would get their opportunities.

While play remained in the Duxbury end, the visitors almost put the hosts away for good with 24 seconds remaining when they broke out of their zone and fired a shot that just missed the right post.

Duxbury came out fired up in the second half and put intense pressure on the Hanover defense, but the Indians wouldn’t bend in front of Curran.

Coach Judy Schneider had to call a timeout with 14:13 left in the game to calm down a Duxbury offense that came out of the break and had consecutive corners that were unsuccessful.

Despite its constant attempts to tie the score in the final five minutes, the Lady Dragons could not find a way to get their shots through the constant maze of defenders in front of Curran.

“Our forwards have been every effective so far this year, but Hanover’s defense was big and they did a very good job of shutting them down,” said Manley. “I was very proud of the way our kids played today and they didn’t give up.”

Now sporting a 2-3 record, the Lady Dragons will hit the road this week for a pair of Patriot League games when they take Pembroke on Wednesday afternoon and Scituate on Friday.