Foxborough Lacrosse Cruises To First Round Of State Tournament

Last week a confident Foxborough Warriors lacrosse team walked into the Hockomock Cup expecting to win. Instead, they walked out shocked by their defeat to Franklin. While the loss hurt, it may have been the wake up call the Warriors needed.

“That was the slap in the face, the bucket of cold water that woke us up,” said Warriors coach Matt Noone.

In their first game since the Hockomock Cup, the Warriors regained their composure in a dominating 14-0 win over the Northeast Metro Tech Knights to advance out of the preliminary round of the MIAA East Division 2 Boys Lacrosse Tournament.

The Warriors went to work right from the start and never gave the Knights a chance. Connor Whalen got the Warriors on the board only 51 seconds into the game after receiving a quick pass from Billy Roberts. The Warriors continued to show off their talent as James Stather floated a ball right in front of the Knights’ net to Jake Hyland for an easy goal. Anthony Fertitta added a goal to make it 3-0 less than 3 and a half minutes into the game. Cam Felix’s shot from the 20 yard line made it 4-0 and James Stather scored his 2nd of the game to make it 5-0 less than 4 minutes into the game.                                                                                                                                                                                   “They were just overpowering. They smothered us on all aspects of the game,” said Northeast Metro Tech coach Neil Valeriani.

Additional goals from Jake Soccorso and Greg Warner put the Warriors up 7-0 after the 1st quarter.

The blowout continued into the 2nd quarter with a quick bounce shot from Billy Roberts to make it an 8-0 game. Even with an offense that was intentionally taking their time and slowing the pace of the game, the Warriors could not help but score. Jake Hyland picked up his 2nd goal of the game and Connor Whalen also picked up his 2nd of the game as the Warriors took a commanding 12-0 lead at halftime.

The 2nd half saw the Warriors protect the lead. Without a need for additional goals, the Warriors focused on controlling the possession game and protecting the lead. James Stather picked up another goal at the end of the quarter and Jackson Hurley picked up a goal to cap off the huge win against the Knights.

As it has been for most of the season, it was a team effort from the Warriors.  With 11 goal scorers, it was the spread out offense that the Foxborough is known for. With the high amount of goal scorers, it was more reason for coach Noone to protect the lead after halftime.

“It wasn’t planned that way but at halftime I did tell them to stop taking shots if they scored," said coach Noone.

Connor Whalen, Jake Soccorso, and James Stather all had a game high 2 goals each. Whalen also contributed 3 assists in the winning effort. Goalie Greg Stamatov enjoyed a light day of work stopping all 3 of the Knights’ shots.

Next up for the Warriors will be the Hopkinton Hillers in the first round of the tournament. The Hillers beat Wayland 9-7 to advance out of the preliminary round. Game time is set for Saturday June 4th at 3pm at Foxboro.