By 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.
The Medfield girls battled against Norwell Academy, Natick High, and the Hingham Harbormen, working on fine-tuning their offensive attack and their defensive plays to block away the scoring chances from their opposing teams.
The Warriors have been a part of the Westwood Lacrosse Play Day for six years and head coach Mary Laughna shared how important it is to be able to play these scrimmages: “I think these are some of the best teams in the state that are here, we get to play some great competition, and we learn a lot from these scrimmages. Everyone gets to play, we try different lineups, and it’s nice to play against different teams who are going to pressure us and push us to play well,” said Laughna.
This year, the Medfield Warriors have a ton of depth and experience on their roster with well-seasoned athletes. Coach Laughna shared the talent and strong leadership behind her four captains: “We have Kelly Blake as one of the senior captains, she’s going to BC next year, she’s phenomenal, she’s so good. But, she’s also just a really good leader, she’s very smart, and she has a very high level of lacrosse IQ. We have Mary Panciocco who is a defender, she’s an amazing leader, she’s one of those girls that everyone looks up to, and she’s a great leader back on defense with our other captain Claire DiGreogorio. The two of them back there are good voices, encouraging, but they’re also smart and can tell the younger players where to go. Alex Proefrock is our fourth captain, she’s an attacker and she's been on the team since she was a freshman. She’s been our silent killer almost, she’s unassuming but she knows the game so well and knows where to be, she’s a really good attacker,” said Laughna.
The girls have dived right back into the season from where they left off last year, coming off an outstanding 17-3 record. Medfield will continue to work hard to have a successful regular season once more and continue to play far into the post-season. Go support your Medfield Warriors for their first home game of the season on April 1 against Norwood High at 5:30 PM. Can’t make it? Then be sure to mark your calendars for May 13th when the girls will face off against Norwell High. Not only will it be a rematch from last year’s Final Four competition for the Warriors, but it will also be the team’s Youth Night.
To learn more about the Medfield girls’ lacrosse schedule please visit: https://www.arbiterlive.com/Teams/Schedule/4603732
