Through lots and lots of hard work and desire, the Londonderry High School girls’ varsity lacrosse squad has become one of the most successful and feared in the Granite State.
And the major successes of former Lady Lancer stars like Alexa Bedell, Noelle Lambert, and Caitlin Murphy in women’s collegiate lax this spring bear testament to the kind of talent veteran coach Bob Slater’s LHS program continues to produce year after year.
Bedell had an astounding sophomore season for the Southern New Hampshire University women this spring, and as a result of her stellar play the LHS grad received All-Conference, All-America, and All-Region honors.
The local woman, who played both lacrosse and soccer at Londonderry High, racked up 80 points on 50 goals and 30 assists in starting all 18 games for the SNHU crew.
She ended the 2016 season with a point in 15 straight contests, amassing 42 goals and 25 assists for 67 points during that white-hot stretch. The skilled midfielder closed out the regular season ranking fourth in the New England-10 Conference in assists and fifth in points.
Bedell helped the Penmen finish 12-6 overall and earn the fifth seed in the Northeast-10 championship tournament after going 8-5 in league play. That marked the first NE-10 Championship berth for the Penmen since 2011, while the 12 wins were just one shy of the program record of 13 victories from the 2009 season.
In the wake of the campaign, Bedell found out that she’d been named an All-New England-10 Conference First-Team selection and also – along with two teammates – to the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) North All-Region Second Team.
After that exciting announcement, more great news arrived when the LHS grad and one of those teammates were named IWLCA All-America Second Team selections.
The local – who is majoring in economics and finance at the Manchester school – worked her way into a far more prominent role with the SNHU squad this spring after a more modest freshman campaign in 2015 in which she tallied 11 total points in 14 matches.
Another former Lady Lancer sports standout who played with Bedell on the 2016 SNHU lax squad was Jenna Conroy, a freshman defender who appeared in 13 matches.
Noelle Lambert, a teammate of both Bedell and Conroy on multiple sports teams at LHS prior to her graduation in the spring of 2015, was a stalwart for the fledgling University of Massachusetts at Lowell women’s lacrosse team this spring.
The second-year team only managed one victory during the 2016 campaign, but Lambert exhibited powerfully.
The LHS graduate was one of three members of the UMass-Lowell women’s lax team to take home America East All-Conference honors at the end of the season. Freshman attack Lambert and a teammate were named to the All-Rookie Team.
Lambert, who was one of six players to start all 17 games for her squad this spring, finished her first collegiate campaign tied for first on the team with 15 goals and second in both points (21) and assists (6).
The ex-Lady Lancer’s four multi-goal games ranked first on the squad, and her six multi-point games tied a team high. Lambert made an immediate impact on the field, setting a program record for points in a single contest with five in her second game as a Lady River Hawk, recording four scores and one helper at Manhattan College.
The talented attack finished the 2016 season tallying three free-position goals, 11 ground balls, nine caused turnovers, and seven draw controls, in addition to earning one America East Rookie-of-the-Week nod.
“Noelle had a really great showing this season, and has demonstrated her scoring ability and competitive drive at the Division I level,” said Lowell head coach Carissa Medeiros. “We are proud that she was recognized as a top rookie in our conference, and are looking forward to three more years with her helping to develop our offense.”
Caitlin Murphy, a 2012 graduate of LHS and the Lady Lancers’ powerful girls’ lax and soccer programs, capped off her superb collegiate lacrosse career with great work for the Roger Williams University lax squad in Bristol, R.I., this spring.
The former Lady Lancer stalwart – who played on title-winning LHS squads in both 2010 and 2011 – started all 19 of her college team’s games and potted 16 goals while dishing out seven assists for 23 total points from her midfield spot.
The 2016 RWU team had a record season, going 15-4, winning the Commonwealth Coast Conference championship, and advancing to the NCAA tournament for the first time.
Murphy was a team captain during both her junior and senior seasons at RWU, and during her four-year lax career there she played in all 72 games, starting all but seven.
“The day of her NCAA game in Gettysburg, Pa., was also the day of commencement at RWU,” said her proud dad, Sean Murphy. ” She was the only senior on her team and missed her commencement. She brought her cap and gown, and the post-game tailgate became her own commencement ceremony with family, friends, teammates, and coaches.”
The ex-Lady Lancer was twice named to a Commonwealth Coast Conference All-Conference Team, once as a defender and once as a midfielder.