Medfield cruises past Scituate to cart home Div. 3 state boys lacrosse title

WESTWOOD — It was hard to find an aspect of the game that Medfield did not dominate in the Warriors’ 13-4 win over Scituate at Saturday’s Div. 3 boys lacrosse state championship.

Offense, defense, ground balls, face offs, goaltending. It was all Medfield, all day, as the program won its eighth state title.

Medfield came in knowing it could put together that type of effort, and through a day and venue change, the Warriors played their best when they really needed it.

“Absolutely,” Medfield coach John Isaf said when asked if he saw this type of performance coming. “This team has been I think one of the best teams in the state regardless of division. We played the two teams in Division 2 that are playing in the state championship within one goal. Could have gone either way with those teams. It was a great team. We beat three Division 1 teams. I knew that we were strong. I knew our defense, Chase (Coughlin) in the goal, John (Olenik) on faceoffs. Our offense, we have six, seven, eight options. The guys just shared the ball. They played as a team. They played hard. I told them last night, we’re one of the top teams in the state, now let’s play like it.”

They did exactly that. Medfield never trailed. Eight different players scored. Ben Lusby and Tim Collins each scored three goals, Joe Bartolotta scored twice, and Ian Reddy, Jack Sampson, Jackson Dodge, Matt George, and Gavin Marmai all scored one goal. Coughlin was tremendous in net, finishing with 12 saves, including seven in the first quarter.

“Our team has thought about this for so long,” Collins said. “Our whole offseason, our one goal was to win the state ‘ship. We didn’t know how we were going to get there, but somehow we were going to get there. So we did. We just played our best ball today. We’ve been playing our best ball the whole playoffs. That’s what’s been our key. It’s unbelievable to end our season and career at Medfield High School like this. I wasn’t on the team sophomore year. To win with this group of guys is unbelievable. I wouldn’t want to end any other way.”

Goals from Sampson and Lusby got it started for Medfield in the opening quarter. Quinn DeCourcey (2 goals) scored for Scituate to halve the deficit, but Lusby scored again to make it 3-1 after the first quarter.

Reddy, Dodge, Collins, George, and Bartolotta helped lead the Warriors to an 8-3 lead at the half.

“I think we had four guys over 60 points on the season, and we had another four guys over 30,” Isaf said. “It’s tough to defend, and they share the ball. All of them are athletic..”

Scituate will not argue that point. Medfield popped home five more goals in the second half, and then it was time to celebrate, as the school just finished celebrating the girls lacrosse title days earlier.

“Our coach gave us a great game plan. We practiced well. We practiced with intensity,” Coughlin said. “We came in, we knew we had it. We knew it was in us. I know they have a great (team) in Scituate, but we played how we should, and we knew we were the better team.”

 

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