Boys Hockey
For the 14th 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.
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
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
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.
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