DIGHTON— It's not the quantity of shots that wins games but rather the quality, and that was certainly the case for Dighton-Rehoboth field hockey Monday.

The Falcons (5-4-1) had to wait until a short corner midway through the third quarter to get their first shot on goal when Lexi Fratus fed Caleigh Cloonan at the top of the circle and the junior defender sent a long roller just inside the near post which made all the difference as D-R held on for the 1-0 win over South Coast Conference title rivals Somerset Berkley (4-1-1).

“I thought that we just kept fighting and played really hard," Falcons coach Meghan Marcotte said. "We’ve had a rough couple of weeks and last week we finished strong at the end (by beating Durfee) and that carried over into today."

Key in their victory was goalie Rowan Whittaker, who was a brick wall in net for the Falcons as she made 11 saves against a hungry Raider attack to earn the shutout.

"Honestly it was really hard to get myself in the right mindset at first but once I was in it, nothing was going to stop me," Whittaker said. "It really means a lot to me this team, this family, and I’m so glad that we were able to come away with the win."

"I thought she was fantastic," Marcotte said of Whittaker. "She fights hard, she’s aggressive, she’s a really good goalkeeper so I’m pleased with her play."

As for Somerset Berkley, who were ranked the No. 10 team in Division 2 Friday, despite dominating possession for much of the game outshooting the hosts 12-3, they couldn't break through against D-R as they struggled to adjust to the playing surface and suffered their first loss of the year.

"It was frustrating because we couldn’t capitalize on our many opportunities and playing on grass was just a huge adjustment," Raiders coach Jen Crook said. "It’s just a different game and it’s hard to make the adjustment, it takes a while to get going and (D-R) is used to playing on the grass all the time. I wish there was a rule that conference games had to be on an artificial surface, it’s a completely different game, but at least they capitalized on their opportunities as we had, so I give them credit."

While Crook said she didn't want to take anything away from the Falcons and their effort, she added that the rougher, slower playing surface limits the potential of her team as one which primarily plays on artificial turf to the advantage of the hosts.

"All the things you want to do you cannot do on a surface like this, so you just have to stick to the basics like receive a ball and get rid of it, you can’t do any pulling or (that)," Crook said. "It’s easier for a grass team to go to a turf field than it is for a turf team to go to a grass field, it’s just a huge difference."

Neither side was able to threaten the other much in the first quarter, with the D-R defense in particular stepping up to clear any Raider chance that came their way, something which Marcotte noted.

"I thought they did a great job," Marcotte said of her defenders. "We’ve worked a lot on marking and finding that one person and I thought that they did a really good job keeping with their person."

Somerset Berkley continued on the attack in the second quarter, with Reese Swanson nearly scoring for the visitors on their first shot but her chance bounced off the post and out to keep it scoreless.

The Raiders upped their effort from their, truly pressuring Whittaker and the Falcon defense and at one point Whittaker was forced to make three straight saves before a teammate cleared the ball out of danger. 

While Somerset Berkley came out of the break playing much at the level they had in the first half, the Falcons were given their first real opportunity on a short corner and Cloonan took full advantage as she put the ball in the back of the net with 8:27 left in the game as her teammates erupted in celebration.

"(That goal) was huge," Marcotte said. "We’ve had trouble scoring on corners this season so to score on a corner was really great for them."

The Raiders continued to press and test Whittaker but were denied as she continued to put up a strong performance in net while the defense did well to clear and pick off the pass attempts by the visitors as the Falcons drove down the clock to secure perhaps their most important win of the year so far.

With back-to-back home wins over Durfee and Somerset Berkley, Marcotte said it's proof of how well her team is playing together as of late.

"I think that we’ve started to work really well together as a team," Marcotte said. "They’ve found their groove so (the important thing is) to keep that going, keep pushing, practicing hard and hoping for the best each time we go out."

In particular for Whittaker, it means D-R is showing the rest of the SCC and the state just what they're capable of.

"It really gives us a lot of confidence in our team and I’m really proud that we were able to come together after a tough couple of games and really come back and show them who we really are and what we can do," Whittaker said. "I’m feeling very confident that we have what it takes to win this (league)."

The Falcons will look to make it three in a row Wednesday when they head down to Fall River for a rematch with the Hilltoppers while the Raiders will look to get back to winning ways Wednesday when they head down to Dartmouth to face Bishop Stang.

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.