Medfield Advances in State Tournament Behind Strong Second Half

After struggling in the first half defensively, Medfield regrouped and held Scituate to just three second half goals enroute to a 23-11 first round victory in the MIAA Girls’ Lacrosse Division 2 South Sectional State Tournament Tuesday.

“We got a little motivational speech [from coach] at halftime to get our butts in gear, so we started straightening [our defense] out and working on our slides,” said Medfield senior captain Katie Ott. “They were really good at their one-on-one attacking so we figured out how to stop that.”

Medfield head coach Jason Heim said he told his team at half to correct “little mistakes” and play smarter.

“I saw a couple of different things on defense … it’s not like our defense that’s been so solid all year long, holding teams to three goals in a half, but to let a team score eight on us is way above our average and we know we are much better than that,” he said. “Whether being back-door cut and lack of help defense and even smart things about forcing a defender to go to their weak hand, we weren’t doing. We were letting them cut to the middle of the cage. It was those kinds of things that I was commenting about.”

The Warriors heard their coach loud and clear and responded with a 13-3 second half outburst to end Scituate’s season and advance to the quarterfinal round of the MIAA Division 2 South State Tournament.

“I thought we did a really good job in the second half," said senior captain Kate Wasley. "We came out a little slow in the first half. We started winning draws in the second half, we talked about it at half time and it was a really big contributor to the score at the end of the game.”

Heim reiterated Wasley’s point on the importance of draws in lacrosse.

“The key to the game is the draws,” he said. “In the first half we were losing draws 11-3 and the second half, last I checked, we were winning it 10-3 and you can see that discrepancy [on the scoreboard]. We were up in the first half but it was close because of those draws so any time you can win a draw you just get that ball back to your own team and give yourselves an opportunity to score again.”

Medfield jumped out to early leads against Scituate in the first half – playing with leads of 3-0, 6-3 and 8-4 but only held a 10-8 lead at halftime. The reason, aside from defensive mistakes, according to Heim, was the lack of consistency on offense.

“We knew we needed to pick out a team’s weakness and with Katie [Ott] we started with the crease roll," Heim said. "We are going to attack a team from all different points and we are going to start at one place and until they figure it out, we are not going to change it.”

Heim said in the first half his team got away from that philosophy and as a result struggled to maintain a large lead.

“We started one place and then we tried a place from the side and then up top and then from the other side and I told the girls it’s not about diversity on how we score, let’s attack their weakness and keeping pumping them in until they figure it out, call a timeout and stop it,” said Heim. “Then we will attack somewhere else.”

Medfield’s strong second half was a near perfect blend of offense and defense – a team firing on all cylinders and making plays on both ends of the field. The offensive firepower Medfield boasts on its roster didn't hurt either.

“We have such a tremendous offensive power with Katie [Ott] and Isabelle and Wasley and Natalie and Emily,” Heim said. “We really have a huge 1-2-3-4-5 punch with those girls out there, anyone of them can score.”

Ott’s offensive prowess was on full display as she tallied a game-high nine goals. Wasley and Abby McQuillan were second with three goals each. Emily Zlevor added two and Isabelle Hackett and Natalie Gill each netted one apiece. Wasley also tallied five assists.

Wasley and Ott both reached career milestones in goals scored this season. Ott scored her 200th career goal and Wasley tallied her 100th career goal at different points in the regular season. Both were modest of the success and praised each other’s play.

“Ott’s a great player and she’s easy to work with,” Wasley said.

Ott, mimicking Wasley’s response said with a laugh: ” Wasley’s a great player, she’s so easy to work with."

Then, a little more serious, the two stars revealed the secret to their success.

“We have our little play from behind the net and I just know where she is going to be and she knows where I’m going to be so it’s easy to work with,” Wasley said.

Ott also shared her mother's explanation for the duo's success together: “My mom always says we have this mind thing going sometimes and we can just see it,” she said.

Scituate’s Kelly Martin scored a team-high eight goals. Medfield (17-2), the bracket’s top overall seed, awaits the winner of Wednesday’s Hanover/Norwell game and will host that winner in the quarterfinal round on either Thursday or Friday at the MHS Turf.

“We just got to keep pushing,” Wasley said. “We’re tired and obviously it’s hot out.”

Ott added that everyone is tired but Medfield has an advantage over others in this tournament.

“We have to use our diversity, which is what we have above other teams,” she said. “We don’t just have a few strong players … we have a whole team full of strong players, which is great.”

Heim said this time of year comes down to the will of players and the leadership of a team's captains.

“[Seniors are] out of school and they got to make sure that they are on their game and the leaders of this team and if they start to back off a little and slack off a little and hang out in the sun then the rest of the team steps in line with that,” he said. “That’s why over the last few practices we went and had a session with Needham and then Sunday we had one with Westwood. When you play those teams they’re not going to slack off. This is where I expect the captains to be leaders and step up and take charge and take control and all the other young kids follow in line.”

As the Warriors advance to the next round in the state tournament, Ott summed up the collective feeling of the team.

“We’re excited,” she said.