Warriors outlast Wolverines in lacrosse

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By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor

Following an 18-6 win by Medfield back in April, Westwood and Medfield played for the second and final time this regular season on Friday night at Flahive Field.

Behind a pair of goals each from Brian Abely and Tommy Gill, the No. 3 Warriors (11-1, 8-0) fought off the No. 25 Wolverines (7-5, 5-3) by a 9-5 final, making the TVL-Large title into a two-horse race between Medfield and Hopkinton (7-4, 6-2).

Charlie Harrington and Owen Gaffney led the way for the Wolverines, each scoring a pair. Gaffney gave the Wolverines a 1-0 lead just 2:08 in before back-to-back goals by Luke Murphy and Jake Sherman put Medfield in front, 2-1. Harrington evened the game at two towards the end of the first quarter and the game remained deadlocked entering the second.

A 3-0 run by the Warriors to begin the second quarter, with goals coming from Gill, Abely, and Mike Hauptman, gave Medfield a 5-2 lead. Harrington responded with a goal off of a face-off win to cut the deficit to 5-3 at halftime.

Junior LSM/close-D Derek Germski scored off of a face-off victory by Connor DePiero to begin the second half to push the lead to 6-3. Gaffney cut the deficit to 6-4 before back-to-back by goals by Jimmy Cosolito and Gill made it an 8-4 game headed to the fourth. Abely’s second of the game extended the Medfield lead to 9-4 early in the fourth and the Warriors were able to chew up two minutes of clock late with a pair of man-up opportunities, prevailing by the 9-5 final.

Medfield will look to keep the momentum rolling when the Warriors travel to face reigning Division I champ BC High on May 17. Following an 11-10 win over Acton-Boxboro on Saturday, Westwood will look to ride the momentum when the Wolverines travel to Medway on May 16.

For funny and incisive sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter @fLAno0.