With Hingham’s dispatching (12-8) of undefeated and #1 seed Martha’s Vineyard, the road is clear for the Lady Dragons to march toward a MIAA Division II South Sectional lacrosse title.

Victories over Franklin (10-5) and Dover-Sherborn (12-10) in the first two rounds set the stage for yesterday’s semifinal game with Norwell that started at 5 p.m. as the Clipper was going to press.

The Lady Dragons beat Norwell, 18-13, three weeks ago, and a victory over the Clippers (#11 seed) would send Duxbury (#2 seed) to the South Sectional final against the winner of Hingham (#9 seed) versus Hopkinton (#4 seed).

Duxbury beat Hingham twice during the regular season in two of the team’s closest wins.

Franklin put a scare into the Lady Dragons, as they kept the game close throughout the first half and trailed 5-4.

First-half goals by Meg Muncey (2), Caitlin Burke, Siobhan McCarthy, and Katie Griffin gave Duxbury its narrow margin at halftime, while Ellie Getchell (2) and Ari Colella (2) were presenting problems for the Lady Dragon defense.

Halftime adjustments were in order, and Coach Sue Paull pulled all the right strings, as senior captain Liz Desmond and senior goalie Stephanie Hoomis snuffed out the Panther offense, holding them scoreless in the second half until a meaningless goal with 2:07 remaining finalized the score.

Hoomis played her best game of the season with 10 saves, while Burke (2), Muncey (2), and McCarthy scored in the second half to put the game away.

Friday’s game with the #10-seeded Raiders proved far more difficult, as the lead went back and forth throughout the first half before settling in with a 6-5 Duxbury lead at halftime on goals by Muncey (2), Alexa Matthews, McCarthy, and Burke (2).

Scoring became harder early in the second half, as both defenses dug in. 

Complicating matters for Duxbury was the loss of McCarthy, who attacked the net and accidentally took the stick of goalie Emily Thorndike on the shoulder, ending her afternoon with 22:52 left in the game.

Duxbury looked like it broke the game open midway through the half when Muncey and Griffin combined on a pair of goals for an 8-5 lead just before D-S’s Kristen Askin traded goals with Burke to make it 9-6 with 10:35 left on the clock.

The Raiders began to assert themselves, as Duxbury had trouble maintaining possession in trying to kill the clock. What had been a comfy three-goal margin disappeared over the next eight minutes when Dover-Sherborn’s Casey Flight tied the game with 2:29 to go.

Draw controls have been a problem all year long for the Lady Dragons, but sophomore Olivia McCarthy saved the day, scooping up a groundball after the face-off and moving it into the offensive zone where she found Muncey, who in turn fed Burke for what proved to be the game-winner with two minutes remaining.

A Muncey goal with 56 second left iced the game for Duxbury.

“It was tough to penetrate that defense and their goalie was outstanding,” said Paull. “They were tenacious and they forced us to make a lot of turnovers in that first half. We told our kids at halftime to move their goalie around and shoot high. I also thought Alexa Matthews was huge and our MVP today along with Muncey. But if we are going to win this we can’t make as many turnovers.”