Milford Lacrosse Prepares for Second Ever Playoff Appearance

Friday, May 25, 2012

Joe Parello, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Junior midfielder Kyle Kirby

The lacrosse team at Milford High School is heading to the playoffs, and hopes to build off its first ever appearance last season.

“Last season, our goal was to make the playoffs,” coach Dave Dague said. “And we actually clinched quite early. Then we lost a few in a row down the stretch, and by the time we got to the playoffs, I think we forgot we actually had to play a game.”

The Hawks lost four of their last five heading into the playoffs last year before falling to Grafton 13-9 in the tournament. Dague thinks his team has learned a great deal from last year, and hopes they will use that experience to start games faster this postseason.

“We went into that game last year not really knowing what to expect,” Dague said. “We came out and fell in a four to nothing hole, then we ended up losing the game by four. I’m not saying that we would have necessarily won the game, because Grafton is a great team, but those first few minutes made it hard for us.”

This year, the Hawks had a far tougher time clinching, but played a very difficult schedule. A mid-season four-game losing streak forced Milford to up its game at the end of the year, and the now experienced Hawks responded with a four-game winning streak to clinch a playoff spot.

“We definitely have a lot more momentum this year,” junior midfielder Mike Titlebaum said. “We had to work a lot harder and longer to make it this year, and I think that will help us in the playoffs.”

Another thing that will help the Hawks in the playoffs is the solid play of junior goalie Matt McIntire. Dague points to the talented junior’s play as a reason for optimism heading into the playoffs.

“We have a hard time imposing our will on teams, but what we do have is a great goalie,” Dague said. “We’re looking for him to get hot and play well. In the playoffs, if you have a hot goalie, you can go pretty far.”

During Milford’s late-season winning streak, McIntire never allowed a team to score more than 10 goals, and his 7.39 goals against average has helped Milford find consistency at the end of the regular season.

The Hawks will find out today who they will face, but, whoever it is, they will hope to start things a little better than last year.

“We had 10 sophomores last year, and now we’re all back as juniors,” Titlebaum said. “Having that experience helps. (In the playoffs) everything changes. Losing a playoff game is something you never want to experience again. You’re so close, but so far away at the same time.”