Of all the sports teams in Walpole High School, Girls Lacrosse may be having the most atypical year: when most teams are struggling in regular season play (no boys team has won the Herget this year), Girls Lacrosse is a remarkable 15-3. In the season after losing graduated seniors Erin Richardson, Seana Cofsky, and Michaela Tosone, many expected Girls Lacrosse to undergo a sort of a rebuilding year; junior midfielders Molly Lanahan and Meagan Sundstrom have exceeded those expectations and have combined to score 108 goals on the year.
“I have to give [Lanahan] a lot of credit for that,” said Sundstrom. “She’s been unbelievable and her great play has helped the rest of us, including myself.”
And now, Girls Lacrosse is looking at one of their best playoff draws in recent memory; at a one or a two seed, the Rebels are looking to take advantage of moving down to Division 2 — and avoiding perennial power Westwood. Last year, the Rebels took down Hingham in an exciting, down to the wire match, only to lose to the Wolverines by a wide margin in the second round. This year, Girls Lacrosse is hoping to go much further.
“Last year was just about meeting expectations,” said Lanahan. “Not many (if any at all) thought we were going to win against Westwood if we beat Hingham. This could be the year that we make that step and go past the second round.”
The Girls have a bye in the first round and are the number 2 seed in the East Division 2 bracket. The winner of Dover-Sherborn and Medway — two Tri-Valley League teams — awaits. Walpole actually faced both teams earlier in the year and won both by one-goal margins in two very close games. Tri-Valley League teams are usually dangerous in the postseason, as a grueling regular season schedule that includes Westwood and Medfield adequately prepares them for the playoffs.
Medfield is the one seed on the other side of the bracket, and should await the Rebels if everything goes as planned, who have dominated every team in their path thus far. Other than two losses to the Wolverines, Medfield has topped all the other teams in their division and poses a big threat to the Rebels’ quest for a State Championship.
“I think that our main goal is to focus on each game one at a time and make a deep run unlike most of our past teams,¨ said Sundstrom. ¨It wont be easy but this year we have a great team. I’m excited to get going.¨
On Turco Field next week, Girls Lacrosse will try to take the first step to accomplish this goal against either Dover-Sherborn or Medfield and do what they have not all year: be like most other sports teams and go deep into the tournament.
