[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
An 11-5-3 regular season was enough to earn the Medfield High School varsity hockey team the No. 8 seed in the 2017-2018 Division II South Sectionals. Last Wednesday night, the Warriors took to the ice at Pirelli Veterans Arena in Franklin against No. 9 North Attleboro for their opening round contest.
Thanks to a seven-goal explosion in the second period, the Warriors put away the Red Rocketeers (12-7-1) and rolled to a convincing 9-2 victory to set up a quarterfinal date on Saturday with No. 16 Norwood, who upset No. 1 overall seed Southeastern in overtime last Tuesday.
The game began with an extremely physical tempo, with both teams exchanging pleasantries along the boards and after the whistles in front of the net. Senior forward Mike Foley drew first blood for the Warriors with 3:54 to play in the period by smacking home the rebound on a net-mouth scramble, and Medfield entered the first intermission ahead 1-0.
The second period saw the Warriors completely take over the game. Foley’s second of the game just 1:11 into the period doubled Medfield’s lead to 2-0. Just 2:45 later, senior assistant captain and defenseman Mason Giunta converted a goal on the power play to extend the lead to three.
With 8:50 remaining in the period, senior captain David Corrigan fed a pass to Tom Schofield on a two-on-one. The senior deposited home a perfect shot upstairs and under the bar to give Medfield a commanding 4-0 lead. The Warriors were not even close to being done, however, as a pair of goals by senior forward Liam Gately, along with tallies by senior forward Shawn MacTavish and Corrigan, extended the Medfield lead to 8-0 at the second intermission and all but put the game out of reach for North Attleboro.
The Red Rocketeers scored a pair of third period goals to foil Medfield’s shutout bid, but the Warriors pushed the lead back to seven thanks to a tally by Brian Abely. They would go on to win by a 9-2 final.
On Saturday, the Warriors blanked No. 16 Norwood with a 3-0 victory to set up a date with No. 13 Taunton in the South semifinals on Wednesday in Bourne.
For funny and incisive sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter at @fLAno0, or read his blog at www.flannylive.wordpress.com.
