Dawidczyk wins scoring title;

Will attend Sacred Heart
Text and photos by Steev Riccardo 

OXFORD - Without even stepping a foot on a track to begin her final season in track and field, a sport Oxford High School senior Emily Dawidczyk has dominated, the school’s all-time leading scorer in soccer has committed to attend Division I Sacred Heart University to play soccer next year.

This may come as a surprise to some, considering Dawidczyk’s incredible track career, which isn’t even over yet, but coming off an amazing season in which she won the Central Mass scoring title with 32 goals and four assists, the National Honor Society senior chose Sacred Heart not only to play soccer but more importantly, to major in Nursing.

Dawidczyk scored goals against 14 different teams and had seven multi-goal games, including six goals against an excellent Shepherd Hill team, which gave up only 23 goals all season. She also had five goals against Southbridge, four against Grafton, and a hat trick against SWCL powerhouse Auburn.  It was truly an unforgettable feat.

As a team the Pirates, who were minus Dawidczyk for three games, were only 5-10-2, but lost a lot of close games and were much better than their overall record indicates.

Despite the poor team record, Dawidczyk managed to keep her cool and stay focused throughout the season and along with co-captains Gina Manzi and Dominique Lesieur kept the team ready for and competitive in every game.

“Sometimes it did get a little frustrating, like the Shepherd Hill game,” said Dawidczyk. “We were up two goals and they came back and tied us.  All in all though, I think the season was really good. For me it tied the best season that I ever had record-wise in high school, so that was exciting.”

The Shepherd Hill game, which ended in a 6-6 tie, was clearly the senior’s “most memorable game.”  Despite the tie the players and coach Dung Hguyen celebrated afterwards like they had won.  For them it was a win, not just for the team but also for the soccer program at Oxford, which has struggled in recent years.

Dawidczyk feels that the soccer program at Oxford is now heading in a good direction in general and credits the younger players who are coming up with being a big reason for that.

“I know the younger girls in the middle school are playing club soccer and I think if they stay in Oxford then the organization is going to be really good.”

As far as the upcoming indoor and outdoor track seasons, don’t expect the reigning SWCL and Central Mass all-star to be coasting along. 

“I always like to step up my game and take it a step further,” said Dawidczyk, who starred in both the state and New England tournaments in outdoor track last year and figures to be heavily favored to break a few more records this year.
 

When her high school career is over in June, she has a lot to look forward to. “It’s very exciting to be going to Sacred Heart. I went for an official visit and the whole feeling of being there made me fall in love with the place.”

It’s pretty certain that once she takes the field, the love will be returning her way, but for the time being we are the lucky ones who get to see Dawidczyk for two more seasons and speaking of love, we love that!  

For more on Emily “The Sweet Assassin” Dawidczyk and local sports, check out View From The Sidelines every week in The Patriot and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ViewFromTheSidelines or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with your feedback and comments.