Wellesley, DS girls battle in wet Raider Bowl

By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor

The Wellesley and Dover-Sherborn Regional High School varsity girls lacrosse teams met on Friday morning in a non-conference showdown on the water-soaked turf at Wellesley High, and both bands of Raiders delivered an intense and entertaining match despite the non-ideal weather. Thanks to an offensive surge in the second half, Wellesley was able to pull away from DS late for a 13-6 victory.

A solid first half of play by Caitlin Chicoski (five goals) and Maddy Balter (four goals) allowed Wellesley to enter the break ahead at 5-1. DS began the second half of play determined to carve into the deficit, all while Wellesley made it their mission to keep up the intensity and make sure that DS was unable to claw their way back in it. Following a goal by Wellesley to extend their lead to 6-1, DS was able to cut the deficit back to three, thanks to goals from junior midfielders Catherine Simms and Maddie Shue.

After DS cut it to a 6-3 game, Wellesley extended their lead back to five at 8-3, thanks to a sweet give-and-go by Caitlin Chicoski and Gale Bennett. Following a pass by Chicoski to Bennett, who stood about five yards from the crease, Chicoski cut in and received a perfect pass back that she was able to quick-stick into the back of the net to make it a 7-3 game. Just after the Chicoski goal, sophomore Maddy Balter made a strong drive to the cage and finished with a rocket into the back of the net to make it an 8-3 advantage for Wellesley.

DS failed to go down quietly, however, as immediately following the Balter goal for Wellesley, Maddie Shue finished a strong drive to the cage with a goal to cut it back to an 8-4 game. Wellesley then added another tally to make it 9-4, but DS immediately closed the gap back to four at 9-5 thanks to a goal by Ali Jordan.

Following the DS goal by Jordan, the Wellesley girls turned it on offensively, all while playing lockdown defense. Brooke Baker helped begin a 4-1 run to finish the game for Wellesley, as she cut to the cage on her off-hand and ripped a shot through the legs of the DS goaltender to make it a 10-5 game with 9:45 to play. Less than 20 seconds after the Baker goal, Chicoski notched another tally to put Wellesley ahead by six at 11-5. Ali Jordan netted her second goal of the half to make it 11-6 with just under six minutes to play. However, Wellesley was able to put the final nail in the coffin with two goals in the final six minutes, one coming off the stick of Maddy Balter and the other from Grace Ahonen, as the Raiders were able to prevail by a final of 13-6.