By Avonlea Cummings
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
It was a perfect day for lacrosse; the sun was peeking through the clouds, shinning on the talented Walpole boy’s lacrosse team as they fought hard against Mansfield High in a battle for the tournament. The boys capitalized on their talents and slipped past Mansfield High to advance to the next round of playoffs winning 14- 6.
The boys put out impressive skills on to the field doing what they do best, playing to their level. Head coach Greg Shea reflected on their mindset heading into the tough match up, knowing confidence is what was going to lead the team far.
“We tried to focus a lot on us, we knew if we focus in on doing the things, we felt comfortable with like running our offensive sets, playing good defense, making good communication and reads, we knew it was our best opportunity against them,” said Shea.
The heat of the competition was spiked, especially in the second half, when Mansfield began to have a bit more fire under their feet. Although it was no match for the Timberwolves, as they held strong in the offensive end running through sets. Walpole’s Brayden Mattera launched in seven goals and tallied up three assists for the match. Jake Lania also hurled in three goals and four assists to add to Walpole’s final score. Senior captain Sean Moriarty was thrilled for their final home game win.
“It felt great, at the end we really finished it out, we kept up with them and our grit. We were hyping up the team and kept saying they weren’t going to take a win tonight, not during the last time we are ever playing on our home turf,” said Moriarty.
The boys went on to play against Reading High Sunday, June 11th where Reading advanced over Walpole, finalizing Walpole’s post-season action.
