PHOTOS: Medfield Girls' Lax Tops Norwell to Advance to D2 South Semis

Finally.

Fueled by a near-perfect first half, the Medfield High School girls' lacrosse team finally beat Norwell, 14-10, in the MIAA Division 2 South Sectional state tournament to advance to the semifinal round against top seed Duxbury.

Heading into Friday, Norwell (12-8), the bracket's fifth seed, had knocked Medfield out of the state tournament four times, including in last year's MIAA D2 South quarterfinal game.

But the result was different this time around because of a tremendous effort by Medfield in the first half.

"First half was unbelievable," said Medfield head coach Jason Heim. "There really wasn’t any mistakes. They were winning draws, making smart decisions, making good shots on goal, protecting the ball and attacking the zone. The players did a great job."

Medfield junior Katelyn Noschese led the team with four goals and said the key to the team's offensive success Friday was in their transition.

"We were moving the ball quickly," Noschese said. "We were finding open space and moving it around and not panicking."

The Warriors entered the break with an 8-3 lead and opened the second half with five straight goals in 13 minutes to take a commanding, 13-3 lead.

"Our main strategy was to win the draw because if we didn’t win the draw they could come down and score," Honan said. "The team made it happen, it wasn’t just one player, it was a team effort."

Norwell did not go quietly, however, outscoring the Warriors, 7-1 the rest of the way, including six straight goals before Abby McQuillan netted Medfield's 14th goal of the game with 33.5 seconds left.

"You always have to be nervous, you can’t let your guard down because that’s when they’re going to come and attack you," Honan said of Norwell's comeback bid. "That was our goal to not let our guard down and keep playing hard until the end. They had a great run in the second half so we just had to make sure we were strong and didn’t give up."

Medfield remained focused and held on to secure the state tournament victory.

"We were really pumped up for this game," said Honan. "They’ve beaten us so many times. It feels awesome, it feels amazing."

Said Noschese: "It feels great. It's awesome."

In addition to Noschese's four goals, Caroline Tschirch and Natalie Gill each added three goals for the Warriors and McQuillan and Emily Zlevor netted two apiece.

Honan stopped 11 Norwell shots, including some that Heim called "game-changing."

"Sarah Honan in the first half had three or four game-changing saves," said Heim. "They just altered the way the game was played by [Norwell]."

Medfield is excited to be moving onto the semifinals and to finally get past a pesky Norwell team.

"We prepared all year for this and it was a fun game," Heim said. "This is a nice, fitting end to the last home game for the seniors."

Medfield (15-5), the bracket's fifth seed, will face top seeded Duxbury (15-4-2) at Duxbury High School on Tuesday, June 5 at a time to be determined.