Foxborough Lacrosse Wins Big Over Milford

The MIAA tournament won’t begin until the end of May, but against a talented and well-respected Milford High School team, Foxborough High School’s girls lacrosse squad played against a potential foe that they certainly could meet in the postseason.

Although, while the playoffs aren’t on the players or coaches minds just yet, the Warriors appeared rather composed and focused Friday, as they tallied seven second half goals to beat the Hawks, 15-11. 

“We just knew being down two going into the half, we had to come out strong, so we did. We held them to one goal, which is awesome. Defense was huge for us today, they had more than one shot on net and they only had goal,” said Foxborough head coach Jess Cercone.

Indeed, the Hawks had more than one shot throughout the contest, as they finished the game with 26 shots that were aimed at Foxborough’s goaltender Meghan Fay and 10 of them happened to count as goals. Although, Cercone was proud of Fay’s efforts, especially during the first half, as both squads combined for 18 points in 25 minutes.

“As a goalie it’s really hard to keep your head [in] the whole game. Not worry about the goals, not worry about that, just put it behind you and Meghan Fay did an awesome job today,” said Cercone.

The game began with Milford’s Samantha Salamone scoring her first of four goals and after her quick strike, the fireworks began, as both the Hawks and Warriors traded goals.

Foxborough registered eight goals in the first half, as Abby Tepper, Hannah Walsh, Katie Notarangelo, Allie Peter and Genne Rogan helped keep the Warriors in contention.

“This is the fifth time we’ve played them. We played them twice a year the last two years, so we know that they’re explosive and we knew that they could score in bunches,” said Milford head coach Jason Gelmini.

Milford relied heavily on Salamone throughout the first half, who clearly according to Gelmini sparked their offensive attack.

“She’s huge. All of our midfielders play great. She’s really the spark for our team. She has been able to control the offense a lot and get her shots open [and] I think towards the end her legs kind of gave out on her, but she definitely played a great game,” said Gelmini.

Entering the second half, Foxborough improved upon their first half play, as they practically shut out Milford, but also, watched yet again, Walsh, Notarangelo, Rogan, Peter and Tepper score.  

“We’re more of a first half team and [usually] struggle in the second half,” Cercone said.

“I knew that they came out flat-footed, they were not here to play and it finally it them. They came out the way that they’ve been playing lacrosse and that they’ll continue to play,” said Cercone

The Hawks only score in the second half came off the stick of Valene Ferrante, who happened to record three goals against the Warriors.  

“I just think we kind of lost our legs, we don’t have the subs that we normally do today. [Foxborough] really picked it up, they were a lot more aggressive in the second half I think,” said Gelmini

“Second half, Foxborough did a great job of controlling the ground balls and that really put a halt to our offense.”

While the win was incredibly exciting for Foxborough, it also marked the first time this season that the team has won two back-to-back games. However, whether Cercone wants to celebrate that achievement is a question for another day, but certainly she knows that next week her team will face two competitive league foes that will certainly challenge them.

“We have Mansfield [twice] and Franklin next week, so those are all tough teams. We need to keep it going, we need to make [the] tournament, it’s our goal again,” said Cercone.

Cercone indeed wants her team to win, so if they are able to hang with both Franklin and Mansfield, consider it a right step toward thinking about the MIAA tournament.