MEDFORD -- The coach likens his team's success to a trip toDisney World. The captain says it is a matter of adhering to thesports cliche of 'taking them one at a time.'
Whatever the reasons, the Medford High School hockey team hasclinched at least a spot in the state tournament by winning itsfirst12 games. Not bad for a team with 11 sophomores.
'At the beginning we thought we'd be pretty good,' said coachCharlie Driscoll. 'But we thought Arlington, Everett and Walthamwould be the big clubs.'
Most teams will tell you it's better to be underrated thanoverrated and Medford is no exception.
'No one expected this,' said captain Mike Shea, the league'sfourth-leading scorer with 15 goals and 17 assists through 12 games.'We lost some big guns {to graduation} but we all pulled togetherthis year. A lot of kids go together over the summer and startedrunning and skating, which was new. And the seniors are all leaders.I'm the captain of the team but all the seniors act like captains.'
Medford ranked third in the Globe's Division 1 coaches poll thatcame out Jan. 22, behind traditional hockey powerhouses CatholicMemorial (10-0-2) and St. John's Prep (7-1-3). The Mustangs sit atopthe Greater Boston League with an 8-0-0 mark and have three of theleague's top leading scorers in senior Ken Staskywicz (10-25-35),Shea and sophomore Shawn Bates (9-20-29).
The clinching victory was a win over Somerville last Sundaynight,3-1, during which the Mustangs scored three quick goals in a span of1:43 with less than five minutes to go in the game.
'We didn't play well,' said Driscoll, 'and they played extremelywell but I think it says something that we didn't panic.'
'A lot of us came in thinking we were going to win,' said Shea.'So we came in a little sluggish. The first two periods were allSomerville but the third was all Medford.'
It was the type of game that can put a blemish on an otherwiseperfect mark, but the complacency trap is something Driscoll andhisteam are trying to avoid.
'It's tough to be on top,' lamented Driscoll with a laugh, whosaid in 20 years of coaching (four at Medford) this is the firsttimehe's gone 12-0.
'We have to tell each other to take it one at a time,' said Shea.'We've told each other not to relax. Right now we've made thetournament and that was our goal but we want the GBL {title}.'
Driscoll said one of the byproducts of success has been that hisplayers have had to adjust their attitudes to deal with prosperity.
'During our last two years, we used to look forward to beatingEverett and Arlington because it would make our season,' saidDriscoll. But now we've had to tell the kids that other teams arelooking at us in the same way.'
In addition to the impressive scoring threats, the best-keptsecret around is junior goalie David DiNatale, who has allowed averystingy 14 goals in 12 games.
'We've gotten great goaltending,' said Shea. 'No one really knowsabout him but they're finding out. He's a leader and he takescontrolout there.'
Shea said there aren't many ways his team can improve with theexception of maybe spreading the points around.
'Our first line has done a lot of the scoring,' said Shea. 'But Iknow the second and third lines can score too.'
'In the beginning of the season, we were getting scoring fromeverybody,' added Driscoll. 'The last two games, against Waltham andSomerville, most of the production has come from Shea's line. We'dlike to get a more even performance {from the other forwards}. We'retrying to get the {other lines'} confidence up to a better levelbecause to be competitive we need everybody to play well. These kidsare so great and they want to win so badly.'
And the winning formula seems to be what high school sports,hockey included, are supposed to be all about -- having fun. Justlike Disney World.
