By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
Win after win after win, Medfield continued to dominate on Thursday evening as it took another step towards securing its fourth state championship in program history and third in the last four years. The Warriors made quick work of Nauset Regional, defeating it 22-3 to advance to the Division III Round of 8.
As evident by the final score, Medfield won the opening faceoff and it was over from there. After a lengthy opening offensive position, captain Kendall Herrick got the party started with Medfield’s first goal of the game 1:06 into action.
The Warriors ripped off six more goals – with the sixth being Herrick’s third score of the game – before Nauset scored its first goal on a free position shot. On defense, junior Athena Polechronis made several tremendous saves in the same time span, including multiple on free position shots.
When smoke cleared the air at the end of the quarter, Medfield had a 11-1 lead.
“We always say to start strong,” head coach Mary Laughna said. “You never know what a team's going to bring. They had a couple of really good girls, so we knew we had to start strong and kind of just set the tone from the beginning.”
After a whole quarter of the Warriors finding a gaping hole directly in front of the crease, Nauset made a clear defensive adjustment to shut down the area. That did not stop captain Michaela McDonald from scoring only 29 seconds into the second quarter. Failing to find space in the middle, McDonald swiftly rolled back out, turned around and fired a shot past the goalie for a score.
Nauset went scoreless in the second quarter, as Medfield built out a 16-1 lead heading into the midpoint break.
With a big lead in hand, Medfield subbed in freshman Parker Kathan between the pipes for the second half. The young goalie picked up right where Polechronis left off, only surrendering two goals in the second half.
“Athena and Parker have both been insane in the second half of the season,” Laughna said. “They have come so far and have worked so hard and they've just been doing phenomenal.”
Laughna was also quick to recognize junior Libby Sinis, who kept Nauset’s top goal-scorer – one of the best in the state – to three goals.
Medfield gained a 20-2 lead by the end of the third quarter and spent the last twelve minutes draining the clock with cautious offensive possessions to coast to victory.
Six players scored multiple goals, with five securing at least a hat trick in the contest.
The Warriors went on to defeat Apponequet Regional in the Round of 8, and will play either Wayland or Foxborough at a neutral site with a trip to the state championship on the line.
