Monkey off Their Back

Boys Hockey Drops Quincy 6-2 In Round One

The theme going into last night's game, round one of the South Regional vs Quincy, was to get past the Presidents and live to play another day. Yes that sounds incredibly obvious, but one year ago Medfield took their best record in program history into the playoffs and were bounced in the first round by Pembroke. All it comes down to at this time of year is survive and advance. 

Quincy controlled the play early, but it was a Medfield power play that swung the momentum and more importantly the lead to the Warriors. A shot from up top by Jack Scannell pin-balled around off several players before hitting Ben Ruzzo in the head, deflecting off the post and past Quincy goalie Chris Doyle to give Medfield a 1-0.

The Warriors took the 1-0 lead into the dressing room after period one.

Minutes into the second frame, Justin Hirschfield scored the highlight-reel goal of the night. From the far side off the ice, he stick handled and inside-outed a Quincy defender before beating Doyle glove side to double the Medfield lead. 

It didn't take long for Quincy to respond, as Brian O'Callaghan beat Medfield goalie Dan Graham over his glove with a well placed wrist shot that got the Presidents back in the game. 

Scannell regained the two goal lead later in the frame on a shot from the mid slot. Not long after, Brett Thomas banged home a rebound off a shot from outside. It was only Thomas' second goal of the year.

Quincy made it a two goal game just over 30 seconds into the third on O'Callahan's second of the game, but not long after, Matt Treiber broke in and completely deked Doyle out and fired it into the back of a wide open net to make it 5-2.

Ben Ruzzo would add his second of the game on an empty net goal with around 2 minutes left.

Dan Graham was easily the player of the game for the Warriors. Time and time again he made key saves when the game was still very close. It was his first ever playoff appearance and win.

With the win, Medfield will advance to play Martha's Vineyard in the South Quarterfinals. The game will be Saturday night (6:00pm) at Asiaf Arena in Brockton.   

Big Blues

Last night's boys basketball game had everything a great playoff game needs: a strong, enthusiastic crowd and even better play on the court. Hopkinton was the better team all night, as they kept Medfield's offense stuck in neutral for most parts of the game.

The Hillers had a 16-12 lead after the first quarter and extended that margin to 35-25 at the half. Matt Cahill looked to be Medfield's best weapon when he drove to the hoop. He drew several fouls and his free throws were a large majority of the team's points in the first half.

Hopkinton ended both the second and third quarters with half-court buzzer beater shots that took any momentum the Warriors had gained and swung it right back in their favor.

Gaining off that momentum, Hopkinton came out and practically hit every shot they took in the season half. At one point they led by 23, before Medfield made a run of their own, cutting the Hiller lead to six. That would be the closest Medfield would get it, as Hopkinton hit all their free throws down the stretch and came away with a 78-69 win on Medfield's home floor.

Hopkinton's Andrew McMillan and Mathew Locke were far and away the game's best players. Both seemed to hit every shot they contested. Not only were they making shots, but they were doing it a critical times.

For the third straight year, the Big Blue see their season end in the first round of the state playoffs. As for Hopkinton, they advance to the Central Regional Semifinal at WPI and will face Westboro.

One Advances, One Falls

Last night saw the MIAA state tournament kick off for both girls hockey and girls basketball.

Girls hockey, the 27 seed facing sixth seeded Burlington wasn't given much of a chance in this game. The girls played a strong first period, holing the Red Devils scoreless going into the second. Burlington scored three times in the second frame before Medfield's Lindsey Brown found the back of the net with around 7:00 left in the game. Burlington all but sealed the game with a short-handed tally late in the third, rounding out the score and giving us a 4-1 final. Unfortunately the streak continues for the team, as they still have yet to win a playoff game in six attempts.

Girls basketball on the other hand was supposed to roll through their first round game with Westboro. They did not disappoint. Medfield cruised to a 71-41 win on their home court. The game was never close, as Medfield went up 27-7 after one and never looked back. They will face TVL rival Hopkinton in the Central Semifinals Sunday at noon at Fitchburg State. Hopkinton knocked off Medfield in the 2012 state tournament.

Tonight boys basketball will host Hopkinton in the gym at 7:00. The winner will advance to the Central Semifinals to be played at WPI.

Boys Hockey will play Quincy Thursday night in Franklin at 8:30. The winner of that game will play Martha's Vineyard (most likely this weekend in Bourne), who beat Sandwich 2-1 in overtime last night.

Playoff Preview

Boys Hockey

For the 14^th time in the last 16 years, boys hockey again finds themselves in the state playoffs. This year, they will be the third overall seed in the Division II South Regional and will face off with 14 seeded Quincy. The game will be Thursday night at 8:30 in Franklin.

Medfield is 14-3-3 on the year, while Quincy is 11-9-2, but they do play a pretty tough schedule. Quincy is making their first tournament appearance since 2010, so that means no one on their current roster has ever had a taste of playoff hockey. In 2010 Quincy lost 7-1 to Coyle Cassidy in the first round. Medfield on the other hand has only a handful of players who have not seen time in a playoff game. The last time the Warriors missed out on the post season was 2008. The last two years Medfield was the number one overall seed in the Division III South Regional and it should be noted that this is the first time hockey has competed in the DII tournament.

Medfield’s best finish in the state tournament came in 1995, when the first squad to ever win the TVL, made it all the way to the Eastern Mass final before falling  to Lynnfield (?). The current senior class has advanced to the South Semifinals twice: 2011 (L 5-1 vs Pembroke) and 2012 (L 6-2 Rockland).

