By Avonlea Cummings
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Success: that is the first word to describe the 2022-2023 Medfield boys’ hockey season. With a 17-2 record and 14-0 league record, the Warriors are on top of getting things done. The Warriors headed to New England Sports Center in Marlborough to face off against Northbridge High in a non-league competition. Medfield dominated the entire three periods of the matchup, tallying another win off the charts in preparation for their tournament ahead. With a final score of 7-2, the Warriors skated on into victory to close out their regular season.
When the TVL large champions hit the ice, during the first period, they demonstrated every reason why Medfield deserved their title. Senior captain, James Tyer, struck first launching the puck into Northbridge’s net for the first goal of the evening. It wasn’t too long afterward, when Medfield’s Zach Palmer flung in the second goal for the Warriors with assists from Will Perachi, and senior captain, Kevin Arthur.
Heading into the second period at 2-0, both teams were vivacious on the ice. The Warriors were ruling over the Rams, as they scored five goals unanswered for most of the period. Charlie Hardiman was the first to knock in the Warriors' third point of the night, assisted by Tyer and Ben Lusby.
The Medfield action didn’t stop there, as two more goals were put in place when Kevin Arthur banged in the team’s fourth goal with assistance from James Tyer and senior captain Ryan Dolan. Within seconds later, Lusby buried another for the team with an assist from Perachi, leading the Warriors to a 5-0 lead.
Tyer then earned himself his second goal of the night towards the end of the second, with assists from Arthur and Gavin Marmai. The Warriors didn’t finish there, as Medfield’s John Sanderson bashed the puck into the net from Aiden Ladd and Matthew Dickson. Northbridge mustered up the time to be able to get down towards their offensive end. Though, Medifeld built walls against any holes the Rams could find to make their shot. With the final seconds left of the second period to go, the Rams finally scored to make it 7-1.
Gliding into the third period, the Warriors held a strong defense against the Rams, denying their every move. The Warriors fans cheered with excitement, making it a thrilling game to watch. Combating against each other back and forth in the third, the Warriors fought hard to maintain their scoring lead.
The Rams slipped past the impressive Warriors quickly and snuck in another point for their team, but it wasn’t enough against Medfield. The Warriors fizzled out the matchup with a final score of 7-2.
Medfield’s head coach Bill Ladd has been very impressed with the boys’ regular season so far and how much they have grown as players. He is looking forward to the post-season tournament that is coming underway.
“We wanted to make sure we got off to a fast start, we got away from that in our last few games, I think we really accomplished that. Getting up early on the scoreboard allowed me to play some of our younger players as well. This was nice to get them on the ice and have some more experience,” said Ladd.
The third-seeded Warriors faced off against the 30th-seeded Old Rochester Regional on Wednesday, March 1st at 4:00 pm in the Frank Pirelli Ice Hockey Arena, in Franklin.
“The team has grown so much, I’m so proud of how hard they have worked. I don’t think I’ve seen any team work as hard as them, we have really evolved, and we’ve changed their style of play this year. Looking back last year, they were a shot-heavy team, now this year they have focused on being a possession-heavy team. All good things have come out of this season, I think it starts with great captains and great players. They have wanted this since day one of the season, our goal was to win our league and to win the states. We still have work to do, but our captains have set the tone for the whole team on what we need to do to get there,” said Ladd.
