This Old Town: After 52 Years, Medfield Hockey Wins Title

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By Richard DeSorgher
Hometown Weekly Correspondent

Let the record show that at the 10:08 mark of the first period of the Lincoln-Sudbury vs. Medfield High Div. 2 state championship hockey game in Boston’s TD Garden on Sunday that Matt Treiber rifled a shot over the L-S goalie with the assist from John MacLean to put the Medfield Warriors on the board first and up 1-0.

Let the record show that at the 13:53 mark of the second period that Dylan McNally took a Stephen Christakis pass and scored to give the Ice Warriors a 2-1 lead. Let the record show that with 8:33 remaining in the game, John MacLean slipped the puck past the L/S goalie on assists from Treiber and Brian Abely to give the Warriors a 3-1 lead they would never lose.

Let the record show that Medfield goal defender Matt Malvese stopped the L-S shots time and time again to preserve a Warrior victory and let the record show that the Division 2 champion Warriors, cheered on by a multitude of fans were met at the town line by police and fire trucks with an ecstatic welcome, returned to the high school as newly crowned State Champion.

Let the record also show that in this the 52nd year of Medfield High School hockey, this was the first state championship ever won by a Medfield High varsity hockey team.

It was 52 years ago, in the fall of 1964, that Lee DeSorgher established two hockey teams for students at Medfield High School and the then Medfield Junior High School.  Lee was a hockey fanatic, who had played the sport all his life. 

Lee worked through the schools, conducted a sign-up of students interested in playing organized hockey. The response was large. Working with individuals such as Bill McLeod, Ben Ferguson, Jerry Leary, Ed Barrett and others, the Medfield team began practicing at the old Four Season Ice Arena in Walpole, now the site of Walmart.

Lee began contacting other hockey enthusiasts in the neighboring towns, in an attempt to establish hockey in towns similar in size to Medfield, with the hope of forming a hockey league for the teams to play competitive hockey. Soon new club teams on both the high school level and junior high level were formed in Dover, Milford, Millis, Medway and Stoughton.

In addition hockey had already been established on the high school level in Bay State Conference towns like Walpole, Needham and Natick, who were only too happy to scrimmage the new teams.  With enough new high school hockey teams established, by December of 1964, a new high school league was in place, known as the Charles River Hockey League. A League Board of Directors was formed, with Lee as its first president.

That year, the Warriors finished in first place in the new league.

One has to remember that hockey was new to Medfield, few teenagers had ever played organized hockey before, as there was no youth hockey feeder program to teach the younger players. All hockey was learned on the ponds, like the pick-up games played at Rocky Woods.

That first year saw players on the junior high level showing up to the first practices with figure skates instead of hockey skates, few had pads; one of the players wanting to play goalie wore a chest protector made out of Life magazines. A far cry from the extensive equipment used today. In this pre-Bobby Orr era, the game had to be learned; off-sides, icing, checking, playing position, keeping ones head up while skating, passing, etc., All new concepts to most of the players.

The hockey momentum began to build with more adults becoming involved in the organization. Fundraising began, ice time (which began as early as 4 a.m. on Sunday mornings) and uniforms were paid for and for the first time since a brief period when Medfield had high school teams in the 1920s, high school hockey was being offered to the teenagers of Medfield.

Expanding into the youth hockey level, Lee became one of the co-founders of the Medfield Youth Hockey Program, which served children younger than high school age. He served on the Youth Hockey Board of Directors for 13 years holding offices of president and treasurer.

Now the program began to grow and expand led by people like Ron Floser, Bill Reagan, Dave Hallett, Walt McCarthy, Jim Morgan, Don Mathewson, Bruce Holt, Bob Savage, Clark Holland, Charlie Glue and many others who were in on the foundation of the Youth Hockey Program. Lee remained head coach of the high school team for the next 13 years.

Then, thanks to people like Clark Holland, Jim Morgan, Bill Reagan, Charlie Glue and many others, pressure began to build on the school committee to make the 13-year club hockey program official. Lee saw his dream come true in 1977 when boys’ ice hockey was accepted as an official Medfield High School sport.

Lee retired from hockey, being named President Emeritus of the hockey program and given the title of “Mr. Hockey” in Medfield. Jim Morgan was named the first “school accepted” Medfield High School hockey coach and coached until 1986. He was followed by Paul Hogan who was at the helm from 1986-1990, then Mark Trivett from 1990-1996, John Cosgrove from 1996-1998, John Panciocco from 1998-2007, George Maris during the 2007-2008 season and current coach Toby Carlow since 2008.

Today the youth hockey program continues to be one of the strongest programs in the area. In 2006, girls’ ice hockey was added as an official Medfield High School varsity sport and this year they went into the playoffs.

The hockey program begun by Lee DeSorgher fifty-two years ago continues in success on the youth level and now with a Division 2 State Championship on the high school level and no one would have been prouder than Medfield’s Mr. Hockey. Congratulations Coach Carlow and the Division 2 State Championship Medfield High School Varsity Hockey Team!