THE WARRIORS honored multiple Veterans on April 26 including, from left to right, Danny McNeill, father of junior Liam McNeill, Dan Sullivan, sponsor and owner of Lacrosse Loft, Robert DeAngelis, uncle of senior captain Dom DeAngelis and Andrew Doherty, cousin of senior captain Kaiden Johnson. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield High boys’ lacrosse team honored local Veterans and active service members in their first Salute to Service game held at Colonel James Landrigan Field on April 26.
The pregame ceremony included individual recognition of multiple service members with connections to the team, including Danny McNeill, father of junior Liam McNeill, Dan Sullivan, sponsor and owner of Lacrosse Loft, Robert DeAngelis, uncle of senior captain Dom DeAngelis and Andrew Doherty, cousin of senior captain Kaiden Johnson.
Norman O. Johnson, a United States Marine Corps Korean War veteran and father of head coach Tim Johnson and grandfather of Kaiden, walked to midfield with his granddaughters Colbie and Teaghan Johnson for a ceremonial coin toss.
Each branch of the military was honored during the playing of the United States Armed Forces Medley and the National Anthem was performed with representatives from the Army and Wakefield Police Color Guards at midfield.
The game, with Wakefield donning alternate camouflage jerseys with American Flag jersey numbers and the words, “United We Stand,” on the back, was a big one for the Warriors as they took on Middlesex League Freedom foe Wilmington. In the end, Wakefield put together a complete game for a convincing 14-4 win, improving to 4-5 on the season.
“It was a great environment,” said coach Tim Johnson. “The boys were very excited all season building up to it. They knew we had special alternate jerseys for them to wear so that got them pretty psyched up and we knew Wilmington would be a test so we got a pretty good scout on them to prepare because it was a big Freedom Division game.”
Wakefield had a slow start with Kaiden Johnson forced to make a couple of his 8 saves early on and it was the Wildcats who struck first after a turnover in the defensive zone.
Freshman Brady Zdanowicz (2 goals) evened it up off a pass from freshman Matt Keefe (3 assists) and although it took to the final minute of the opening quarter, Wakefield eventually gained the lead for good when senior captain Bobby DeFeo (3 goals) stepped into a laser that found the top shelf from about 20 yards out.
The second quarter featured even play with steady defense from Johnson and players like senior captain Zach Sartori (1 goal) who is enlisted in the United States Army, McNeill, sophomore Frankie Sullivan and freshmen JP Casey, Cam Sartori and Tommy DeFeo.
It took until about four minutes left for the Warriors to add to their lead when freshman Seamus Cable scored his first of a team-high four goals on a lefty finish to make it 3-1.
That opened the floodgates for Wakefield as DeFeo’s second came on a quick finish in front to make it 4-1. Cam Sartori made a great play to break the ball free from a midfielder which led to DeFeo’s third, a high shot that the goalie got a piece off but trickled in for a 5-1 advantage.
Casey had the defensive highlight of the half challenging a dodger 1-on-1 and getting the ball free before scooping it up and flying the other way. Johnson made a save at the buzzer, muscling up and fighting off a high shot to keep the lead at four goals at halftime.
“We came out a little slow and sloppy and I think that was mostly due to the hype of the night overall but once they settled down they really pulled things together,” said coach Johnson.
That was especially true in the third quarter in which the Warriors outscored the Wildcats 5-1 to pull away for a 10-2 lead after three. Cable had three goals in the third and Wakefield got single tallies from Zdanowicz and freshman Brady Walsh (1 goal, 2 assists). Keefe made things happen with two assists in the quarter and the Warriors dominated at the faceoff X to gain complete control of this one.
Zach Sartori, sophomore Kyle Claire (1 goal, 1 assist) and freshmen Luke Heikkinen and Gabe Guida added goals in the fourth to cap off an impressive day for the home team.
“The entire coaching staff was pretty excited to see this young group come together both on offense and defense and we gained some valuable experience against a Wilmington team with a lot of potential,” said Johnson. “Everyone played and those opportunities will help us down the road.”
Wakefield fell to 4-6 with a 13-7 road loss to King Philip the next day on April 27.
Wakefield was ranked 25th in the latest Div. 2 power rankings.
Tonight, the Warriors travel to Belmont (5-4, 27th in D1) at 5:45 p.m. and they host Winchester (8-2, 14th in D1) on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
