Goals are Scarce, But LHS Girls’ Soccer Starts Out 4-0

The Londonderry High girls’ soccer squad has left a few too many solid scoring chances unused early in the 2015 season, but when you compile a 4-0 record who’s going to complain?

Coach Derek Dane’s Lady Lancers bagged tight, one-goal wins over Bishop Guertin and Concord last week to drive their record up to that unblemished and quite impressive 4-0 level.

After starting its new season with a lopsided, 5-1 walloping of Spaulding a few weeks ago, the LHS contingent scored a total of just four goals in its next three wins.

The LHS crew bumped its season record up to 3-0 with a hard-fought, 1-0 blanking of the Bishop Guertin Lady Cardinals in sizzling heat in Nashua last Wednesday, Sept. 9.

The only goal of the match was netted four minutes into the second half when June Cranmer was set up by McKenzie Donovan.

Unbeaten Londonderry smacked eight shots on the Guertin net while the Lady Cards put half that number on LHS goalie Jackie Luckhardt, who stifled all of them in the shutout effort.

“It was challenging to play in the heat, and BG was playing their second game in two days, having played to a 0-0 overtime draw with Exeter the day before,” said LHS coach Dane. “We wanted to play up-tempo early and try to force the issue. Tireless work from our midfield and attackers created a few chances early. Their keeper made some huge saves from point-blank range. Early in the second half we capitalized on a chance that was created by a passing pattern that we work on in training. We defended well and counter-attacked in the last 15 minutes, and we should have scored more but their keeper came up big again.”

The Londonderry bunch was at home on its own pitch for its 2-1 nipping of the now 2-2 Concord High Crimson Tide two days later.

All of the scoring was done in the first half, with coach Dane’s charges receiving goals from Laurel Goding on a penalty kick 19 minutes in and Gretchen McGrath on an assist from Cranmer just a minute later.

Concord trimmed its deficit back to one goal a mere four minutes later, but there would be no other shots rapped home the rest of the way.

The visitors thumped some 15 shots at the LHS cage in the match, with Lady Lancers’ keeper Luckhardt turning a highly impressive 14 of them aside. Her teammates managed to put eight shots on Tide goalie Stephanie Oberg in bagging the victory.