By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
Of course, there is always extra motivation and a bigger desire to win for both teams heading into a DS-Medfield game. Dover-Sherborn boys lacrosse was not able to turn the passion into victory in the rivalry matchup on Monday night, however, falling 17-4.
Things got out of hand quickly for the Raiders as they spent almost the entire first quarter on defense. By the end of it, Dover-Sherborn found itself in a 7-0 hole with the only threat of a score coming from junior Henry Fowler who sent a shot off the post.
The second quarter saw more of the same with Medfield tacking on another eight goals. Dover-Sherborn was able to get a couple of shots off but none got past Medfield’s goalie.
“I thought [Archibald Abstoss] made a lot of good saves in the cage, but we kind of let him get peppered,” said first-year head coach Dan Morris. “It’s hard to not give up goals when you don’t have the ball… I think we got a little tired and it’s hard to play that much defense when we don’t get the ball.”
Down 15-0, things took a turn for the better in the second half for the Raiders. In spite of the large deficit, they kept a competitive mindset. An early long offensive possession had Dover-Sherborn on the brink of its first goal and 3:46 into the quarter, Fowler dropped the goose egg off the scoreboard with a goal.
Medfield tallied two goals itself, but between Fowler’s goal and another from junior Oliver Atwood, the Raiders evened out the scoring in the third frame.
The Raiders found themselves in a one-man advantage situation for two minutes early in the fourth quarter but were not able to add onto their score. The defense locked in, however, and did not let up any more goals to the Warriors. The team finished strong with two late-time goals to outscore Medfield 4-2 in the second half.
“I think it's always a nice little silver lining when you can win the second half,” said Morris. “I think talking with the boys at halftime and getting them to have pride in what we're putting out on the field [led to] some great individual efforts from some guys that were frankly a little [upset] about how we played in the first half.”
Morris also mentioned that Medfield is a great early test to see how his team stacks up against top competition early in the season. With both teams being in the Tri-Valley League Small League, they will see each other again later in the season. The game will take place on Dover-Sherborn’s senior night.
