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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
The Wellesley High School girls varsity lacrosse team welcomed Milton last Tuesday afternoon for a key Bay State Conference showdown.
Behind a stellar performance by senior captain and Northwestern commit Maddy Balter (five goals, two assists), along with four goals from fellow senior captain and Stanford commit Caitlin Chicoski, the Lady-Raiders cruised to a 15-5 victory and moved to 9-0 on the season.
Grace Ahonen got the scoring started for Wellesley less than a minute in on a strong drive and finish off of a fast break before Chicoski and Mae Sheehan fired home goals just 29 seconds apart to extend the lead to 3-0. Bridget Noonan made it 4-0 with a drive to the crease and finish down low before Chicoski added her second of the game with a dodge and finish on the off-hand to push the lead to 5-0 with 16:26 to play. Just 15 seconds later with 16:11 remaining, Balter fired home a rocket off the post and in to make it a 6-0 game.
Milton finally got on the board with 15:20 remaining in the half, but Balter responded right back for Wellesley with a dodge and finish up high to extend Wellesley’s lead back to six goals at 7-1. Chicoski completed the hat trick moments later with 14:32 to play to put Wellesley ahead 8-1 before back-to-back goals from Balter and Chicoski put the Raiders in double digits at 10-1. Brooke Baker fired home a goal on a cut to the crease and finish down low off of a feed from Balter to make it 11-1 with just under four minutes to play, and the Raiders took the 10-goal lead into halftime.
Balter put home a pair of goals in the second half and Wellesley added three more tallies throughout the second half to prevail by the 15-5 final. On Thursday, the Raiders took down rival Newton North 23-9 to move to 10-0 on the year.
At the time of print, Wellesley is ranked No. 3 in the latest Boston Globe rankings and No. 4 in the latest LaxPower rankings. The Lady-Raiders will look to stay unbeaten against rival and defending Division I champ Needham on May 3 before facing Walpole on May 8.
For funny and incisive sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter at @fLAno0, or read his blog at www.flannylive.wordpress.com.
Caitlin Chicoski (2) moves the ball up the field for Wellesley midway through the first half.
