Season Recap: Early Playoff Loss Doesn't Dampen Mustangs' Spirits

At the beginning of the spring season, hopes were higher than ever for the Medford High girls lacrosse team, as the Mustangs looked to make another run at the MIAA state championship. 

With the amount of talent on the team, that proposition wasn’t too far-fetched, and after storming to a 16-4 finish, Medford saw themselves in the Div. 1 North sectional for the second year in a row. 

Unfortunately, Medford’s incredible season came to an end in a 9-3 loss to seventh-seeded Reading (15-4). For head coach Matt Galusi, such an early exit from the tournament was unthinkable. 

“Never in a million years,” said Galusi. “Me and the girls were fully expecting to go in the first round and get a win. It was kind of tough to swallow. Most of my seniors have been with the program for four years and for some of them this is the last they’re every going to play organized lacrosse.”

Among those seniors are captains Deanna Cavallaro, Katie O’Brien and Mady Forcier a talented nucleus that helped keep the Mustangs rolling all season long. 

“Those three captains are going to be tough to replace,” said Galusi. “Mady and Deanna got brought up to varsity two weeks after their freshman year and they never looked back. Those are big shoes to fill. With those three seniors, it wasn’t only their play on the field, it was their presence.”

Medford will also be losing seniors Alana Viveiros, Kathleen Harding, Michaela Botticelli, Leigh Williams, Ericka Silva and Taylor Mason.                                          

“Kathleen didn’t lose too many draws this year,” said Galusi. “That’s one of those hidden stats that if you win (draws) you win games. (Alana) scored no more than a handful of goals, but she played such a major roll in so many of our goals. She was so solid with her stick work. She was almost like a quarterback running the show.”

Galusi knew he had something special right off the bat when his team started off 4-0. After the team suffered its first loss to Central Catholic however, Galusi said his Mustangs really started to come into their own. 

“There were little flashes here and there that we had something special going on,” said Galusi. “I want to say the Haverhill game... at Haverhill.... that was when we really realized. It was a back-and-forth game and we ended up scoring the game-winning goal with less than a minute left. It just showed me that these kids would fight until the end. I knew we were on the verge of something good.”

“They really started to see that when they work together, it really works,” added Galusi. “Even though we’re graduating nine seniors, we’re still super-talented coming back next year. We’re reloading not rebuilding.”

Returning next season for Medford is the explosive sister act of Olivia (junior) and Katherine (sophomore) Timmins. The Timmins sisters powered a Medford offense that averaged nearly 12 points per game this year, with Olivia accounting for almost half of the Mustang offense. 

“It blows my mind to think that Olivia had 92 goals and 28 assists this year through 20 games,” said Galusi. “The previous high mark was 86...  and Olivia kind of blew that out of the water. And the fact that she’s a junior, that’s unbelievable.” 

But even though two important offensive players will be returning, you can’t win games without a good defense, and that’s where junior defenders Jamie deRosas and Breanna Hughes will look to dominate next season. 

“Jamie is one of the best low defensive players- I’m going to go out on a limb and say in the state,” said Galusi. “She’s hands down the best defensive player in the GBL. She’s just so technically and fundamentally solid. You never have to worry about her.”

The 2011 season may not have ended the way Galusi and his team may have expected, but that hasn’t changed their outlook at all. For Galusi, it’s just another building block to what he hopes will be an even better season in 2012. 

 “It didn’t end the way we wanted it to,” said Galusi. “These girls need to know how proud I am of them and they should be proud of themselves. They helped develop something that’s really good and growing everyday. As a coach I was honored to coach these girls. They’re some of the best girls we’ve ever had come through the program.”