Wellesley junior captain Charlie Jennings drew his team within two at the 4:33 mark of the fourth quarter, and Alex Walkingshaw made it a one-goal game with 10.4 seconds on the clock, but time expired before either team could control the ensuing faceoff, and No. 3 Medfield withstood the No. 11 Raiders' final barrage, eliminating the local laxers, 9-8, in Tuesday's East Division 2 quarterfinal at Medfield High.

For Wellesley's seniors, the defeat marked the fourth straight time Medfield has eliminated them from tournament play. In 2007, as freshmen, they lost to the Warriors, 16-8, in an East semifinal; Medfield went on to beat West champion Longmeadow for the Division 2 state title that season. In 2008, it was a 12-2 bouncer in an East quarter, and last year a 12-3 exit cue in the first round.

The Raiders did win the teams' first tourney meeting, a 7-6 overtime nail-gnawer in the 2006 East final. Wellesley captured the Division 2 crown in its third straight championship game appearance that spring, Medfield's first at the D-2 level, after winning back-to-back Division 3 titles.

"It's a great rivalry," Wellesley head coach Rocky Batty said. "They've knocked us out the last few years; we knocked them out before that. It's two really good programs."

The familiar competitors broke at halftime tied, 5-5, though an observer oblivious to the scoreboard would no doubt have called the first 24 minutes for the Warriors. They outshot the Raiders, 18-12, and won 15 of 21 ground balls.

After Walkingshaw gave Wellesley a 1-0 lead on a nasty spin move just outside the eight-meter arc, Medfield scored four of the next five goals. The first two, by Conor Roddy and Ed Foster, were direct results of ground-ball wins.

But to claim the Warriors outworked Wellesley would be unfair. The Raiders' effort was ceaseless, evidenced by their three goals in the final 15 seconds of quarters.

With time evaporating in the first, Oliver Saffery, unable to create space 15 meters from the net, relayed to Peter Crane, just behind the right post, then took an almost instantaneous return pass and skipped the sphere past Medfield keeper Sam Aronson with 14.3 seconds left.

Saffery followed up that clutch tally with another to close the first half, this one a long-distance rip as he swept right to left across the goalmouth with just 2.8 ticks on the clock.

Wellesley actually nudged ahead early in the third quarter, on a Sam Lawrence goal, but 35 seconds later, Medfield's Roddy picked off a pass, as the Raiders attempted to clear their defensive zone, and found Matt Bletzer on the doorstep for a virtual slam dunk.

Then Foster went on a three-goal spree to give the Warriors a 9-6 advantage that Wellesley could not overcome.

On the first--and flashiest--Foster cradled the ball outside the 12-meter fan then charged Wellesley goalkeeper Connor Darcey's right side, bid terra firma goodbye and unloaded a net-rippler, completing a barrel roll as he hit the turf. The senior midfielder returned to his feet, faced the crowd of several hundred at MHS, and bowed.

Foster scored again with 5.3 seconds left in the period, prairie-dogging from behind the left side of the goal, and yet again just 33 seconds into the fourth, on a one-timer from the fan.

The Warriors advanced to an East semifinal, where they will visit No. 2 Concord Carlisle.

"Preseason, fellas, from where we started, let's be honest: We were a 5-6 team at one point," Batty told his charges during a postgame conference. "Remember those days? You just played your hearts out and didn't quit in a game where we had trouble executing all day. I'm proud of you."