“Before our season opener we played on turf twice,” said junior attackman Ben Lucas. It’s not common for a team to practice on a parking lot right up to the season opener, but such is the case when Mother Nature spits out over nine feet of snow in the span of a month or so.
The lack of proper practice showed in the season opener, when the Rebels were demolished by Dover-Sherborn. However, Walpole was able to recover and win their next game, a home affair against Scituate four days later.
Dover-Sherborn – the squad that went one and one in back-to-back Division 3 state finals in 2013 and 2014 – have been one of the best lacrosse programs in the state for a number of years. They came into the 2015 season keeping two of the finest attackmen in the state, one; sophomore Bailey Laidman, is a commit to the prestigious University of North Carolina and another is a commit to Bryant University in Rhode Island.
Their attacking talent was evident immediately as their high-powered offense scored 7 goals in the first quarter alone. Walpole struggled to keep up with the frenetic pace of Dover-Sherborn’s attackmen, only scoring 2 goals in that time frame.
In the 2nd quarter, Dover-Sherborn’s dominance continued. Although they only scored one goal in the quarter, they held the ball for the majority of the quarter and did well to stymie the Walpole attack. However, junior goalie Charlie Harrington laid a massive hit on a Dover-Sherborn attackman that psyched up the Rebel bench, and there was finally a bright spot as senior attackman Mike Mazzotta scored the 3rd goal of the half for Walpole. “I felt good after I scored that goal. I thought we were going to get right back in it in the second half.”
Walpole was still shut out for the remainder of the quarter, and went into the half down five goals with the score at 8-3. Although Walpole looked to have a little momentum after the Mazzotta goal, Dover-Sherborn came out of the half roaring.
They scored six unanswered goals in the 3rd, including a stretch of play where they scored a goal, won the faceoff, worked the ball down the field and scored again in under a minute.
Going into the 4th, the score was 14-3 and out of the reach for the Rebels. Senior midfielder Seamus Ford scored two goals in the closing quarter to Dover-Sherborn’s one, but it was not nearly enough as the Rebels finally fell 15-5.
After the dismal defeat – albeit to one of the premier lacrosse programs in the state – Walpole needed a bounce back game immediately. That bounce back came in the form of a game against Scituate four days later.
The Rebels dominated possession from the outset and maintained the lead for almost the entire game, finishing the victors by a score of 9-6. They were led by two goals from senior midfielder Tim McNamera, along with a goal and two assists from senior attackman Tom DiCalogero.
The win will come as a big morale boost for the Rebels, with Bay State conference matchups beginning this week. Walpole will play potent rivals Wellesley and Needham – both of whom are rated in the top 10 Division 1 programs by the Boston Herald – in the upcoming two weeks.
After the 1-1 start with a difficult schedule forthcoming, Walpole will need to keep the momentum from their Scituate win and continue it into their conference schedule.