Common opponents with Quincy: Pembroke (L 3-2) Oliver Ames (W 5-1). Medfield beat Pembroke 3-1 and topped OA 3-1.  

South Regional Bracket 

Girls Hockey

Unlike the boys, the girls just snuck into the tournament on the last day of the season. They faced Urusline needing a win to reach the .500 mark to get into the dance. After going up 1-0, UA tied it late in the second before Medfield struck twice to make it 3-1 in the third. A late UA goal brought back memories of the Women’s Olympic final between USA and Canada. In that game, the US was up 2-0 before Canada tied with less than a minute to play. UA had a chance to do the same, but in the end Medfield came away with a 3-2.

The win gave them the 27 seed (out of 28) in the South Regional and they will face sixth seeded Burlington tomorrow night at 7:10 at the Burlington Ice Palace. Burlington is 13-4-1 on the year and last year lost in the second round to Gardner 2-1 in a shootout. Speaking of shootouts… Medfield was bounced from last year’s tournament by the same score in a shootout vs Walpole.

The Warriors have made the tournament every year but two since the program's conception in 2006. They failed to qualify in ’06 and ’08. The highest seed the program has ever earned was the three in 2011, but they fell in the first round to Ursuline 3-2 in overtime. I guess you could say this year was a little bit of revenge for that loss. Medfield girls hockey has never won a playoff game.

Common Opponents with Burlington: None

Division II Girls Hockey Bracket

Boys Basketball

The boys hoop team had a strong start to their year and regained that early season momentum towards the end of the regular year, enough so to finish with a 12-8-0 record. That nabbed them the second seed in the 10 team Central Region. This is the first year the Big Blue has competed as a member of the Central and not part of the South. 

In the first round, Medfield will host seventh seeded Hopkinton in the gym at 6:00 on Wednesday night.

Medfield and Hopkinton have met twice already this year in Tri-Valley League play. Hop-town won the first game (in Hopkinton) 71-50, but Medfield rebounded on their home floor with a  65-56 win the next time around.

Common Opponents with Hopkinton: All TVL Teams

Central Regional Bracket

Girls Basketball

We may have saved the best for last... The 20-2-0 girls basketball team will start their Division II state championship title defense Tuesday night at home vs Westboro. Despite the impressive record, the Warriors are actually the second overall seed in the Central. The number one seed went to 20-0-0 Nashoba, who Medfield dismantled in last year's State Championship Game at the DCU Center in Worcester. 

Much like the boys hoop team, the girls are competing in the Central for the first time and were a member of the South a season ago. The title defense is a little easier from the Central root. There are only seven teams in the Central Regional, compared to the South's 16 team field. Also the quality of teams in Central is traditionally weaker than in the East (North/South combined).

Of course the winner of the West (Central vs West) will play the winner of the East in the State Final.

Central Regional Bracket  

Another TVL For Boys Hockey

Saturday night was yet another banner night for MHS. The boys hockey team locked up their third straight Tri-Valley league title with an 8-3 win over Hopkinton. It was a game that, despite the score, was a lot closer than expected. Medfield found themselves down 3-1 in the second period and 3-2 going into the third, only to score the game's last seven goals. Jack Scannell posted a hat-trick including the game tying goal minutes into the third period.

As mentioned before, this is the third straight outright TVL title for the team, a feat that has never been accomplished before in program history. The team won the league in 2000, '01 '02 but 2000 was a shared title.

Around the School
This weekend boys and girls basketball as well as girls hockey were all in action. The boys hoop team ran over Bellingham 68-45 at home on senior night. earlier in the year, Bellingham upended the Big Blue 73-72 in overtime. Girls basketball dropped Westwood 64-31 to improve to 17-0-0 on the year and are now the number one ranked team on ESPN HS Boston's page. Girls hockey skated to a scoreless tie with Medway/Ashland on Saturday night. The team still needs to pick up five points in their remaining five games to make the playoffs.

Rivalry Night and A Title

Due to the snow yesterday, rivalry night was shifted over to tonight. Boys basketball will host Westwood at the gym at 6:30, while boys hockey will serve as the home team in Franklin against Medway.

Both Medfield teams lost their first games with each respected opponent. Hockey fell 3-2 back on January 11 in a hard fought game that saw a Warrior comeback come up just short. Basketball was handled a little easier by Westwood, as the Wolverines won 72-47.

For hockey this game will go a long way in deciding the Tri-Valley League. A win tonight puts the team in the driver's seat for the league title with just one league game remaining. That game is Saturday against Hopkinton, who has been surprisingly more competitive this winter. Two wins for the Warriors gives them their third straight TVL title, something the program has never accomplished before. A loss to Medway would result in a tie with Westwood. Westwood has beaten Medway twice, Medfield has beaten Westwood twice and Medway would have beaten Medfield twice. Medway would fall out of the tie because they tied Ashland earlier in the season.

The hoop team on the other hand is eight points behind league-leading Ashland with just four league games left. Two of those four games are against the top two teams: Westwood and Ashland.

Needless to say tonight's games have some large implications for league play. Basketball starts at 6:30 and Hockey at 8:30

TVL League Meet for Boys Track
Last weekend the boys indoor track team took home the TVL League Meet at the Reggie Louis Center in Dorchester. Similar to the boys cross country team, the indoor track team lost out on the regular season title to Norton but then took the crown at the league meet.