By Meghan Foley
Hometown Weekly Staff
The girls’ lacrosse team has had a fantastic start to their season this year, opening with four consecutive wins: 19–2 over Medway, 14–2 over Ashland, 16–2 over Holliston, and 16–11 over Hopkinton. On April 13, the Raiders faced the Medfield Warriors, who are the two-time defending D3 champions. Last season, the Warriors defeated Dover-Sherborn in both of their matchups, 17–5 and 16–4. If the Raiders were intimidated going into this game, they didn’t show it.
D-S gave Medfield everything it could handle, before shelling just short, 14-13.
Dover-Sherborn opened with the first goal, scored by freshman Sophia Motley. Medfield responded a minute later, before fellow freshman Elizabeth Williams brought the Raiders back into the lead a minute and a half later. Defense by Williams and Captain Nora Olson kept a Warrior from getting a proper shot off and Captain Isabella Morrill made the save.
Medfield jumped back in the lead with two goals, but with just over a minute left, sophomore Barrett Saxe put away her first of a few goals. About 20 seconds later, Williams scored her second goal off of a pass from Captain Ema Claire Luczkow from behind the net, but the Warriors were able to squeak one more in before the end of the quarter, tying the game 4–4.
The Raiders started the second quarter strong again with two goals by Williams only 25 seconds apart. Medfield came back with two goals themselves, keeping the game neck and neck. On defense, junior Kaitlyn Rogers got her stick in the way of a high ball that would have gone right to a Warrior in front of the net, and sophomore Rory Hartnett scooped up the loose ball to run it out of the Raiders’ end and pass it up the field. Junior Waverly Spalding’s goal with just over three minutes left in the quarter put them back in front, but once again the Warriors were able to get one more goal to tie with a little over a minute remaining in the half.
The Raiders entered the half tied 7–7 and, for the third quarter in a row, scored first with goals by Elizabeth Williams and Barrett Saxe in the first two minutes. Between those two goals, Medfield had an up close shot that was thwarted by Captains Kate Dawley and Morrill. Defense by Williams also kept Medfield from another scoring opportunity on a free position shot. The Warriors scored to get within one point of the Raiders, but were held there with a few saves by Morrill. In the Medfield end, Waverly Spalding passed the ball to Luczkow, who sent it back to Spalding, now in front of the net, to reinstate the two-goal lead.
Down 10–8, the Warriors went on a scoring streak, making four goals by the end of the quarter and pulling into the lead 12–10. Early into the fourth quarter, they scored again on a free position shot. The Raiders climbed back with two goals by Spalding and Saxe before the Warriors scored one more time. Williams made her last goal with a bounce shot during a free position, bringing the score to 14–13, with Medfield in the lead and just under five minutes remaining in the game. The Raiders kept up the pressure and were down in the Medfield end with three seconds remaining, but were stopped by the Warriors’ defense.
Despite the loss, the Raiders played a remarkable game against the Warriors, who are going to be one of their toughest opponents this season.
“It was a battle from the jump, and I’m really proud of our effort against Medfield,” said Raiders’ head coach Erin Massimi. “Three weeks into the season, this game showed us who we are and what we’re capable of. Our freshmen are already making plays across the field, and competing with top programs like this is exactly where we want to be.”
The Raiders’ will face Medfield again at home on Thursday, May 14th at 5:15. Their next game will be on Monday, April 27th at Bellingham High School to play the Blackhawks (0–7) at 4:30 after beating them 14–3 and 20–3 last season. Their next home game will be against Ursuline Academy (5–1) on Wednesday, April 29th at 5:15. Last season, Ursuline beat the Raiders in a tight 13–12 game.
The Raiders’ schedule can be found online at: arbiterlive.com.
