With New Bedford playing the role of spoiler down the final stretch of the season, Durfee captured the Southeast Conference Championship in a race that went down to the last game in league play. The title is not only the first for the Hilltopper field hockey program, it marks the first outright title for any Durfee team since the inception of the current SEC.

“We are so proud,” said Durfee coach Nicole Henrique. “This team has grown so much over the years. We could not be happier and we are truly proud. It is such an accomplishment for us. As a team and staff, we are honestly over the moon.”

Durfee started the season on fire, going 7-0-1 out of the gate, including a 5-0 mark in league play. That run included a 3-2 victory over Dartmouth. Things got interesting when three weeks later, Dartmouth returned the favor with a 2-0 win over the Hilltoppers. That put the Indians temporarily in first place with a 5-1-1 mark but Durfee still controlled its own destiny. Win their final two games and the Toppers were champs.

Enter New Bedford. The Whalers, who fell to Durfee 3-0 earlier in the year, secured a 2-2 tie with the Hilltoppers, leaving Durfee and Dartmouth tied atop the conference standings. When Durfee then blanked Bridgewater-Raynham, 6-0 in its final league game, it secured itself at least a tie for the league title.

The final game on the league docket matched Dartmouth with New Bedford. In the first meeting, the two teams had played to a 1-1 tie. A win for Dartmouth and it would share the league title. New Bedford did it again though, playing the Indians to another 1-1 draw, thus securing the landmark league title for Durfee.

Complete League Results

Final League Standings:

The Dartmouth girls volleyball team has captured the Southeast Conference championship yet again. With its 3-0 win over New Bedford, the Indians finished league play with a perfect 8-0 mark. It marked the fourth straight year that Dartmouth has gone undefeated in conference play.

“We overcame a lot of obstacles this year,” said veteran head coach Rachel Lassey. “We’ve had key players being injured or sick. All players have really stepped up, and embraced different roles a number of times throughout the season, and we have been able to stay strong.”

The team, which is a veteran squad made up of mostly juniors and seniors, has been led by senior co-captains Lauren Augusto, a setter and Ava Crane, an outside hitter. Augusto is on her way to getting 1,000 assists. She would be the third player in Dartmouth High history to achieve the feat.

Other key performers have been senior outside hitter Erynn Jasparro, junior middle Adeline Ablett, junior libero Gaby Velazquez, junior outside hitter Brooke Davis, junior middle Haley Jenkins and junior defensive specialist Olivia Arruda.

“We are very excited to continue to be a force in the SEC,” added Lassey. “We are very proud to have this accomplishment, and hope to keep it going for as long as possible.”

Lassey herself was recognized for her coaching excellence. This past weekend, she was inducted into the Massachusetts Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame.

The Indians are 13-2 overall on the year. The lone setbacks came against undefeated and top-ranked Westborough and Swansea’s Case High, which is ranked second in Division 4. Dartmouth has five games remaining on its docket before trying to make some noise in the MIAA state tournament. In the most recent power rankings, the Indians are ranked fourth in Division 2.

Southeast Conference regular season champion Bridgewater-Raynham took first place at the SEC Championship meet held at Fall River Country Club. It was the second straight year the Trojans have won the tournament title.

In winning the championship with a team score of 199, B-R had four golfers shoot in the 70s. Justin Peters had the tournament overall low score with a 73. Jason Coughlin posted a 76, while Pat Concannon shot 77 and Richie Thayer had a 79.

Dartmouth took second place at the event with a team score of 193. Chase Guilherme was the Indians’ top finisher shooting a second place 74. Mikey Correia was third with a 75, while Will Gagni carded a 78 and Ian Emery an 83.

Rounding out the field, host Durfee took third place with a score of 178. The Hilltoppers’ top finishers were Brady Sullivan with a 78 and Mike Banalewicz with an 80. Brockton took fourth with a score of 148. The Boxers were led by Ryan Merritt with a 79. New Bedford was fifth with a team score of 120. Craig Batista shot an 85 to lead the Whalers.

