SUDBURY >> When Rex Friedholm awoke Saturday morning, he was delighted to see snow on the ground.

A wintery mix of rain, sleet, and snow pushed back the start time an hour, but even Mother Nature could not stop Friedholm and his boys lacrosse teammates as Lincoln-Sudbury dominated Needham, 18-3, on a field shoveled by coaches, parents and players.

“We were all texting each other when we woke up, and we were all excited,” said Friedholm, who scored seven times while putting together an eight-point performance. “We played Needham during the season last year in a monsoon, so no matter the conditions, we knew we needed to play as a team and be our best.”

Needham eliminated L-S last year in the MIAA Division 1 quarterfinals, a fact not forgotten by Friedholm and his teammates.

“We all remembered last year’s loss,” said Friedholm. “Our goal was to win every ground ball. That’s contagious — get one for your teammate, they’ll get one for you. That’s what we did, and that’s what won this game for us.”

L-S (5-1) commanded every facet of the game. Dante Venuto and Will van der Voorn were an exceptional one-two punch for the Warriors, controlling the faceoff battle all game. And there was a collective effort on defense, which swarmed Needham (4-2) and continually stripped the ball in the open field.

“We played with a frenetic pace — hair on fire, which is always the goal for us,” said L-S coach Brian Vona. “That’s a great program at Needham, their coaches do a great job, and they took it to us last year. Our guys didn’t forget that. They went out, competed, and made the plays.”

Earlier in the week, L-S lost on the road against defending Division 1 champion St. John’s Prep, a game defined by the Prep’s ability to secure ground balls.

“We lost badly against the Prep because of ground balls — that’s coaching, and that’s on me,” said Vona. “Our kids were incredible in this game, and we took pride in competing for every ground ball.”

Playing with poise, L-S limited turnovers — and the hosts were phenomenal at finding the back of the net. L-S scored two goals in the first two and a half minutes, but its lead was cut in half when Needham’s Michael Roach went top shelf to make it a one-goal game. L-S then scored seven unanswered goals to end the quarter, extending the lead to 14-1 before Needham got back on the board. By the half, it was 16-3 in favor of L-S.

A pair of goals in the second half completed the onslaught to make it an 18-3 final. Brady Malo was superb for L-S, scoring five times in a seven-point showing. There was also strong play in net from the goalie tandem of Jesse Rich and Rex Garozzo, who produced nine combined saves.

“Lincoln-Sudbury is an elite program, and that’s why we play them,” said Needham coach Dave Wainwright. “Difficult games like this are needed to learn and grow, and we struggled here. They could have doubled the score against us. Kudos to their coaches and players.

“This was a whooping. We have to go home, reflect, and work on the details so we can learn and grow from it.”

Next up for L-S is another early season test at home against Xaverian. After that, they’ll pack their bags and travel to New York for a tilt against highly touted West Genesee, then continue their road trip in Washington state during April vacation to play both the defending prep and public champs.

“We’re playing the best,” said Vona. “Our kids enjoy the fight.”