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Madison Park shuts out Dorchester in city championship

Dorchester’s Valdo Jean Francois (right) and Madison Park’s Claudio Teixeira fight for possession of the ball.Lane TURNER/GLOBE STAFF
Madison Park 2
Dorchester 0

Three-time defending champion Madison Park defeated Dorchester, 2-0, to win its fourth straight City League boys' soccer championship Wednesday afternoon at Boston English, behind goals from sophomores Witer Batista and Estevao Gomes.

Cardinals goalie Joao Rosa held the Bears at bay all afternoon with 11 saves.

"Throughout the year, we've continuously played well," Madison Park coach Joao Gomes said. "The kids did a great job keeping up with practices. I'm happy with the way we came out and played today, and winning the cities means a lot, especially for our players."

Both teams came into the final undefeated, but despite having possession of the ball for the majority of the first half, Dorchester (13-1-1) couldn't put one past Rosa, who made six saves before halftime.

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The Cardinals (13-0-2) drew first blood when Batista scored with 16 minutes left in the first after a nifty pass from teammate Jairo Ortiz.

"I went up for the header, but I lost control," Batista said. "But Jairo made a great recovery for me and quickly passed it, so I put it home."

Madison Park took that 1-0 lead into the half, and came out firing in the second. Less than 10 minutes in, Gomes scored off a deflection from a Dorchester player. Madison Park made the 2-0 lead hold up because Rosa continued to perform superbly in net.

"He's outstanding," coach Gomes said of Rosa. "He's definitely a go-getter and never quits. Hopefully he can cash in on some of his skills, and continue to get better and better and maybe become a professional."

Dorchester coach Tim Lavin described his Bears team as the best he's coached in 10 years.

"This was our first time making cities," Lavin said. "It's also the best record we've had since I've been here. I'm proud of the way we played today, Madison's goalie just played great and we couldn't seem to find the back of the net."

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"I'm so happy," said Rosa about Madison Park's victory. "It always feels great winning the cities. I give it to the seniors though, they've worked so hard. Dorchester's a great team too. We just came out and worked as hard as we could today."