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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Considering the history the two schools share, it was perfectly fitting for the Dover-Sherborn Regional and Medfield High School boys varsity soccer teams to conclude regular season matters against one another on Monday night at Nora Searle Field.
The Raiders (9-4-5) entered looking to complete the season sweep of their arch rivals and finish the regular season unbeaten at home. Meanwhile, the Warriors (11-6-1) traveled to Raider Country looking to get back on track after a 2-1 defeat to Hopkinton on Thursday and split the season series with DS.
Behind a shutout in net from senior keeper Jonathan David, the Warriors were able to earn a convincing 3-0 victory to split the season series with DS and earn their 11th win of the season to enter the playoffs on a winning note.
Jack Pucci drew first blood for the Warriors a little under 15 minutes in when the senior midfielder floated a shot from the top of the box over the head of DS keeper James Shue for the early 1-0 lead.
Medfield’s defensive corps began locking down the middle of the field and forced DS to run its offense to the outside, making scoring chances for the Raiders extremely difficult to come by throughout the remainder of the first half.
Saul Lacerda (10) pursues a loose ball for Medfield.
With stoppage time looming, it was Medfield who struck next when sophomore forward Mike Vachon doubled Medfield’s lead to 2-0 after the sophomore forward headed home a goal with 3:04 to play, thanks to some beautiful transition up the field from Brennan White before a stellar cross by Jack McCordic set the ball up nicely for Vachon to finish at the mouth of the net. The Warriors took their two-goal lead into halftime.
Maximo Lockhart-Kraner nearly cut the deficit to 2-1 in the early minutes of the second half for DS, but David stood tall for Medfield and batted the ball away high up over the crossbar to keep it 2-0 in favor of the Warriors.
Senior forward Owen Previte delivered the knockout blow with a goal in the 37th minute to extend Medfield’s lead to 3-0. DS continued to pepper the Medfield end in desperate attempts to climb back into the contest but it was to no avail. Medfield hung on for the 3-0 victory and David earned his sixth shutout of the season.
“It just feels great,” said Medfield junior midfielder Jake Sherman following the victory. “It just feels great to come out and get a good team win against a strong DS team and give us momentum heading into the tournament.”
At the time of print, the Warriors and Raiders await to hear their tournament seedings announced by the MIAA.
For funny and incisive sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter at @fLAno0.
