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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Week after week, the boys and girls lacrosse teams for all six towns within Hometown Weekly’s range of coverage in 2017 supplied seemingly endless headlines and excitement. All the hard work these boys and girls put in translated into all 12 boys and girls lacrosse squads from Dover-Sherborn, Medfield, Needham, Walpole, Wellesley, and Westwood qualifying for the state tournament, and within that came four sectional crowns (Medfield boys, Dover-Sherborn boys, Needham girls, Walpole girls) and one state title (Needham girls).
With the school year now behind us, it is time to celebrate the athletes on these teams who were recently recognized for their outstanding performances on the lacrosse field.
Medfield
Jack Cahill was named Boston Globe All-Scholastic after leading Medfield to a Division II Central/East Sectional crown, where he netted the game-winning goal in overtime in the sectional title game to complete a miraculous late comeback. The All-American won three state championships (2013, 2014, 2015) during his time in Medfield and will play at Holy Cross in the fall.
Defensive long pole Matt Dold, attack-man Owen Murphy, and defensive midfielder Andrew Garfield were named TVL All-Stars.
On the girls’ side, Lauren Casieri, Maggie McCarthy, Sophia Merageas, and Erin Seibel were named TVL All-Stars following a successful season that saw a wild 11-10 comeback win at arch-rival DS in the sectional playoffs.
DS
North Carolina-bound Bailey Laidman was a dominant force in the TVL in 2017 despite teams almost always trying to lock him off. Laidman leaves DS with 345 total points and two state titles (2015, 2016).
Along with Laidman, teammates Ross Barnard, Sacred Heart commit Jack Dillon, Zach Gustafson, Jack Mahoney, and Joe Paolatto were named TVL All-Stars
Emma White was awarded TVL MVP and TVL All-Star honors after a monster season for the DS girls team. Ali Jordan, Maddie Shue, and Cricket Simms were also named conference All-Stars.
Walpole
Assumption-bound Jake Hurley was awarded honors of All-Scholastic after a 60-goal/25-assist campaign while guiding Walpole to a 19-2 record and the No. 1 overall seed in Division II Central/East, finishing his career as a Rebel with 124 goals.
Hurley, Robert Colburn, Owen Hunter, and Tom Wilber were all named Bay State Conference All-Stars.
Mel Weber was awarded All-Scholastic honors after guiding the lady-Rebels to a Division II East Sectional crown and state semi-final victory over Andover. Weber helped guide the Walpole Porkers to a state championship in the fall, was named the Boston Globe Player of the Year, and was a ridiculous 12-letter recipient in both lacrosse and field hockey. Mel will play field hockey at Northeastern in the fall.
Weber, Celia Walsh, and Alison Foley were all named Bay State All-Stars.
Needham
Both seniors, Sarah Conley and Kendall Milligan were awarded All-Scholastic honors after a dominant 2017 that saw an 18-2 regular season, a Bay State Conference title, a Division I South Sectional crown, and the Division I state title. Milligan led the Rockets in assists (48) and tallied 38 goals on the year, while Conley led the team in goals (79). Conley will play at Richmond and Milligan will play at Trinity in the fall.
Milligan was named Bay State Conference MVP and was also named a Bay State Conference All-Star along with Conley and rising junior Callie Hem. Head coach Beth O’Brien was named Division I girls coach of the year.
Arguably the top long-pole in the state, Sam Eisenstadt earned All-Scholastic and All-American honors after helping guiding the Needham boys to an 18-2 regular season, the Bay State Conference crown, and the No. 2 seed in Division I South.
Eisenstadt (14 goals, 8 assists) was named Bay State Conference MVP and Bay State Conference All-Star along with teammates Joe Bruno, Jason Child, Danny McEvoy, Antonio Trabucco, and Brendan Walsh. Eisenstadt will play at UMass in the fall.
For funny and incisive sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter at @fLAno0, or read his blog at www.flannylive.wordpress.com.
