Avonlea Cummings
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
On a cold and rainy Saturday morning, March 23, the Westwood Flahive and multi-purpose fields buzzed with activity as the Westwood girls' lacrosse play day commenced. Despite the rain, the event saw enthusiastic participation from multiple high school teams, including Dover-Sherborn, Medfield, Needham, Wellesley, Notre Dame, Hingham, Natick, Norwell, and Franklin.
From 8 AM to 12 PM, the ten teams engaged in a series of scrimmages, providing an opportunity to shake off the rust and build momentum ahead of the regular season. Coaches utilized the event to assess player performance, rotating athletes through different positions such as attack, midfield, and defense.
Among the teams, Dover-Sherborn faced off against Natick High and the Hingham Harbormen, focusing on refining offensive and defensive strategies. Despite having a small and young team compared to others, DS girls' head coach Erin Massimi emphasized the importance of participating in full-field scrimmages before the season begins. This allowed players who are new to varsity to experience the pace of the game and showcased their ability to rise to the challenges on the field.
“I mean it’s really critical for us and play full field. For DS we don’t have a very big team, we are usually sub 25 kids total. So scrimmaging full field is rare, especially for this year. On top of that, it’s a great way to see kids in new positions that you’re throwing them out at. There’s great competition so kids who are able to step up and take the coaching and apply that to the game are the kids who are really ready for that varsity position. All these teams are so good, the competition is fantastic, we always find ways to get better and it’s a great way for the kids to experience how fast the game is particularly freshmen or someone’s first time playing varsity,” said Massimi.
DS had an outstanding season with a 14-6 record last year, and closed the successful season reigning as 2022 - 2023 Division 4 State Champions. At the end of the season, they parted ways from seven starting seniors. Coach Massimi believes this will be a full circle season for her as head coach as she has a young team, the same way as she did when she first became the head coach of the program seven seasons ago.
Despite having a young team, Coach Massimi is looking forward to seeing the growth of the team in the next couple of months ahead. She spoke about her senior captains and the leadership roles the upperclassmen have taken on.
“Avery O’Connell and Kelly Devine will definitely be head of our leadership and offense this year. We definitely have a very young team we have a lot of kids who have never played on the varsity program. We lost seven seniors that were starters last year including a goalie, middies, and it’s a really young team. I think these captains and seniors are ready to step into that role, they know what it takes to win,” said Massimi.
The girls begin regular season action on Thursday, March 28 against Norton High at 4 PM. DS will be working hard throughout the season, and will be a team to watch out for on the fields. One game that will be a great competition to come out and cheer on your Raiders will be on Thursday, May 16 against Cohasset High at 6:30 PM. To learn more about the DS girls’ lacrosse schedule visit: https://www.arbiterlive.com/Teams/Schedule/153763
