By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
A valiant effort from the Warriors was not enough to push past Bishop Stang on Tuesday afternoon, as the 2-1 loss moved Medfield to 10-7-2. The final score isn’t what the team wanted, but a lot of positives were taken away from the game.
The bulk of offensive production for both teams took place in the first period. Medfield almost gained an early lead as a shot to the top right of the net sprang off the pipe with no chance at a rebound shot. The Warriors saw a couple more offensive opportunities and captain Michaela McDonald was finally able to score off of an assist from freshman Parker Kathan at the 1:06 mark.
“I feel like we've worked on it in practice a lot, looking down low, and I saw one of my teammates, Parker,” said McDonald. “She was down low with the puck, so I cut through the middle and then had the puck and saw an open slot – and we talked about how [the Bishop Stang goalie’s] blocker side wasn't great – so I took it.”
Before McDonald put her team on the board, Bishop Stang was able to capitalize twice, leaving the Warriors trailing by a goal at first intermission.
“I think a lot of the time, we have a hard time starting off the game,” said Head Coach John Summers. “I think after those first couple of shifts, it seems like every game, we get better and better as the game goes on.”
Medfield proved to pick up its play for the remainder of the game as most of the second frame was spent in the attacking zone. Towards the end of the period, the Warriors had close to two minutes of possession on offense but to no avail.
The third period started similarly to the beginning of the game – another near goal for Medfield. After spending more time on offense, the Warriors hit a road block, committing its first penalty of the game with 8:09 remaining. After fending off Bishop Stang, the Warriors came close to striking again but could not tie things up before the final buzzer. Despite the loss, the Warriors have its head up going into the playoffs.
“I thought we were the better team today,” said Summers. “I thought [we] played great, which is not gonna show on the scoreboard, but I think we dominated the game and going into the tournament, that's gonna get us going in the right direction.”
Medfield has now lost five out of its last six games but McDonald also has high hopes for a late-season run at a championship: “I know everyone was kind of down about how we've been playing recently, but we all just came together,” said McDonald. “We've had a ton of talks recently about how we needed to pick it up and we really did today.”
The Warriors rounded off its regular season against Beverly on Thursday and scrimmaged Boston Latin to stay fresh heading into the postseason.
