Senior captain and close D man Pat Cooney (25) moves the ball up the field on a second quarter clear. Photos by Mike Flanagan.
By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
The Natick Redhawks (9-0) have been the story of the Bay State Conference so far in 2021. Following their 9-5 victory over Needham on May 27, the Redhawks (9-0) took over sole possession of first place in the conference standings.
On Thursday, Natick looked to keep their unbeaten season alive on the road against Walpole (5-4), who entered on a four-game winning streak following a 1-3 start to the season.
In the early going, it looked like Walpole could potentially string an upset. However, a pair of 6-1 runs by the Redhawks turned out to be too much for the Timberwolves to handle.
Ronan Fahey dished a feed to Declan Hunter at the crease to tie the game at one after Colby LeBlanc opened the scoring for Natick. LeBlanc responded almost immediately following the goal by Hunter with a perfect bouncer up high to give Natick back the lead at 2-1. A low-to-low rip by Tim Sullivan off a feed from Fahey tied the game at two at the end of one quarter.
The second quarter completely belonged to Natick. The Redhawks went on a 6-0 run with goals from TJ Dalicandro, Ryan Faulkner, Will Genaske, Gabriel Eakin and two more from LeBlanc. The six-goal barrage allowed the Redhawks an 8-3 lead at halftime.
“That was big for us,” said senior close D Christian Lederman following the game on the 6-0 second quarter run. “Our offense really started clicking in that second quarter.”
LeBlanc fired home his fourth of the day in the opening minute of the third quarter off a feed from Dalicandro to make it a 9-3 game. With the score at 10-4 late in the quarter, Walpole punched back and gave themselves a chance heading into the final quarter with a 3-0 run. Hunter got the run started with a dodge from X and finish at the crease. David Pacella cut the deficit to 10-5 with a finish at the crease following a nice inside feed from Hunter out in the alley. Fahey ripped home a low-to-low cannon off the ensuing face-off to make it 10-7. Kevin Feeney put a stop to the run with a quick-stick at the net-mouth off a feed from LeBlanc to extend Natick’s lead to 11-7 at the end of three.
“I thought on defense we had a couple of hiccups,” said Lederman on Walpole’s run at the tail end of the third. “The offense bailed us out like always [in the fourth quarter] and our goalie, James Carr, played really well.”
Cole Tashjian ripped home a goal for Walpole on the man-up to make it 12-8 midway through the fourth, but four consecutive goals by Natick to end the game sealed the deal. The Redhawks improved to 9-0 with a 16-8 victory.
Despite Thursday's defeat, Walpole appears poised to earn a spot in the Division II Central/East playoffs.
For funny and incisive sports analysis as well as video highlights of games, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter and Instagram handles @flano0.
