Although the 2014 Londonderry High girls’ varsity soccer team’s fine campaign ended with wind-blown frustrations in a quarterfinal-round tournament loss to arch-rivals Pinkerton Academy, nobody can question that veteran coach Derek Dane was able to put superb talent out on the pitch match after match this fall.
Some of that talent received its due recently with the announcements of all-state and all-star honors.
Senior forward and scoring machine Emily Crocetti maintained her high status in the minds of the state’s soccer coaches by claiming First-Team All-State honors. And Lady Lancers’ standout junior goalie Jackie Luckhardt – a multi-sport star at LHS – notched Honorable Mentional All-State recognition for her excellent play between the pipes for Dane’s squad.
Crocetti and her fellow 12th grade soccer standout Kassie Moore were also picked to play in the First Division I Senior All-Star Soccer Match at Exeter High School this past Sunday, Nov. 16. The teammates had to play on opposite sides.
Crocetti was picked to play on the seniors’ White Team – coached by Steve Gundrum of Pinkerton and Megan Young of Exeter High – against veteran midfielder Moore’s Red Team, which was led into action by Bedford High coach Michelle Winning and Pat Mulcahy of Bishop Guertin in Nashua.
Former Londonderry High soccer standout and present Pinkerton boys’ soccer coach Kerry Boles and some of his fellow Division I coaches began the senior all-star games last autumn with a boys’ contest. The girls’ all-star games got rolling this fall.
Crocetti, Luckhardt, and Moore all played major roles in the 2014 Lady Lancers’ successful season. The LHS crew notched an 11-2-3 record during the regular season and their program’s first, first-round tournament bye in a handful of years. But when they played their first tourney match – against the Pinkerton Lady Astros in driving wind and bitter cold at LHS in the quarterfinals – the locals were bested by a 3-1 tally.