'It’s the next generation stepping up': New D-R soccer coach sees promise in young team

DIGHTON — For the first time in nearly three decades, there's no Trish Madsen on the touchline for Dighton-Rehoboth girls soccer.

After 29 years with the Falcons, 12 of which were spent as head coach, Madsen stepped down over the summer in order to focus more time on watching her own daughter play soccer for Thayer Academy. During her time at the helm, D-R went a combined 140-60-29 and captured four South Coast Conference titles, including two the past two season as the Falcons went undefeated in league play.

Taking the reins of the team is a familiar face to those around the program in Madsen's assistant of nearly a decade, Mike Cooke, who became just the third head coach in program history.

"It was kind of a dream come true to get the job," Cooke said, adding that when Madsen informed him of her decision to resign, he felt prepared to take on the role. "I’m only the third head coach in our program’s history going back to the early ‘90s, so I hope to be here for a while to keep that tradition going, but I’m just ecstatic to be able to take over and have this opportunity."

Cooke is joined by another familiar face in assistant coach Evie Rodrigues, a 2017 D-R grad and former Taunton Daily Gazette Girls Soccer All-Scholastic who recently wrapped up a four-year career at Franklin Pierce University.

"She was our team captain here in 2017 and she’s got great knowledge of the game and passion for the game and it’s been great taking over the program with her," Cooke said.

Madsen wasn't the program's only loss over the summer, however, as the team graduated 10 seniors, seven of which were key starters including Carleigh Hall, Caitlin Morgado, Eliana Raposo, Caroline Reed and Julia Tavares, all of whom were named Taunton Daily Gazette Girls Soccer All-Scholastics last fall and were crucial in the Falcons back-to-back league titles.

In particular, D-R was hit hardest in the midfield, with all of last year's starters now graduated and Cooke and Rodrigues forced to build a new midfield from scratch. Luckily for them, there's a new crop of players eager to taste the success had by recent teams and more than willing to put in the work for it.

"Coach Rodrigues and I have been really impressed with their efforts from Day 1," Cooke said. "They came into preseason ready to go. Their fitness was there, their desire and they have great skill work and foot work, it’s just adjusting to the speed of high school soccer. You don’t have time to hold the ball, these girls are right on you, so once they adjust to that a bit more with some more experience, I think we’re going to be a really good team down the stretch this year."

Where the Falcons do have experience is in their back line, anchored by senior captains Ella Damon and Sarah Ranley, aided by junior Ella Slater and freshman Ainsley Zibrida.

"They’ve been really strong all year," Cooke said. " It’s a lot of pressure. We graduated our entire midfield last year, we’re working things out still and when we can’t win possession in the midfield, it puts a lot of pressure on that back line but I thought the girls did a really great job."

Other notable players include returners such as Lily Nees and Tasha Pontes, as well as Julia Chaves and the Leonard sisters, junior Alexis and freshman Cailee. The roster is largely boosted by a core of 10 freshmen, a number which resonates strongly with Cooke.

"We graduated 10 girls that had played together all through youth soccer and it’s funny because our freshman group right now is 10 girls that have all played together through youth soccer and it’s the next generation stepping up," Cooke said.

So far this season D-R is 3-2-2 (3-1-2 SCC) with their most recent result being a 2-0 loss to league rivals Apponequet on Monday, their first loss in the SCC since 2019.

"I thought for a young team that we played strong and we kept it together pretty well against a very strong Apponequet squad," Cooke said. "We knew they were going to be fast up top, we knew they were going to have pressure on us and it’s asking a lot of our team, especially our midfield, to take the pressure off and the girls were a little rattled and that was the difference in the game today, holding the ball a little bit too long and not stepping up to pressure a few times. The better team did win today, but I was proud of the girls’ effort."

In particular, Cooke praised the efforts of his goalkeeper Haliegh Kelley, who takes over for her former soccer and softball teammate Raposo in between the sticks, who made 12 saves against the Lakers.

"She practiced all last year with Eliana Raposo, who was just an unbelievable keeper, and Haleigh just lives it and breathes it and she’s a bulldog and doesn’t back down to anything," Cooke said. "She’s been great this season but we didn’t give her enough help on a few of those shots today and that’s what the difference was."

The Lakers looked the stronger side from the opening whistle, forcing four Kelley saves within the opening 10 minutes. Their best early chance came around the 20th minute as a rebound off a Kelley save nearly gave the visitors a shot on a wide open net, but the ball was quickly cleared by the Falcon backline.

From there, D-R began to press a bit more, gaining more possession challenging Apponequet's defense and goalkeeper Casey Radley, who had eight saves on the afternoon. Still the Laker defense proved tough to crack as they were able to snuff out nearly every Falcon chance.

The two sides sat even at the break, but once the action resumed, it was all Apponequet again as they cruised through the D-R midfield and sent off six shots in the first five minutes of the half, though most went wide.

In the 54th minute, the Lakers efforts finally paid off as Jaida Beaulieu came up the right wing and delivered a hard shot into the near corner from the edge of the box to give the visitors their long sought 1-0 lead.

Down a goal, the Falcons looked more determined to equalize as they fought for possession and got off a couple shots, forcing two Radley saves, but Apponequet stayed in control and doubled their lead in the 74th minute as Morgan Pendergrace came up the middle and put a shot to the left of Kelly's outstretched arms to make it 2-0, with the Lakers just needing to play out the final few minutes to seal the win and secure the two points.

"We just put Apponequet in the driver’s seat (for the division) basically today," Cooke said. "We knew that going in that if we took two points, we’d be in the driver’s seat so we’ve got work to do but we’re ahead of where I thought we’d be at this point so we’ve got to keep pushing forward."

Still though, Cooke feels optimistic that this isn't the end of the Falcons' title defense, as long as they dedicate themselves to learning from their mistakes and continuing to grow as players.

"I told the girls after this game that we’ll get a chance to get them back at their place, but we need to just do the small things for us," Cooke said. "We need to communicate out there, we need to make the easy passes and just keep progressing. We’re a young team and as long as we keep taking those steps, we’ll be a tough out at the end of the year."

D-R will look to get back to winning ways Wednesday, Sept. 21, as they head south for a matchup with Greater New Bedford.

Taunton Daily Gazette sports reporter Cameron Merritt can be reached at cmerritt@tauntongazette.com. You can follow him on 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: New Dighton-Rehoboth girls soccer coach Mike Cooke sees promise