Wakefield lax beats Billerica 10-9 in D2N semifinals
Published in the June 25, 2021 edition.
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — Seconds after sophomore goalie Kaiden Johnson made the save of his life to secure a 10-9 victory over Billerica in the Div. 2 North Semifinals on Wednesday, the Wakefield High boys’ lacrosse team went flying over to the south side of the Landrigan Field bleachers to celebrate. That’s where the Red Sea student section was, full of Warriors who had helped push the boys on throughout an epic back-and-forth matchup.
There, in that moment, it felt like high school sports made its official triumphant return during the Class of 2021’s last home game. Forget zoom calls, social distancing or prom photos with masks on…this was a pure, emotional celebration amongst friends – the way it should be after a win like that.
“It was an amazing feeling to see them all going over to the Red Sea and having that… Lambeau Leap? I don’t know, we’ll have to come up with something else for that,” said head coach Tim Johnson with laugh. Unofficially, we’re going with ‘Lando Leap.’
“Just seeing them enjoy it. We stand on the sidelines, we whiteboard with them, coach them up and tell them what to do but they’re the ones on the field, the passers, the catchers, the scorers. To see them get it done in this kind of an atmosphere against this kind of a team is amazing and to see them just really relish in it – it’s priceless.”
What made the moment so special for all the Warriors, but especially the seniors wasn’t just that they had earned a lifetime memory together, but that they had done so for the class before them who never got a season last year to work for something similar.
“It was amazing, just giving it back to all the seniors last year who missed their season like Cam Souza, Mason Brennan all of them,” said senior captain Max DiMella (2 goals, 3 assists), who agreed that he had just played in the best lacrosse environment he’s ever experienced. “Definitely. Big playoff game, one of the last games I could ever play in. We just wanted to leave it all out on the field.”
The Warriors did just that from start to finish and will now appear in their second sectional final over the last 15-plus years, as far back as the MIAA brackets go. Wakefield made it in 2017, an undefeated season coming to an end in a D2N final loss, 7-6 to Beverly.
The No. 5 Warriors travel to No. 2 Reading today at 3 p.m. The Rockets are coming off a 15-9 win over Melrose in the semifinals.
It’s nearly impossible to decide which play or Warrior to highlight during a game that featured six ties and three lead changes. Neither team ever had more than a two-goal lead.
The game was tied 3-3 after one quarter and Billerica went up 5-4 at the half. Each time Wakefield evened it up in the third, Billerica responded almost immediately, a pattern that would break the spirit of most teams, especially when the visitors extended their lead to 8-6 going into the fourth.
That wasn’t the case for the Warriors who punched back with a blistering 4-0 run, the Red Sea rising to high tide in the chaos as Wakefield went up 10-8 thanks to 4th quarter goals from senior Oliver Miller (3 goals, 2 assist), junior captain Jake Dubiel (3 goals), DiMella and senior Malcolm Burns.
Billerica once again had a response, scoring with 1:04 left and getting the ensuing faceoff before calling a timeout.
During that break, Johnson’s message to his defense was simple: lock in and trust your goalie.
“I told them, ‘we’re gonna play hard D, we’re not gonna get any penalties, just focus on footwork and getting a stick in their hands – don’t even worry about takeaways. Kaiden’s gonna make a big save.”
Billerica had their shot, a low rip close in from Johnson’s right side – a play and location that had plenty of success in the first half. The sophomore was ready for it this time, watching the shot into the netting of his stick with just seconds left.
“He got a great look at it, positionally he got to exactly where he needed to be,” said Johnson who gave plenty of credit to Wakefield’s goalie coach Ryan Chambers, the older brother of Brogan Chambers, a senior midfielder for the Warriors who played his role as a facilitator for the offense perfectly throughout the game. Ryan, the current starting goalie for Salve Regina and 2018 graduate of WMHS, worked with Johnson on those low shots at halftime. In the process, he helped his alma mater beat the same team that knocked his Warriors out in the quarterfinals of his senior year 7-4 in a defensive struggle.
