SUDBURY – When Rex Friedholm awoke Saturday morning, he was delighted to see snow on the bottom.
A wintery mixture of rain, sleet, and snow pushed again the beginning time an hour, however even Mom Nature couldn’t cease Friedholm and his boys lacrosse teammates as Lincoln-Sudbury dominated Needham, 18-3, on a area shoveled by coaches, dad and mom and gamers.
“We have been all texting one another after we awakened, and we have been all excited,” mentioned Friedholm, who scored seven occasions whereas placing collectively an eight-point efficiency. “We performed Needham throughout the season final 12 months in a monsoon, so irrespective of the situations, we knew we would have liked to play as a group and be our greatest.”
Needham eradicated L-S final 12 months within the MIAA Division 1 quarterfinals, a reality not forgotten by Friedholm and his teammates.
“All of us remembered final 12 months’s loss,” mentioned Friedholm. “Our aim was to win each floor ball. That’s contagious – get one on your teammate, they’ll get one for you. That’s what we did, and that’s what gained this sport for us.”
L-S (5-1) commanded each side of the sport. Dante Venuto and Will van der Voorn have been an distinctive one-two punch for the Warriors, controlling the faceoff battle all sport. And there was a collective effort on protection, which swarmed Needham (4-2) and frequently stripped the ball within the open area.
“We performed with a frenetic tempo – hair on hearth, which is at all times the aim for us,” mentioned L-S coach Brian Vona. “That’s an incredible program at Needham, their coaches do an incredible job, they usually took it to us final 12 months. Our guys didn’t neglect that. They went out, competed, and made the performs.”
Earlier within the week, L-S misplaced on the street in opposition to defending Division 1 champion St. John’s Prep, a sport outlined by the Prep’s skill to safe floor balls.
“We misplaced badly in opposition to the Prep due to floor balls – that’s teaching, and that’s on me,” mentioned Vona. “Our youngsters have been unbelievable on this sport, and we took pleasure in competing for each floor ball.”
Enjoying with poise, L-S restricted turnovers – and the hosts have been phenomenal at discovering the again of the online. L-S scored two objectives within the first two and a half minutes, however its lead was minimize in half when Needham’s Michael Roach went prime shelf to make it a one-goal sport. L-S then scored seven unanswered objectives to finish the quarter, extending the result in 14-1 earlier than Needham obtained again on the board. By the half, it was 16-3 in favor of L-S.
A pair of objectives within the second half accomplished the onslaught to make it an 18-3 remaining. Brady Malo was very good for L-S, scoring 5 occasions in a seven-point exhibiting. There was additionally sturdy play in internet from the goalie tandem of Jesse Wealthy and Rex Garozzo, who produced 9 mixed saves.
“Lincoln-Sudbury is an elite program, and that’s why we play them,” mentioned Needham coach Dave Wainwright. “Tough video games like this are wanted to study and develop, and we struggled right here. They might have doubled the rating in opposition to us. Kudos to their coaches and gamers.
“This was a whooping. We have now to go dwelling, replicate, and work on the small print so we are able to study and develop from it.”
Subsequent up for L-S is one other early season check at dwelling in opposition to Xaverian. After that, they’ll pack their luggage and journey to New York for a tilt in opposition to extremely touted West Genesee, then proceed their street journey in Washington state throughout April trip to play each the defending prep and public champs.
“We’re taking part in the perfect,” mentioned Vona. “Our youngsters benefit from the struggle.”
Trending Merchandise