Complete Results:

1^st Place Bridgewater-Raynham-305 (199pts)
Justin Peters – 73 (53 pts)
Jason Coughlin – 76 (50 pts)
Pat Concannon – 77(49 pts)
Richie Thayer -79 (47 pts)

2^nd Place Dartmouth-310 (194pts)
Chase Guilherme – 74 (52 pts)
Mikey Correia – 75 (51 pts)
Will Gangi – 78 (48 pts)
Ian Emery – 83 (43 pts)

3^rd Place Durfee-326 (178pts)
Brady Sullivan – 78 (48pts)
Mike Banalewicz – 80 (46pts)
Ethan Tho – 83 (43pts)
Dan Matuszek – 85 (41pts)

4^th Place Brockton-356 (148pts)
Ryan Merritt – 79 (47pts)
Brady Witt – 90 (36pts)
Brian Poz – 92 (34pts)
Ryan Sinnot – 95 (31pts)

5^th Place New Bedford-384 (120pts)
Craig Baptista – 85 (41pts)
Trevor Rodrigues – 92 (34pts)
Luke Tarpey – 94 (32 pts)
Cam Molleo – 113 (13pts)

Dartmouth junior Grace Haskell scored twice off corners in the late stages of a tight game to lift the Indians to a 2-0 win over first place Durfee, tightening the race for the Southeast Conference title down the stretch.

With the win, the Indians improve to 8-1-4 overall and 5-1-1 in the SEC. The lone blemish on that record came at the hands of Durfee, 2-1 back on September 21. What could end up costing Dartmouth a share of the title though is an early season, 1-1 tie against New Bedford.

Durfee started the season red hot, going 7-0-1 before finally succumbing to non-league foe Dighton-Rehoboth on September 30. The Hilltoppers are now 9-2-2 overall and 5-1 in the conference. Durfee still controls its own destiny though.

The Toppers have a game in hand on Dartmouth and if they can pull off wins against New Bedford tomorrow and Bridgewater-Raynham on October 19, they will win the conference championship. In its previous meetings, Durfee defeated New Bedford, 3-0 at home and dominated Bridgewater-Raynham, 6-0 in Bridgewater.

Dartmouth, which is currently on a roll, going 6-0-2 over its last eight games, has one league contest remaining, against New Bedford on October 21.

A look at the current league standings:

The Bridgewater-Raynham golf team continues to reign supreme over the Southeast Conference field. The Trojans recently defeated Durfee 145-99 at the Fall River Country Club to finish with a perfect 8-0 record in league play. The league title was the ninth straight for B-R.

“I could not be prouder of a fine group of golfers who have conducted themselves with pride and dignity both on and off the golf course,” said B-R coach George Pimental. “They have kept an eight year league championship streak alive, with this being B-R’s ninth consecutive league championship.”

Among the highlights of the campaign were co-captain Justin Peters, who shot under par during several matches. His low score came against SEC foe New Bedford, where he shot a 3 under par 33. Co-captain Pat Concannon and captain-elect junior Richie Thayer were steady performers throughout the season, both making major contributions to securing the SEC crown.

Seniors Nick Rossi and Jason Coughlin stepped up in a major way during two non-league matches against powerhouse opponent Xaverian. The duo both shot their best scores, contributing to a pair of wins over Xaverian.

While the first couple of weeks of the season saw some struggles for SEC football teams, there was some better news in Week 3. Dartmouth and Brockton, competing in thrillers, posted their second wins of the year, while Bridgewater-Raynham broke through for its first victory. On the down side, Durfee and New Bedford are still looking for that first taste of victory.

Brockton needed a game-saving extra-point block against Lincoln-Sudbury to force overtime, where the Boxers prevailed 42-34. Brockton built a 28-7 lead at halftime before the Warriors stormed back. Taking advantage of a couple of Brockton fumbles, L-S tied the score at 28.

Brockton’s Cameron Monteiro then scored on an 81-yrad sprint down the sideline to put the Boxers back in the lead. L-S tied the game and was about to kick the game-winning extra point, when Brockton’s Rowan Baptiste made the crucial block. Monteiro scored from 10 yards out in overtime for the win. Brockton is now 2-1 on the season.

The Dartmouth win was equally as thrilling. The Indians, who have been in tight battles all three weeks, emerged with a hard-fought, 24-21 upset win over Old Rochester. After the opening kickoff, Dartmouth drove and scored on junior Louie Freitas‘ 8-yard run for an early 7-0 lead. A 30-yard touchdown pass by the Bulldogs evened the score. Ray Gramlich scored on a 4-yard run for Dartmouth and the Indians went into halftime up 21-7 on a touchdown pass to Graham White.

A Freitas field goal pushed the Dartmouth lead to 24-7 in the fourth quarter but ORR stormed back, scoring two touchdowns to make it 24-21 with just over four minutes left. The Bulldogs had a chance to win but an interception by White sealed the Indians’ victory. Dartmouth is now 2-1 on the year.

After a couple of one-sided losses to start the year, Bridgewater-Raynham put it together in their home opener, defeating Barnstable 26-10. A turnover-filed affair, B-R held a 12-10 edge at halftime. Quarterback Declan Byrne scored three touchdown, while running back Dawson Dubose added another. Dubose had a monster game, rushing for 190 yards. B-R is now 1-2 on the campaign.

