In the third “Battle of Slocum Road” of the year — but by far the most important one for their championship chances — Dartmouth High School shut out Bishop Stang High School with a decisive 6-0 victory. The Nov. 2 game at Memorial Stadium secures Dartmouth’s spot in the round of 16 of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament. 

“Beating them once is great, beating them twice is great, beating them three times is super sweet,” said senior and captain Grace Haskell, but she added that she has friends on the team, and it’s “sad to send them home.”

Head coach Beth Arguin said the team got off to a slow start (read: only one goal in the first quarter, and two in the second), but they picked it up later and continued to build their lead. 

The latest win puts Dartmouth High School at a staggering 18-0 record, an accomplishment that “hasn’t really hit just yet,” Arguin said. 

“Honestly, this is like a dream come true,” Haskell said. “I knew this season was going to be great … but I didn’t know it was going to be this good, like this is so sweet for all of us — it’s great for our senior year.”

In Division 2, Dartmouth is the only true undefeated team, with no ties in their record — as Somerset-Berkley High School does. 

Across the regular season, not only did Dartmouth shut out most games, but the team never allowed any opponent to score more than one point, a record that was kept intact Thursday. 

Still, they have their eyes on the real prize: the state championship.

“Hopefully, this win will help the momentum for our next game,” Arguin said.

“I think this is a great win for us long term,” Haskell said. “Obviously we have things to work on, we’re never perfect.”

That kind of work ethic, Haskell said, is a key part of the “team mentality.”

“We’re always willing to grow, we want to learn,” Haskell said. “We’re like sponges, we just want to get better.”

Players need to work on spacing, Arguin said, having players stay in the right place, playing the right position. 

Senior and Captain Samantha Souza said the team needs to get the ball a bit quicker, running into it rather than waiting for it to travel to them. 

“Winning strong and winning hard, like six to nothing, that puts us in a good position, " said senior and captain Kallie Rose. “But we just have to keep working.”

Dartmouth next plays the winner of Friday’s game between Duxbury and Longmeadow, again on their home field.