When Lincoln-Sudbury reached the Div. 1 state championship two years ago after a lengthy drought, the Warriors ultimately psyched themselves out and suffered because of it. Last night, L-S treated its return trip to the title game like it was just another day in the Dual County League.

Nick Brindisi led the way with four goals and two assists and Lincoln-Sudbury produced a thorough, dominant performance across the board to run away from Duxbury for a 12-4 victory. The win marks the first state title for the Warriors since 1994.

“The mindset today was just Tuesday at 4 o’clock against a DCL team,” Brindisi explained. “That’s all we were thinking today. We weren’t thinking big game. We got here an hour before the game, we saw Duxbury was here two hours before the game. We just tried not to overthink it and it was a great day.”

It was a great day that started early and often as L-S (20-1) put the Dragons (19-4) in an early hole. Harlan Smart scored twice in the first quarter and Brindisi netted three in the first half as they raced out to a 7-2 lead.

Duxbury threatened to make a push in the third, getting back to back goals from harrison Piper and Matt Sharpe to cut the deficit to 8-4, but L-S put the hammer down as Connor McCarthy pumped in three goals in the second half to help put the game out of reach.

“We kept waiting for a little bit of momentum but we just ran into a better team tonight plain and simple. L-S did exactly hat they had to do to beat us and the better team won, I’m still extremely proud of our team and how hard they fought all season. It’s hard to get this game; it’s even harder to win it.”

“I’m just proud of the team effort,” L-S coach Brian Vona said. “ This means a lot to the community. I’m just proud of the kids. they really worked hard and they deserve it.

I think its great for the program but you know, we’ve been doing things well for a long time, we just never got on the final end of it. We’ve been doing things, I feel, the right way. The kids are respectful, they work hard and I’m just proud of how we played. it means a lot.”

[Source: Boston Herald]