FOXBORO, Mass. – The Foxboro girls lacrosse team might not have one of the best records in the state, but the hope is that facing top competition throughout the season will have the Warriors primed for the postseason.
The battle-tested Warriors showcased their talents in a battle of league unbeatens on Monday afternoon, earning a 19-6 win over visiting King Philip in dominating fashion.
“Our record isn’t great, not what it usually is but we’ve played so many of the top teams in the state that we’re so mentally prepared for the games now,” said Foxboro head coach Brittany Sherry. “The end result hasn’t always been what we want but we’re competing for the most part with those teams. We knew this was a big league game and we wanted to prove ourselves, the games leading up to this have prepared us for this.”
Foxboro entered the contest at 7-6 overall, but four of those losses were to four of the top seven teams in Eastern Mass — Notre Dame Academy (1), Walpole (2), Norwell (5), and Wellesley (7) — another to Western Mass powerhouse Longmeadow, and the sixth to Natick, who is ranked in the top 20.
After trading a pair of goals each to start the game, Foxboro’s offense went into high gear and rattled off eight straight goals to turn a close game into a comfortable lead for the host Warriors.
King Philip closed the first half strong to give themselves a shot in the second half, but Foxboro once again had eight straight goals and pull away for the win.
“We had a long talk after the Walpole game about what we can do to better prepare for games, and we haven’t put together two halves yet,” Sherry said. “Just because we say to be here at 3:00, doesn’t mean you can’t come early and get some shots up. It was the first time it hasn’t rained and they came early today and got ready for the game.”
Foxboro junior Julia Kelley scored a pair of goals inside the first four minutes to give the hosts the lead, the first off a feed from junior Jaime Notarangelo and the second assisted by sophomore Lilly Vey.
King Philip responded with a pair of goals to tie it 2-2 six minutes into the contest. First, freshman Julia Marsden carried possession from her own half and sliced through the Foxboro defense, finishing with a shot in close. Caroline Klim followed with a goal off a feed from Victoria Tormey to tie the score.
But from that point on, Foxboro owned the first half. The host Warriors dominated on draws, winning 11 of 16 in the first half, and won eight of the first nine which directly led to a big lead.
Senior Sophia DiCenso scored back-to-back goals, the first off a free position and the second off a feed from Vey. Vey then took a pass from Kelley and scored to make it 5-2. Senior Molly Murphy netted her first of three goals with a bounce shot with 12:31 left to make it 6-2 and force a KP timeout.
Foxboro didn’t take its foot off the gas though with Notarangelo tucking in a low shot for a 7-2 lead. King Philip goalie Caroline Watson (12 saves) was strong in net and turned away a Warrior chance with just under 10 minutes to go but Foxboro was first to the rebound and Abby Hassman connected with DiCenso to make it 8-2.
Vey scored back-to-back goals, the latter with four minutes to play in the first half.
King Philip put together a mini-run to end the first half and stay within striking distance. Buoyed by some draw controls, Klim scored off a nice individual effort, senior Allie Wilson found the back of the net off a free position chance, and junior Jessica Sullivan buried a nice shot with a minute to go to make it 10-5.
But Foxboro was relentless in the second half, holding King Philip to just one offensive possession through the first eight minutes. Watson made some stellar stops in close to keep Foxboro off the board but the host Warriors’ continual pressure paid off.
Vey found DiCenso in transition and just 17 seconds later, Notarangelo scored after controlling the draw. Hassman, Notaragenlo, and Murphy scored over the next five minutes to push Foxboro’s lead to 15-5.
“Credit to Foxboro, they came out strong with high energy and really wanted to play today from start to finish,” said King Philip coach Kourtnie Wilder. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to play that full 50 minutes. We had a few good sparks but not a full game of lacrosse and it showed, and they were able to pile it on.
“Having that short term memory is something we need to work on. Even if they score a couple of goals, we have to move on and focus on the next play. Credit to our goalie Caroline Watson, she had a lot of saves and kept us in it for most of the game.”
Even when King Philip was able to get a stop, Foxboro’s pressure made it tough for the visiting Warriors’ to clear the ball cleanly.
“We haven’t been that strong [pressuring defenses] but we did a nice job today,” Sherry said. “We wanted to put pressure on the goalie, the girls did very well with their ride today.
“I think we had the edge [on 50/50 balls]. We haven’t had that every game so far but today we did and that’s been one of our biggest things. We’re either really strong or really weak, and today we were on the strong end of things.”
Meghan Curran added two goals, Murphy scored once more, and senior Kristin Whalen found the back of the net once to cap the Foxboro scoring. Klim scored King Philip’s lone goal of the second half with 2:30 to play.
Foxboro girls lacrosse (6-0 Hockomock, 8-6 overall) is back in action on the road at Attleboro on Wednesday. King Philip (5-1, 8-3) is on the road at Canton on the same day.
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