Marshfield topples top-seeded Duxbury in a dramatic finish in their Division 2 semifinal - The Boston Globe (2024)

Marshfield’s players stormed the field to celebrate a stunning, 10-9, Division 2 semifinal triumph Tuesday at Bridgewater-Raynham High.

“I had trust in the boys behind me,” said Marshfield senior John Giberti. “They got it done.”

When the No. 4 Rams (19-3) defeated Duxbury by one goal to open the season, many on the outside assumed that feat couldn’t be replicated if they met again in the postseason.

The No. 1 Dragons (21-2) ripped off 21 straight wins, but once again, Marshfield found a way in thrilling fashion.

“It means it wasn’t a fluke,” Marshfield coach Kevin Orcutt said. “That’s what it’s been called all season. These boys have been fighting and fighting. It hasn’t been perfect. No one’s given them any credit.”

Giberti and Graham Schofield paced the Rams with three goals each. Sam Wien led the Dragons with four, and Colin Hulett and Will Savery added two apiece.

Duxbury led, 2-1, through one, 6-2 late in the second, and 6-3 at halftime. The Rams used a strong third quarter to tie it at 7 heading to the fourth, then claimed a 10-7 edge on a goal from Giberti with 4:32 remaining.

The Dragons stormed back, as Savery sliced it to 10-8 with 1:29 left and Wien trimmed it to 10-9 with 18 seconds remaining.

Stalwart sophom*ore Sam O’Brien won yet another face-off for the Rams, but Marshfield turned it over. Duxbury had one last gasp, but it ran out of time — barely.

“We knew deep down,” Schofield said. “It’s a rivalry. We came today and we really wanted it. We wanted it more than them.”

Division 1 State

St. John’s Prep 6, BC High 4 — With their offense stymied by a hot goalie, the St. John’s Prep Eagles leaned on their bread and butter to advance to a fourth straight Division 1 state final.

Prep’s standout poles caused several turnovers and sophom*ore Mattheus DuPlessis made a trio of clutch saves to preserve a semifinal win over rival BC High at Burlington High, advancing the three-time defending state champions to Friday’s state final (TBA).

“Against great goalies, you need to consistently shoot well,” said Prep coach John Pynchon, tipping his figurative cap to BC High’s Charlie McCullough, who made 16 saves in defeat. “Right now, I’m processing how many scoring opportunities he stopped. He was absolutely outstanding and that’s how he’s been all year.”

In a rematch of the past three D1 state finals, No. 1 Prep (20-2) dominated possession early as Jack Doherty started 7-for-8 at the faceoff-X. With the defense forcing seven turnovers, Prep coasted to a 4-2 halftime lead.

The faceoff battle was even in the second half, and No. 4 BC High (14-8) crept back into it when Tripp Schuhwerk broke a 26-minute scoreless drought with a goal late in the third quarter. Early in the fourth, Marshall Rice (1 goal, 1 assist) found Nick Emsing (2 goals), cutting the Prep lead to 5-4.

McCullough and BC High’s defense denied several scoring opportunities, even killing a two-man penalty late in the fourth quarter. But their late efforts to tie the game were denied by DuPlessis, and Prep senior captain Jake Vana (3 goals) added an insurance score with 1:07 remaining to seal it.

“The defense played outstanding,” Pynchon said. “It was a hard-fought game against a team we’ve played [at least] three times each of the last four years. That was what we expected and that’s what we got. So we’re just excited we’ll get another chance to practice tomorrow.”

Division 3 State

Medfield 19, Nauset 5 — All season, Medfield has worked to refine its offense in hopes of playing its best when the stakes were the highest.

Led by sophom*ore Braedon Sutton (6 goals) and senior Tim Collins (4 goals, 3 assists), the top-seeded Warriors demonstrated just how relentless and high-powered theiroffense can be in a dominant semifinal victory over fifth-seeded Nauset at Norwell High.

Medfield (19-3) will face the Scituate-Falmouth winner in the state championship Friday (location/time TBA). It’ll be the program’s first state finals appearance since the 2022 squad suffered an 11-3 loss to Norwell. Last year ended with a 16-4 loss to Norwell in the semifinals.

“We’re playing our best lacrosse right now,” Collins said. “The defense was great today in transition and that really helped us. When we’re in transition and we’re moving the ball quick, there’s no one that can really stop us. It felt great today, it was all smooth.”

Nauset (12-10) finished its historic season with the program’s first semifinals appearance.

Senior Joe Bartolotta (3 goals, 4 assists) and junior Ben Lusby (3 goals) helped anchor Medfield’s offense, while senior Matt George (2 goals) and junior Ian Reddy (1 goal) also found the back of the net.

Nauset senior Colby Smith netted two goals, and his classmates Ryder Holm, Riley Meehan and Liam Johnston tallied one apiece.

“They don’t make mistakes,” Nauset coach Jesse Peno said of Medfield. “They are super well-coached and they’ve seen everything that you can throw at them. It’s lax IQ and the ball just moves so fast. Any mistake you make, they pounce on it.”

Division 4 State

Nantucket 9, Swampscott 3 — The top-seeded Whalers (20-1) have one more bus trip to make after dispatching No. 13 Swampscott in a semifinal win at Sargent Mullin Field in Weymouth.

After winning their first three playoff games by an average of 15 goals, the Whalers (20-1) could also grind out games as well. Nantucket only conceded one goal through the first three quarters and just one goal all game at even strength.

Colton Chambers notched a hat trick for the victors, and Arann Hanlon and Ryan Davis each scored twice.

The Whalers will face either No. 2 Norwell or No. 3 Sandwich in the final on Friday (date, time, site TBD).

Swampscott (20-2), which scored upsets of Lynnfield and Cohasset, got 16 saves from Tim Sheehan.

Globe correspondents Trevor Hass reported from Bridgewater-Raynham, Mike Abelson from Assabet, Brad Joyal from Norwell, Keith Pearson from Weymouth, and Nate Weitzer from Burlington.

Trevor Hass can be reached at trevor.hass@globe.com.