Today, the four state championship finals are being played amongst the public, parochial, and charter schools which are members in good standing of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Yep, they’re playing on a Thursday for some unknown reason.
Too, the four championship finals are being held in four different sites at about the same time of day. First off is the Division 2 final, a 4 p.m. first draw at Weymouth (Mass.) a town just across Quincy Bay from Boston. The competing sides are Walpole (Mass.) and Hingham Notre Dame Academy (Mass.). These two teams have enjoyed tremendous success over the last few years, although Walpole’s ascendancy is the one which has been a little less expected, since the Rebels are more well-known for their field hockey prowess.
Starting an hour later at Walpole is the Division 4 title game between Cohasset (Mass.) and Ipswich (Mass.). The Skippers have sent a number of prominent players to collegiate programs the last few years, but Ipswich is looking to stop Cohasset from winning the state final.
Starting at 5:15 p.m. will be the Division 3 title game at Burlington (Mass.), a town just northwest of Boston. The teams will be Newburyport (Mass.) and Medfield (Mass.). Each of these sides is an interesting story unto themselves. Newburyport, last fall in field hockey, broke Watertown’s 41-game shutout streak and gave them everything they could handle before falling at the end. Medfield, for its part, has a stellar player named Kelly Blake, who has more than 400 goals and 600 assists in her brilliant career. In the state semifinal a couple of days ago, she gashed the defense of Foxboro (Mass.) for seven goals and seven assists.
The nightcap will be held at 7:30 at Burlington between Division 1 contenders Wellesley (Mass.) and Lawrence Central Catholic (Mass.). As it happens, this is a rematch of an April 27th regular-season contest that saw Central Catholic win 12-10. Kerri Finneran scored seven goals in this game for Central, and will be counted on to help with their dominance in the draw circle.
It should be an enjoyable day of lacrosse; but it’s too bad it could not have been a quadrupleheader on a weekend to get more fans out.