For Durfee and New Bedford, it’ll be back to the drawing board, as both will try to get in the win column next week. Durfee fell to Somerset-Berkley, 38-6, while the Whalers lost 20-0 to Attleboro. The Hilltoppers travel to face Barnstable, while New Bedford will hit the road to take on Lincoln-Sudbury.

Southeast Conference soccer action is in full swing this week. On Tuesday, Brockton and Bridgewater-Raynham squared off, as did Durfee and Dartmouth. In both cases, all school’s teams came away with splits.

In the Dartmouth and Durfee match-ups, the Durfee boys posted a 2-0 victory, while the Dartmouth girls were able to squeeze out a 1-0 win in their hard-fought battle with the Hilltoppers. The Bridgewater-Raynham girls posted a 2-1 win over their Brockton counterparts, while the Brockton boys were simply too much for the the Trojans, posting a dominating 11-1 victory.

In the Dartmouth-Durfee boys match-up, it was a case of not being able to finish for the Indians. Dartmouth outshot the Hilltoppers 6-1 in the first half but the game remained scoreless at the break. Early in the second half, Durfee was awarded a penalty kick and Landon Medeiros made good on the bid, giving the Toppers the lead. Thomas Gonsalves notched a last-minute goal for Durfee to ice the contest. Durfee goalie, Xavier Inacio finished with nine saves in posting the clean sheet.

With the win, Durfee remains undefeated on the season with a 4-0-1 mark. The Hilltoppers, 1-0-1 in the SEC, are tied atop the conference standings with Brockton, with whom they played to a draw last week. Dartmouth meanwhile, falls to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

The girls match-up was another evenly-fought affair with both teams taking turns with dangerous attacks. Dartmouth scored the game’s only goal about five minutes in and held off the Toppers throughout. Durfee actually had more high quality scoring chances but Indian goalie Alexandra Cojocaru made some nice stops, including one diving save. Durfee also had a couple of direct kicks from just outside the box and several times got behind the Dartmouth defense but repeatedly failed to put the ball on frame.

With the win, the Indians improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Southeast Conference. Durfee meanwhile is 3-3 on the year with all three losses being one-goal margins. The Toppers are 0-2 in league play, having dropped a 4-3 heart-breaker to Brockton last week.

In the B-R-Brockton girls match-up, the Trojan’s goals were scored by Lily Ford and Willow Forbes-Smith. B-R goalkeeper Cori Cahill stooped eight shots. The Boxers got their lone tally on a penalty kick inside the final 10 minutes. The Trojans are now 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the SEC. Brockton, meanwhile, suffered its first loss of the year, dropping to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in league play.

With its easy win over Bridgewater-Raynham, Brockton improves to 2-1-2 overall and 1-0-1 in the SEC. The Trojans meanwhile, have lost their first five contests to open the year, including a 0-2 mark in the conference.

The Durfee High girls teams got off to excellent starts, as the volleyball, field hockey and soccer teams all posted victories in their season openers. In addition, cross country runner Maggie O’Connell posted a record-breaking performance in the cross country team’s season debut.

The girls volleyball team kicked off the 2022 campaign with a sweep of Middleboro on the road. The Lady Hilltoppers took the first set 25-21 before cruising in the second, 25-12. The third was tight but Durfee prevailed 25-22 to complete the sweep. Jasmine Caine led the way for the Toppers with two aces, five kills, seven digs and 12 assists. Selena Pereira also had a solid scoresheet with five aces and 10 assists. Gabby Farias added four aces. Alexis Layne had 16 digs, while Lauren Kutcher chipped in with five kills.

The Durfee field hockey won a hard-fought, defensive battle, 2-1 at home against Old Rochester. Toni Freitas and Ellia Delisle scored the Durfee goals. Junior Emily Curran assisted on the Freitas tally.

The Hilltopper girls soccer posted an impressive 3-0 victory at home over Old Rochester. Early on it looked like the Bulldogs would be no match for Durfee, as the Toppers controlled play and scored just over a minute into the contest. Old Rochester righted its ship though and the score remained 1-0 until Durfee junior, Julia Hargraves doubled the lead with just over eight minutes to play. Hargraves buried another two minutes later to seal the deal. Abby Carreiro posted the clean sheet in goal.

O’Connell, a junior, took first place against Diman Vocational with a time of 21:26. That was good enough to set the Diman course record. Fellow junior Camryn Letendre took second at the event with a solid time of 24:00.