By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
A second period offensive showcase led to a dominant 8-1 win against Somerville in the Warrior’s first round playoff matchup.
Medfield established a 2-0 lead by the 5:57 in the second frame and found itself up 5-0 just over two minutes later. Captain Ben Lusby combined skill with a pinch of luck to get the streak of goals started. The senior sent the puck past the goal, pinballing it off the board, then off the Somerville goalie’s back and into the net.
Even a Medfield penalty could not slow momentum. Lusby recorded Medfield’s fifth goal after finding himself in a shorthanded odd man rush with senior John Sanderson.
“Sanderson set me up perfectly,” said Lusby. “I mean, you can't ask for a better teammate; he’s a very selfless player. He set me up pretty nice on the two-on-one.”
Sanderson also got in on the scoring at the beginning of the second period by poking in a loose puck right in front of the goal. Freshman Luke Dickson scored in between Lusby’s two goals to round out the middle period performance.
Similar opportunities, but less scoring took place in the first period. Medfield gained an early lead at the 13:04 mark with a perimeter goal from junior Jake Cragan – the team’s lone goal of the period. Somerville responded by getting a couple of possessions on offense, but the Warriors were able to regather and spend most of the period in the attacking zone.
“In the first period, Somerville did a really good job on clogging things up in front of the net,” said head coach Jon Jepson. “They blocked some shots and kept us on the outside. We were running around and we weren’t really using our cycle, so at the start of the second period, we focused on making sure we established our cycle, developing it and creating plays off of it.”
Medfield’s success was also much due to another stellar performance by its defense, anchored by goalie Charlie Duggan. Remaining calm and collected for the vast majority of the game, the Warriors had a rare blunder on a turnover, leading to advantage down the ice and score for Somerville at the end of the second period.
“Defense has been great all year, ” said Jepson. “We have skilled forwards, so generally, if they make one pass, they’re out of trouble… Of course, you can’t say enough about Duggan. He’s been our backbone all season. He always does great.”
Junior Matthew Dickson, senior Jack Gwaltney and senior William Maher all netted the puck in the final period to put the icing on the cake. The offensive onslaught isn’t out of the ordinary for the Warriors and Lusby was concise when talking about how his team can maintain momentum.
“[We need to] keep it simple, keep the same mentality, [keep doing] what we're doing right, stay sharp and practice and just keep flying around.”
The Warriors draw Lynnfield in the round of 16. The date and time are to be determined.
