Youth movement: Sophomores, juniors leading the way for Dighton-Rehoboth girls soccer

LAKEVILLE— For much of the last decade, Dighton-Rehoboth girls soccer was the dominant force in the South Coast Conference, culminating in back-to-back undefeated league campaigns and league titles in the Fall II 2021 and 2021 regular seasons.

Those Falcons had a strong core consisting of 10 members of the Class of 2022, a group that bolstered the team in all areas on and off the pitch. Two years later, the 10 members of the Class of 2026 are off to a strong start in replicating recent history.

Sophomore forward Cailee Leonard has six goals for D-R (2-1-1, 1-1-1 SCC) through their first four matches, including an opening-day hat trick against Fairhaven and a pair of goals against New Bedford, a game in which fellow sophomores Ainsley Zibrida and Skyla Stott also found the back of the net. Sophomores Ava Morgado and Gia Papa have also helped set up the attack, contributing an assist each.

"The sophomore class has been playing together for a long time now and it shows out there with their chemistry," Falcons coach Mike Cooke said. "What’s impressed me the most is how much (work) they put in just in practice and everything else. They’re constantly trying to improve themselves, they support each other."

"We’ve been playing together since we were little so I think we know how we work with each other, so that definitely helps bring the team together," Leonard said.

Now in his second season at the helm, Cooke saw many of his sophomores play significant minutes as freshmen and has already noticed the progress that has come with getting a year older and gaining that experience.

"Our biggest change from last year to this year is just the girls growing up and being more physical in a very tough, physical conference," Cooke said. "They know the SCC is always a physical conference, so to get the smaller girls to step up and win those 50/50s and not back down, they’ve really stepped up to do just that."

That's not to overlook the abilities of the junior class either, which counts among its six members the team's second-leading goal scorer Julia Chaves with three goals, two of which came against New Bedford. Additionally, Keira DePaolo leads the team with three assists and goalkeeper and co-captain Haleigh Kelley has kept a clean sheet in two of four matches so far, including a 15 save performance in a 0-0 draw with SCC leader Apponequet (5-0-1, 3-0-1 SCC) on the road Wednesday.

"She really is the heart and soul of the team," Cooke said of Kelley. "She calls out the defense and leads and directs them on the field and the girls just all look up to her... her leadership is just astounding for us."

In particular, he praised her efforts of leading by example, noting she often wins sprints at practice despite being a goalkeeper, as well as how she's stepped up following the graduation of defensive stalwarts Ella Damon and Sarah Ranley from last season.

For Kelley, having such a potent offense helps ease her nerves in net.

"It makes my life a lot easier because when I make a save, it’s great, but when they score it brings the whole team’s energy up and we play best when we have our energy," Kelley said. "When Cailee scores two or three goals a game, having that safety net takes a lot of weight off our shoulders and helps us to play more relaxed and we play best when we’re relaxed but intense."

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She also praised the efforts of her sophomore teammates and the team as a whole in coming together despite weather-related challenge limiting their games and practices so far this fall.

"What I love about this team is that every day they go out and they do their job," Kelley said. "They go out, they work together and they leave it all out on the field, so I’m very proud of what they’ve done so far and it’s only up from here."

As for Wednesday's draw, while Cooke was disappointed the Falcons were only able to muster two shots on goal, he was impressed with the effort his girls gave against a largely senior-laden Laker squad.

"They played physical, they went in for 50/50 balls against a team we knew was going to be physical," Cooke said. "I thought they handled themselves very well. It’s disappointing not getting enough shots off, that’s something we need to build on but overall I loved the girls’ work ethic today and what they put out there."

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Going forward, Cooke said his biggest goal for the Falcons this season is to qualify for the Division 3 tournament again and win at least a game or two after falling 2-1 to Martha's Vineyard in last year's preliminary round. He'd also like to see them compete for the SCC title, but knows that with the growing strength of the league and squads like Apponequet, Bourne and newcomer West Bridgewater, nothing is given.

As for the players themselves, they feel confident in their abilities as long as they continue to work and build together.

"We have a lot of talent, a lot of hard workers and a lot of smart players," Kelley said. "I just know if we all work together like we’ve been doing and we really connect and get that time in practice and make those connections on the field, then there’s no stopping us."

Taunton Daily Gazette sports reporter Cameron Merritt can be reached at cmerritt@tauntongazette.com. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @CamMerritt_News. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to the Taunton Daily Gazette today.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Sophomore, junior classes lead way for Dighton-Rehoboth girls soccer