Warrior host Red Raiders tonight in Div. 2 North semifinals

BRAEDAN LANGLOIS, a senior (#8), tries to dodge Malden Catholic defenders Brendan Maher (#10) and Jackson Hammersley (#20) as teammates Austin Collard (#4) and Henry Miller (#7) look on. The Warriors defeated Malden Catholic in the Div. 2 North quarterfinals on Saturday and are hoping for a semifinal win over rival Melrose tonight at Landrigan Field. (Keith Curtis Photo)

BRAEDAN LANGLOIS, a senior (#8), tries to dodge Malden Catholic defenders Brendan Maher (#10) and Jackson Hammersley (#20) as teammates Austin Collard (#4) and Henry Miller (#7) look on. The Warriors defeated Malden Catholic in the Div. 2 North quarterfinals on Saturday and are hoping for a semifinal win over rival Melrose tonight at Landrigan Field. (Keith Curtis Photo)

Published in the June 6, 2017 edition.

By JIM SOUTHMAYD

WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield Memorial High boys’ lacrosse team’s toughest game of the year was against rival Melrose as it needed overtime to prevail by an 11-10 score on Thursday, May 11 at Landrigan Field.

At the time, head coach Andrew Lavalle and his Warriors knew it was going to be a battle and it turned out to be. Lavalle felt at the same time, Wakefield could see Melrose again in the state tournament.

That’s exactly has happened as the two Middlesex League Freedom division opponents are scheduled to face each other in the rematch tonight at 5 p.m. in a Div. 2 North semifinal game at Landrigan Field.

Top-ranked Wakefield (19-0) blasted Malden Catholic in its quarterfinal game this past Saturday at Landrigan Field, while the fourth-seeded Red Raiders (12-7) edged M.L. Freedom rival Burlington by a 10-9 score in a quarterfinal game on Saturday at Fred Green Memorial Field.

After the first meeting Lavalle said, “It was a wild win. We knew this was going to be a tough one. It was going to be a fight and we were prepared. I thought we made a lot of mistakes, but we were still able to pull it out.”

On May 11, senior PJ Iannuzzi netted the game-winner with 2:55 left of the four minute overtime session as he fired in a quick shot after receiving a pass from in back of the net by senior Braedan Langlois.

“We made some mental mistakes which we need to clean up,” said Lavalle said after the Senior Night win. “Melrose is a good team and it was good to face a team that tested our merit. It’s nice to win the battle, but the war isn’t over yet. We’ll probably see them again in the state tournament.”

Wakefield scored three quick goals, but the Red Raiders got two back to cut the lead to 3-2 after the first quarter. Melrose edged Wakefield in the second quarter, 3-2, as the score was tied at 5-5 at halftime. The Warriors opened up a 9-7 lead after three, but Melrose came back with three goals in the final five and half minutes of regulation to tie the game at 10-10.

Melrose is led by senior captains Mike Pedrini in the midfield and Corbin White at attack. The two junior captains are Rosie Cameron (defense) and Mike Calvert (midfield).

The two other seniors on the Red Raider roster include Luke Karelis (defense) and Alec Catalini (midfield).

Melrose has seven more juniors on the roster, its biggest class. The seven juniors included David Soto (midfield), Gabriel Nyland (attack), Anthony Ventura (attack), Jack Wells (attack), Louis Izzi, Jr. (defense), William Pzegeo (defense), Kyle Farris (attack), and Darwin Anderson.

There are three sophomores and two freshmen on the Red Raider roster as well. The three sophomores are Cody Porcello (defense), Matthew Rocha (goalie), and Stephen Getsick (goalie). The two ninth graders are Chris Cusolito (midfield) and Andrew Calvert (midfield).

Rocha was the goalie in the first game between Melrose and Wakefield.

Although the Red Raiders tied the game, junior goalie Ryan Chambers made some big saves in the final seven minutes for the Warriors otherwise there might never have been an overtime session.

After Melrose tied the game at 10-10, Wakefield gained possession of the ball in the final seconds of the fourth quarter and had possession of the ball in the overtime session which proved to be a big key in it setting up the game-winner by Iannuzzi.

The winner of tonight’s semifinal game will meet the winner of the other semifinal tonight between Beverly and Winchester at 5 p.m. at Knowlton Stadium in Winchester. The date, times, and venue of the Div. 2 North final has yet to be announced.

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Austin Collard, a senior, was selected as a First Team All-American by the EMCLA.