The Dexter varsity soccer team is off to a strong start and the Dreadnaughts kicked things off with three wins in one day at the Saginaw Heritage tournament.
Sam Harshe had two goals and Noah Lewis and Alex Doletzky had assists as the Dreads opened the season with a 2-0 win Hartland. In the second game, Hayden Newton, Jack Kolka and Doletzky scored goals in a 3-0 win over Freeland.
The Dreadnaughts finished the tournament with a 2-0 win over Davison. Harshe and Doletzky had goals and Lewis had an assist.
Freshman goalkeeper Wiley Smith and senior Matt Keogh combined for the three shutouts as the Dexter backline stood tall all day long. Defenders Caden Doll, Matt Roller, Daryl Bell, Will Palazzolo, Noah Rogge, and Harrison Kim held the opponents to a handful of shots.
On Aug. 21, Dexter hit the road and headed down to Tecumseh to take on the rival Indians. The Dreads fell in a close game 3-2. Harshe and Hayden Newton had goals. Dexter missed a penalty kick, hit the cross bar multiple times and spent most of the game on the Tecumseh half of the field.
On Aug. 23, the Dreads tied host Jackson 1-1. Palazzolo, only a freshman, scored a goal in the second half on a perfectly weighted ball from Lewis. Dexter carried the play and possessed the ball really well, but struggled to finish on a number of good chances. Senior Nick Uranga was superior at midfield and Doletzky and Harshe created a ton of chances going forward.
The Dreads defeated Holland 3-0 in the Gull Lake Tournament on Aug. 25. Holland is rebuilding after winning the state title last year. Dexter carried the play and the defense was excellent with Caden Doll, Nathan Maki, Matt Roller, Jack Kolka and Daryl Bell. Keogh recorded the shutout. Sam Harshe had two goals and an assist. Lewis and Newton each had assists.
Harshe scored the only goal – with an assist from Lewis – as Dexter knocked off Gull Lake 1-0. Defense was again very good as Smith made a big save between the pipes for Dexter. Harshe got the ball at the 18 after Lewis laid it off from out wide. Harshe then took the game on his shoulders and slipped between two players and beat the keeper.
The Dexter soccer team will host a “Mental Health Awareness” game on Sept. 13 with Pioneer HS at Dexter. The game will be held in the honor of Taylor Sturkie and fundraising will be for NAMI Washtenaw County. There will be a speaker at halftime of the varsity game and NAMI will have an information booth set up. The varsity game is at 5:30 p.m.
