By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
A 17-5 win against Dover-Sherborn capped off the regular season for the Warriors on Monday night. As was anticipated by many, Medfield finishes atop the Tri-Valley League with a perfect 11-0 conference record, and atop the Division III power rankings with a 15-3 record overall.
A close start to the regular season finale left a feeling of uncertainty for victory, but there are always three things that are for certain: death, taxes and senior John Olenik winning faceoffs.
“Johnny O” served as a catalyst for the Warriors throughout their whole effort against Dover-Sherborn; something that he has done all season. Although the Raiders put a tally on the scoreboard first, Olenik kept giving his team possession from faceoffs.
“The difference in our wins and our losses is our faceoffs,” head coach John Isaf said. “When we don’t win faceoffs, you give the other team the ball more and we have to play longer defensive possessions and [John Sanderson] has to make more saves.”
Senior Charlie Curmi got Medfield on track by scooping a loose ball up at midfield and charging all the way down for a score. Dover-Sherborn went on to score a goal while Medfield committed a penalty in the midst of the Raiders’ possession, giving them a one-man advantage. Again, Olenik showed up, winning the ensuing faceoff to retain possession for Medfield and kill the penalty.
Junior Braeden Sutton scored two goals, one of which was assisted on by Eddie Breslin who also scored a goal of his own before the end of the first quarter. The Warriors led 4-3 heading into the next frame.
After a back-and-forth twelve minutes, Medfield pulled away. Spending the majority of the second quarter on offense, the Warriors scored four goals, giving them an 8-3 lead heading into halftime. Sutton, junior Jackson Dodge, sophomore Kevin Nee and Breslin were responsible for the goals.
With a comfortable lead, Medfield did not let off the gas pedal. 1:48 into the second half, Dodge scored and answered a Dover-Sherborn goal with another score later in the quarter, giving his team a 10-4 lead.
The Raiders were first to tack on a goal in the fourth quarter, but it was all Medfield from there. The Warriors hung up seven consecutive goals to finish off Dover-Sherborn. Sutton had a hat trick in the final ten minutes of action, while Breslin scored back-to-back goals and senior Jack Commane and Dodge added on a goal each.
Now the waiting game for Medfield’s first playoff opponent begins. One thing that is already known, however, is the Warriors started off the season as a monster threat and have only grown stronger since then.
“We want to be a better team as we enter the tournament than we were at the beginning of the season,” Isaf said. “And that's all we focus on… I think we're a much better team today than we were at the end of March.”
The boys lacrosse playoff bracket was released on May 28.