“Ryan took Kaiden out there at halftime and helped him make adjustments to get better at that coming into the second half and it really payed off,” said coach Johnson.
Wakefield’s defense deserves plenty of credit, especially for their work in the 4th quarter. Senior long pole Matthew Petitto was all over the field for Wakefield from start to finish. He picked of Billerica passes in the biggest of moments, used his athleticism to clear and his playmaking to set up Warrior goals.
Those individual defensive efforts came from plenty of players like senior Tino Rossetti, junior Jon Guida, sophomore Ethan Margolis and junior Joey O’Brien whose gutsy shot block kept the Warriors in front 9-8 with four minutes to play.
The Warriors had to play from behind early on as Billerica took a 2-0 lead to start. Maxx Brennan (1 goal, 1 assist) got Wakefield on the board with a lefty rip off a pass from DiMella during a man up.
Dubiel tied it on an absolute cannon top shelf off a Brennan dish. Dubiel went back to the well on Wakefield’s next possession, dodging with a couple of one-handed swim moves before a rip that found the back of the cage for a 3-2 lead. Billerica scored man up with 42 seconds left in the quarter to tie it.
After the visitors went up 4-3 in the 2nd, Miller scored his first by picking off a pass by the Billerica goalie and finishing out front before turning to the Sea and pumping them up.
Billerica scored 17 seconds into a two minute locked in man up situation but the defense got the ball back thanks in part to a great stick by sophomore Brian Casey and the O burned the rest of the man down situation.
The best parts of this matchup were the battles for possession in the middle of the field, each team scratching and clawing their way to a North Final. Rosetti had a good, clean hit and ground ball to clear the zone but Billerica’s goalie had five saves in the quarter to keep his team up one at the break.
After a Margolis interception and clear and multiple saves from Johnson who finished with 11 on the day, the Warriors tied it in the third. Petitto made it happen with a pick before taking off coast-to-coast, weaving around defenders and hitting DiMella whose quick feed across to Miller made it 5-5. Billerica scored just 12 seconds later to reclaim the lead.
Wakefield’s defense continued to battle but Billerica had the momentum, leading captain DiMella to take matters into his own hands, dodging from behind the net and fighting through three defenders in front before a finish.
Once again, Billerica’s response was swift, scoring nine seconds later. They followed that up with a long shot that made it 8-6.
Miller somehow found a loose ball in front of traffic and scored with 7:37 left to make it 8-7 and turn the tide.
“Tino” and “Tito” battled to get the ball back for the Warriors and Guida cleared to set up the equalizer which came on a beautiful shot by Dubiel who wheeled around the left of the Billerica cage and somehow whipped in a shot from no angle.
After Rossetti got a piece of a shot, Petitto intercepted another pass and started a rush. He hit Burns who quickly moved it to Miller who found DiMella out front for a picture perfect play and goal to make it 9-8.
With all the momentum, Wakefield got a clutch goal that ended up being the winner with two minutes to go. Chambers picked up a GB in the offensive zone to keep a possession alive and DiMella later juked free on a jab step behind the net and found a wide open Burns up top for a goal. Rossetti’s stick check in the wing area and another shot block this time by Guida helped the Warriors stay in front before Johnson’s heroics made an incredible game official.
“Today was really a team win,” said Johnson. “Everybody had a lot of great individual efforts. It’s hard to pick one particular one when there was so many; that’s why you call it a team win.
“It’s overwhelming. It was a big time environment. It was huge, to have the stands as filled as they were, the people into it, the kids into it..it was just electric.
“It’s a huge confidence boost for us especially going into the final. We’ve seen (Reading) already, we know what to expect so we’re gonna gameplan just like we would any other game, get out there and do our job to the best of our abilities.”
The Rockets beat the Warriors 16-4 in the Middlesex League Tournament Championship. Although like that one, the game will be played in Reading again, it will be on a much bigger stage with a whole lot more on the line.
