With the Division I tournament right around the corner, the Londonderry High girls’ lacrosse team has clicked its level of play up an additional gear recently, winning four matches in a row and gearing up for a Division I title run.
The Lancers beat three opponents last week – including the defending D-I champions and rivals from Pinkerton Academy – in pushing their winning streak up to four games and their 2017 record to 11-4.
The LHS contingent defeated the visiting Exeter High Lady Blue Hawks by a 14-8 score in Londonderry on Tuesday, May 16, racing out to an 8-4 lead by halftime and then outscoring the opponent by a 6-4 margin in the second half.
Emily Holland had five goals and assisted on one for the locals, and Erika Tsetsilas also put five shots home. Catie Derhak and Meghan Jackes each netted one goal and dished out one assist, and Shannon Fraser and Sarah Duarte each scored once. Goalie Kaitlyn Marchant made 10 saves her contribution.
Then came the Lady Lancers’ Division I-shaking 11-7 defeat of a now-scuffling Pinkerton Lady Astros’ team in Derry on Thursday, May 18.
Since losing a tough and frustrating one-goal game to the defending D-I champions at LHS weeks before, the team had been anticipating the rematch with Pinkerton. And after having said rematch postponed due to bad weather, May 18 couldn’t come any faster for the Londonderry squad.
The Lady Lancers fell behind 3-0 early in the match but then potted the next four goals in grabbing a 4-3 advantage.
But by halftime the score was knotted up at 6-6, leaving the match to be decided in the second half.
And the LHS contingent dominated that decisive half, netting five unanswered goals and keeping the powerful Pinkerton offense scoreless until a mere 5.4 seconds remained on the game clock.
Holland was the offensive force for the Lancers, scoring five times with the last three of those markers coming to start the second half to give Londonderry a lead it would never relinquish. She also set up the final Londonderry goal of the match – scored by Kiersten Hoglund – in putting together a six-point performance.
The winning side also received two goals and a helper from Derhak, two goals from Duarte, and one tally from Allie Marsh. Tsetsilas set up three goals herself, and keeper Marchant contributed 13 big stops to the momentous LHS success.
“I’m pretty happy with the girls’ performance as a team,” said coach Scott Walden. “We didn’t control the middle of the field in the first game against them, but today we wanted it. Our defense and goalie are an amazing unit. They needed to settle down after the three quick goals, and they did. After all the players and talent graduated last year and not many new players came up, the girls knew they would have to listen to what the coaches were going teach them and that they had to be in better shape than everyone else. The girls have done all of it and they believe in themselves.”
The Lady Lancers then made true believers of the Merrimack High Lady Tomahawks in Merrimack on Saturday the 20th, trouncing that opponent by a 17-6 count.
The LHS lead sat at 9-5 at halftime, and the locals put the proverbial pedal to the metal in the second half once again and outscored their hosts by an overwhelming 8-1 tally.

This time around Derhak enjoyed a seven-point match with five goals, Holland also produced seven points on four goals and three assists, Tsetsilas scored twice and assisted once, and Marsh bagged two goals.
Additionally, Grace Chico contributed a goal and an assist, and single tallies were rifled home by Jackes, Hoglund, and Camille Lamonte. Goalie Marchant was good for four saves.
The Lancers headed into this, the final week of the regular season, with matches slated at Nashua South on Tuesday – after Londonderry Times press time – followed by home matches against Hanover on the 24th and Salem on the 26th.