The Londonderry High School girls’ soccer program has been fortunate to have one of the finest varsity coaches in the state in Derek Dane and all kinds of superb talent with which he could work. And any opposing programs hoping for any sort of lull in the Lady Lancers’ success in the coming years is going to need to alter its line of thinking and quick.
That latter statement is proven loud and clear by the fact that the sub-varsity squads feeding Dane’s LHS varsity team enjoyed some great accomplishments during the 2016 campaign this late summer and fall, with the freshman and junior varsity contingents combining to win the JV Tournament championship at the end of the campaign.
Coach Brian Trefry’s freshman squad did one truly exceptional impression of a steamroller in absolutely overpowering the opposition at so many turns during the 2016 season, and the squad’s leader ended up with a myriad of reasons to be proud of his talented and determined young charges.
“Our team was only behind in a game once this year, trailing a strong Bedford team 1-0 in the second half,” said Trefry. “Teams often slip up in these scenarios, not knowing how to deal with adversity having not dealt with it all year. This was not the case with our team.”
In that memorable match, LHS junior varsity booter Alyssa Anderson tied the game with eight minutes to go, and just a few minutes later freshman Melissa Marino scored the game-winner on a pass from Anderson.
“This was one of the best games I have ever been a part of,” said the coach. “I was very proud of the girls and their perseverance. We were also lucky enough to team up with JV for the JV Division I tournament, where we went undefeated and won the finals in a penalty shootout in the pouring rain. That was a really fun day and a great way to cap off a perfect season.”
All in all, the frosh contingent went a perfect 12-0 on the campaign, enjoying a jaw-dropping margin of 73 goals scored to just seven allowed in putting big exclamation points on a truly stellar season.
Coach Trefry’s roster included defenders Rachel Stone, Alex Metro, and Olivia Galluzzo, midfielders Addy Bryant, Ciara Amarena, and Kelly Calawa, forwards Erica Pepin and Marino, versatile Gill Vilela and Abbie Ellis (both saw time at middie and on defense), and goalie Shannon Walen.
“We had a really successful season on many levels,” said coach Trefry. “It’s hard for a team to come in every day and give it their all without slipping up once. We had a tight-knit group that worked really well together. We got better as the year went on, fixing up all the holes in our game play to a point where we were really firing on all cylinders. We had a ton of fun, developed our skills for the next level, and won games. I am very proud of our team.”
With his strong 2016 varsity team losing no less than a daunting 11 players to graduation in the spring, coach Derek Dane can still lean back with the solid reassurance of knowing that he has loads of great talent on the way up to him.