WATERTOWN – In the playoffs, scoring can be at a premium. That wasn’t the case for Medfield on Wednesday evening.
Senior Matt Dickson and freshman Max Abramson each had two goals while Luke Dickson had three assists as the Warriors knocked off Dracut/Tyngsboro 7-3 to advance to the semifinals of the MIAA Division 3 boys hockey state tournament.
“They’re a hard-working group,” Warriors head coach Jon Jepson said. “We faced some adversity this year, lost three kids to season-ending injuries, so someone else had to step up. Its about resilience for these guys and playing for each other.”
The Warriors piled on three goals in the opening period to set the tone. The first came from Owen Mix after a lengthy offensive possession. A few minutes later, Jack Blake fired home a shot in the slot, and then Dickson sniped a one-timer just before the period ended.
The Middies responded well in the second period, carrying play at the start before Jake Haubner found some open space and deked out Louie Slesar to cut the deficit to two.
This wouldn’t last very long, however, as Dickson netted his second of the night about 20 seconds later to re-establish the three-goal lead.
“We knew that once they came back, we had to step it up a bit,” Dickson said. “That next shift is the most important shift, so we came out hard, they made a beautiful pass and I was wide open in the back door. They made my job really easy and it was electric to score right away.”
Medfield then made it 5-1 shortly after via a tip-in from freshman Avery Stein.
Dracut/Tyngsboro was not ready to quit, as Brenden Modeski made it 5-2 early in the third. However, the Warriors drew a penalty right after and Abramson capitalized on the ensuing power play, with Luke and Matt Dickson both picking up assists.
“All seven of our goals were passing goals, not one was a solo goal,” Luke Dickson said. “I think that says a lot about the team that we are, we’re not selfish at all.
Ben Haubner then cut the deficit to 6-3 before Abramson gave the game it’ final score with an empty-net goal.
Medfield will face the winner of Nauset/Scituate, which is set to be played Thursday evening. If Nauset advances, it will be a rematch of the 2025 Div. 3 state title game, which Nauset won 4-1.
Regardless of the opponent, Jepson said his team is motivated to continue its run.
“It’s been a special group all year,” Jepson said. “I didn’t really know what we had, we lost 13 kids from last year’s team, so we knew it was going to be different, but the returning guys set the message right away about how special it was to play at the Garden. We’re not there yet, got another one to go.”
