MEDFIELD — You almost always know when a game has “it.” That special excitement and intensity and competition. Saturday at 1 p.m. was one of those days, as the fifth seeded Raiders took on the fourth seeded Medfield Warriors at Medfield High School. The winner would earn the right to play the No. 1 seed Uxbridge in the Final Four next week.
On a sunny and unseasonably pleasant afternoon, with players all in shirtsleeves, Medfield relished the opportunity to knock off the four-time defending state champs and earn a hallmark win for the program. They looked ready to fulfill that dream when in the first minute of play Medfield, who put the ball in play to start the game, stormed down the field and immediately put the Raiders on their heels. It almost looked and felt as though the Warriors were playing with an extra front line was their play so dominant. And then, just like that, 40 seconds in, and with the ball alone yards away from Freshman goalie Natalia Keuchkarian, Medfield placed a shot stick-side, just inside the post to give Medfield a 1-0 lead.
Certainly the Medfield fans were going crazy, and the large contingent of Raiders fans who made the trip were in shock. Medfield’s players celebrated with extreme joy, understandably, after grabbing the early lead. Watertown’s 11? They remained cool and calm and within minutes found their game and began tilting the field to their will. The Raiders pressured, and that led to four penalty corners, and a whopping nine more in the second period.
The Raiders came close to tying the game, but between quality goaltending and openings hard to come by, the score remained 1-0 at the half. On the scoreboard of overall play, the Raiders were clearly ahead. After the shot for goal by Medfield, they did not land a shot on Watertown’s goalie the rest of the half. But on the only scoreboard that mattered, Medfield was up 1-0 and was one half away from reaching the Final Four.
If you have ever attended a field hockey game, one thing you’ll notice is that there’s no messing around. By that I mean 15 minutes go on the clock, the whistle blows and play begins. Other than an injury or a goal, the clock runs and play demands speed and pace and being ready. There’s all of a whole minute between periods, and all of five minutes at halftime. In other words, if you have errands to do, fitting in a field hockey game to your schedule is absolutely doable. Point is, Coach Eileen Donahue calmly gathered her squad and told told them what they needed to do second half, and those of us in attendance hurried to the restroom and returned to our seats in order not to miss the action.
At 6:07 of the third period, with Watertown still controlling the play and putting constant pressure on the Warriors, the Raiders tied the game off a penalty corner. Junior Aisling Brennock sent a clean and crisp entry to sophomore Tyler Foley. Foley found herself with space as Medfield chased after her late. Having read the play and seeing an opening to the net, Foley wound up and sent a scorcher past the Medfield goalie into the back of the cage, tying the game at 1. This goal didn’t come without controversy, though.
Brennock initially fanned on the entry pass, or just nicked the ball. By rule, from watching enough field hockey to be sure of this much, she is not allowed to attempt to strike the ball again until either team touches the ball. Instead of that happening though, in the midst of Medfield chasing after the ball, the official closest to the play whistled it dead and ruled that the penalty corner be re-played. Why? I would love to know. Certainly Medfield’s coaches, players and fans were beside themselves. And, even more so when Brennock reentered the ball and Foley scored.
The game suddenly tied, Medfield made a bit of a push. I don’t think they were sitting on a 1-0 lead up until the game was tied. Watertown was simply in charge of the game. But, the goal certainly woke up the Warriors, and with about three minutes left in the third period they put pressure on Keuchkarian, and she answered the challenge, sprawling to her right to make two saves and keep the game tied at 1.
So off to the fourth period we went, both teams dreaming of a victory and a final four berth. Watertown continued pressuring, but Medfield spent some time in the Watertown end as well, even earning their first two (and only) penalty corner opportunities of the afternoon. Watertown’s stout defense, led by Foley, Kaitlyn O’Connor and Gianna Venezia made sure those opportunities were thwarted. And then came a highlight moment, one to be cherished by two seniors trying to make sure Saturday wasn’t their last game.
With the ball ping-ponging between teams around Medfield’s 30 yard line, Ava Lamacchia anticipated an attempted pass by Medfield, intercepted it, and streaked toward the goal along with fellow senior Sophia Setouhi against only one defender for Medfield. Lamacchia read the room perfectly, so to speak, and held onto the ball, pushing towards the net, waiting for just the right moment when the Medfield defender committed to her, and when that happened, she sent a perfect pass to a streaking Setouhi inside 10 yards of the goal. Setouhi had it on her backhand, and one wondered whether she would try and put it on her forehand before attempting to shoot, but instead she leaned into a backhanded shot and potted the go-ahead goal with just over 8 minutes left in regulation. It was a beautiful display of hustle and execution and teamwork between two seniors, and it was the winning goal!
Watertown didn’t let up, and Medfield, desperate for the tying goal, pushed up the field trying to force pressure on the Raiders goal, but they couldn’t do it, and with less than 15 seconds on the clock Gianna Venezia intercepted one last Medfield pass and sent the ball towards the Medfield zone as the clock counted down to zero. Final Score, Watertown 2 Medfield 1.
Watertown was presented with a banner at midfield as is tradition for all teams making it to the final four. Pictures were taken, hugs and screams of joy were seen and heard, and the fifth-seeded Raiders knew they were the better team on this day and proud of the outcome. Come Sunday the reality will set in — a matchup with perhaps the best team in the State, regardless of Division. Uxbridge (18-0 regular season, 3-0 postseason after wins of 8-0, 9-0 and 9-0) this season has scored 146 goals and allowed only 8. Watertown will be the underdog, but will certainly be well-prepared by Coach Donahue, who knows a thing or two about field hockey and dominant teams.
The MIAA has scheduled the Div. 3 semifinal game for Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. at West Bridgewater High School. The winner will play the winner of Dover-Sherborn versus Sandwich Wednesday at West Bridgewater at 5 p.m.) for the Div. 3 State Title. Early weather forecasts for Wednesday show overcast skies and a temperature a chilly 40 degrees.
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1 2 3 4 – F
Medfield 1 0 0 0 – 1
Watertown 0 0 1 1 – 2
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1st Period
Watertown 0 Medfield 1… goal at :40
2nd Period
No Scoring
3rd Period
Watertown 1 Medfield 1… Tyler Foley from Aisling Brennock at 6:07
4th Period
Watertown 2 Medfield 1….. Sohia Setouhi from Ava Lamacchia at 6:50