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By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Despite being without star senior attack-man and captain Mike Hauptman (knee), the top-seeded Medfield Warriors advanced to the Division II Central/East finals with a resounding 18-6 victory over No. 5 and rival Westwood on Monday night.
Junior attack-man Jack McCordic recorded a career-high 11 goals, tying the Medfield program record for goals in a single game previously set by John MacLean in 2016, also against Westwood, to go along with a pair of assists.
“He’s been playing great,” said Medfield head coach John Isaf on his rising star. “Especially over the last couple of weeks. He does everything we ask him to; he plays hard, rides hard, his shooting has improved, he’s really hungry for the cage. But, his teammates were setting him up. It’s not just about Jack scoring 11 goals - he got set up by a lot of other really good players.”
A first quarter hat trick by McCordic along with goals from Jake Sherman (one goal, four assists) and Brian Abely (one goal, three assists) allowed Medfield to take a 5-0 lead into the second. McCordic’s fourth just 49 seconds into the second made it a 6-0 game before Ryan Healey (two goals, one assist) finally got Westwood on the board to make it 6-1.
A pair from Robert Spaeth (two goals) and another from McCordic allowed Medfield to extend their lead to 9-1. Back-to-back by Charlie Harrington (three goals) allowed Westwood to cut the deficit to 9-3, but McCordic’s sixth with 38 seconds remaining gave Medfield a 10-3 lead at the half.
Healey struck 1:12 into the third quarter to make it a 10-4 game, but another pair from McCordic and one from Tommy Gill (two goals) extended the advantage to 13-4. Harrington completed the hat trick to make it 13-5, but Medfield responded with another quick 3-0 run with goals coming from Jimmy Cosolito (one goal, one assist), Gill, and McCordic.
Garrett Berry cut the deficit to 16-6 for Westwood, but back-to-back tallies by McCordic sealed it for the Warriors, putting McCordic’s name in the Medfield High record books and advancing the Warriors back to the Division II Central/East final for the first time since 2017.
Medfield will take on reigning Division II Central/East champ and No. 2 Concord-Carlisle on Thursday in Natick for the sectional crown.
For funny and insightful sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter @fLAno0.
