It’s been a rough start to the 2008 season for the DHS boys’ soccer team

LEAPING LIZARDS: Hingham’s Federico Kelly evades the tackle of sophomore Brett Sahlberg.

A late rally beat an inferior Quincy to start the season; they squeezed out a one-goal win over Scituate, and were shutout in consecutive outings versus Silver Lake (2-0) and Hingham (3-0). In just four games Head Coach John Tocci has seen enough.

“We’re really just missing our heart right now,” said a disgruntled Tocci. “There are not enough kids, beside a selected few, that are working hard enough for us to win. They all want to win, but we aren’t getting the effort. There is no way that was a 3-0 game against them. You saw it. Hingham had heart and they cared. Every kid was working hard. We just didn’t seem to care. We had miss-hit after miss-hit and nobody was stepping up and talking enough. You have your captain trying to talk and nothing changes. We changed our formation and that should have helped, but everyone got lazier. I can’t be in their heads and be their cheerleader. They have to want it themselves and we’re missing that right now.”

Saturday morning’s game with Hingham was there for the taking, but the Dragons were getting beat to every 50/50 ball, and rarely tested the Harbormen’s netminder.

Duxbury goalie Dan McManus had to be on his guard for most of the morning, as the hosts dominated play and kept the Dragons from registering a shot until the 20-minute mark. Their only serious scoring bid came with 10 minutes left in the half when junior Dan Sangster beat three defenders down the field and rifled a shot that just went wide of the far post.

McManus was at his best with six minutes to go when he dove and made consecutive point-blank saves to keep the game scoreless and from getting out of hand.

Despite Hingham’s dominance, the score was nil-nil at halftime

The first few minutes of the second half only got worse for Duxbury, as Hingham’s Brett Canepa put on a show and dribbled in close to chip a shot over the Duxbury net. Just minutes later the junior forward was at it again, as he jumped in front of McManus and headed a perfectly placed chip to the goalie’s left for a 1-0 lead.

Direct kicks and corners were becoming common place for the Harbormen, but they still only maintained a one-goal margin midway through the final half.

A Sangster pivot on a throw-in almost tied the game at the 21-minute mark, but it would be the only serious Duxbury bid in the second half before Hingham’s Joseph Eisenbies fired a perfect shot over a wall and into the far corner to make the score 2-0

A Jack Boland goal ended the day for Duxbury, as the Hingham forward picked up a rebound and fired a shot into the left corner past a fallen McManus.

After facing Whitman-Hanson on Monday, the Dragons get right back to work on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m.  when they entertain Hanover.