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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
The rivalry that the Medfield and Dover-Sherborn High School lacrosse programs share is fierce, to say the least. But not all rivalries have to end in hate. Just ask Medfield’s John MacLean and DS’s Grant Gregory.
Following four varsity seasons against one another as members of the Raiders and Warriors, both chose Boston University as their next stop to receive an education and play Division I collegiate lacrosse.
Most stud high school lacrosse players here in New England opt to take their talents elsewhere for college to places such as North Carolina, Duke, Maryland, Johns Hopkins, and Loyola (MD). But the former Medfield High standout MacLean did not follow in that path last spring, and instead, took his lacrosse talents over to Comm. Ave. to play for Boston University, who are now in the midst of their fourth varsity Division I season after expanding from the club level back in 2013-2014.
Former Dover-Sherborn lacrosse and soccer star Grant Gregory also chose Boston University following his high school graduation in June of 2015. As a senior at DS in 2014-2015, Gregory helped lead the Raider lax squad to the first of their two consecutive Division III state championships as one of the team’s three captains. Gregory’s efforts as a senior at DS also earned him Division III player of the year honors. As a freshman in 2016, Gregory played in two games for the Terriers, recording a ground ball and a shot on goal against UMass-Lowell.
So far during his freshman campaign at BU, MacLean has earned a starting role on attack and has helped lead the Terriers to a 7-0 start, and a 9-1 record overall. During BU’s first 10 games of 2017, MacLean has accumulated 12 goals and eight assists, putting the former Medfield standout at fourth overall on the team in total points (20). In BU’s game against rival Harvard on March 23, MacLean’s hat trick and two assists helped guide the Terriers to a 13-8 victory over the Crimson at Nickerson Field. MacLean followed up his incredible performance against the Crimson with another hat trick just two days later in a 15-7 victory over Lafayette on March 25.
It’s one thing to watch high school teammates go on and succeed together in college. There’s just something even more special about two guys like Gregory and MacLean, who grew up battling it out against one another and competing for state championships in arguably the most bitter high school lacrosse rivalry in the state, going on to play together at BU and helping build a foundation for a program that is still in its early stages.
Lacrosse is the crown jewel of both DS and Medfield High athletics, and now it appears that all of the success the Warriors and Raiders have had on the lacrosse field over the years is beginning to wash off on other parts of the state, as MacLean and Gregory are doing their parts in making BU a destination for local lacrosse players in the present and in the future.
