Medfield Boys' Lax Falls to Rival D-S Friday

It was Deja Vu for the boys' lacrosse team Friday night as it suffered a 7-5 loss to rival Dover-Sherborn Regional High School in Dover.

It was the Warriors' second straight 7-5 loss to Dover-Sherborn, . This year, the Raiders take over sole possession of first place in the TVL with the win, improving to 7-0 in the league while dealing Medfield its first TVL loss of the season, sending the Warriors to a 5-1 league record.

The TVL loss is Medfield's third in two seasons after Hopkinton ended the Warriors' streak of 119 straight league victories last season.

On Friday, D-S was led by Jared Spence, who scored a hat trick for the Raiders and Ben Newbert added two goals of his own. Perhaps more impressive for the home team was how the D-S defense handled a dominant Warriors' attack thanks in part to goalie Ryan Goodall’s eight saves.

D-S head coach Brian McLaughlin was proud of his team’s effort.

“Any time that you can come out on top against Medfield it’s a good night," he said. "The defense played really well, Ryan played well in net.”

Medfield had strong goaltending of their own from goalie Dougie Nelson, who made nine saves, many of them from point-blank range.

Medfield co-head Coach Mike Douglas praised his goalie, but could not hide his disappointment with the result.

“He kept us in the game, gave us a chance going down the stretch," Douglas said. "We just didn’t get it done as a team and definitely didn’t get it done on the offensive end.”

Douglas said the Raiders' ability to snag ground balls throughout the game was a pivotal reason why they lost the game.

“In both halves we didn’t execute like we are capable of doing,” said Douglas. “They won the ground ball game and usually in a big game between two good teams, the ground ball battle wins the game. They clearly won that part of the game.”

McLaughlin knew it was important to get a win in the rivalry.

“For a few years they were beating us pretty good but the last few games have been nail biters," he said. "A couple more penalties [Friday] than usual, but for the most part it’s good clean lacrosse, which is always fun.”

Medfield will look to bounce back Tuesday on the road in Bellingham on Tuesday. Game time is 3:45 p.m.