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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
The Medfield and Dover-Sherborn Regional High School boys soccer teams met at Calvin George Fisher Field for the latest chapter of their long and intense rivalry on Friday afternoon, as both teams looked to get an early leg-up in conference play.
Thanks to a shutdown defensive effort and some clutch scoring, the Raiders were able to pull out a 2-0 victory to improve to 2-0-0 on the young season, while Medfield dropped to 1-1-0 after their season-opening 4-0 win at Norwood.
Senior captain and striker John Muckstadt got DS on the board by potting home a rebound off of a free kick with 21:03 remaining in the first half. The game remained 1-0 late in the half, thanks in large part to Jeb Shue, who made a sprawling save on Jake Sherman after a cross off of a fast break. Adam Fam nearly doubled DS’ lead to 2-0 when the junior just missed a header off of a corner. The game remained 1-0 at the half.
DS came out of the half playing aggressively and brought intense pressure into the Medfield end. Less than nine minutes in, the Raiders were rewarded for their hard work when junior Adam Fam headed home a corner kick to extended the DS lead to 2-0 with 31:39 to play.
DS’s Adam Fam (8) attempts to escape from Medfield’s Jake Sherman (22) midway through the first half.
Nathan Previte nearly cut the deficit to one for Medfield just moments later, but was turned aside, thanks to a diving save by Shue. The Warriors upped their pressure in an attempt to climb back into the contest, but the Raiders were lockdown on defense, stacking the box with bodies and making crosses nearly impossible. The clock hit zeroes and DS came away with the 2-0 victory.
“I think it was a great team win,” said Muckstadt following the game. “Obviously, it was a big win, since Medfield is our rival and the seniors on the team had never beaten Medfield on their turf. We played a good style of soccer and I think the result was well deserved.”
For funny and incisive sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter at @fLAno0.
