Time off from school for April vacation is welcomed by high school students and their educators. But vacation week last week wasn’t immensely productive from a competitive standpoint for the Londonderry High girls’ lacrosse team.
The LHS contingent saw its record slide from 3-2 to under the .500 mark at 3-4 with consecutive losses to the Exeter High School and Souhegan High of Amherst contingents in Londonderry during the vacation span.
In the 10-6 defeat at the hands of the Exeter Lady Blue Hawks on Tuesday, April 29, the 3-2 visitors showed more desire and determination in snagging the victory.
“Exeter took control of the 50/50 balls on the entire field,” said coach Mike Boyle. “Despite Exeter’s hustle to the ball, our defense and especially our goalie kept us in the game at halftime.”
Boyle’s bunch trailed 5-2 at the break, but the Lady Lancers were intent upon staying in the fray, and they did.
“We evened it up in the second half on 50/50 balls, but could not catch up,” said the coach. “Exeter has a great bunch of players and coach, and we look forward to seeing them again in a couple of weeks.”
Sarah Bell netted two of the host team’s goals, and Maeve Holland claimed one assist. Keeper Emily Holtshouser had six stops in the Londonderry net.
And the Lady Lancers ended up in just the kind of intense battle they expected to have with the tough Souhegan High Lady Sabers at LHS on Thursday, May 1. In the end, the visitors headed back home with a 10-8 defeat of their hosts in their possession.
The Lady Sabers won the first half by a slim, 6-5 margin, and outscored their hosts by a 4-3 margin in the second half to get to the 10-8 final tally.
Souhegan advanced to 6-2 on the season with the victory, while the Londonderry crew slipped just below that .500 mark to 3-4.
Alexa Bedell paced the Lady Lancers’ offense by tallying six points on four goals and two assists. Noelle Lambert was good for a goal and three helpers, and Hannah Kearney, Chelsea Lewis, and Breda Holland each tallied once. LHS goalie Holtshouser made nine saves in her net.
The Lady Lancers busted their three-game losing skid this past Monday with a 15-9 home victory over the visiting Hollis-Brookline Lady Cavaliers.
Londonderry led by an 8-3 tally at halftime and put the win away by outscoring its guest by a 7-6 margin in the second half.
The winning crew received two goals and four assists from Noelle Lambert, three goals and an assist from Alexa Bedell, three goals from Chelsea Lewis, two tallies from Maeve Holland, a goal and a helper from Hannah Kearney, and single scores from Gabbi Morris, June Cranmer, Dominique Breault, and Jill McIntire. Keeper Holtshouser contributed six saves to the successful effort.