The Londonderry High School boys’ soccer squad’s 2-0 Mack Plaque win over Pinkerton on Sept. 24 was a big moment for the Lancers. But the LHS males have gone winless in their subsequent four matches to have their season record slip from 5-2-1 to 5-6-1, where it sat at the start of this week.
The Lancers suffered their third and fourth consecutive losses to the Bedford High Bulldogs and the Manchester Central Little Green last week.
The LHS crew faced off against a white-hot opponent in a Wednesday, Oct. 5 road match at Bedford versus the host Bulldogs. And the final result was a 4-0 Bedford win that made the hosts 10-1 overall with their seventh consecutive success. Londonderry slipped to 5-5-1 with its third straight loss.
The hosts scored in minutes 23 and 38 in the first half, and put the win away with tallies in minutes 75 and 80 of the second period. Cam Wheeler made four saves in the LHS net.
“I thought the effort was good overall,” said Lancers’ coach Todd Ellis. “Bedford is the best team we have seen to this point. You can’t make mistakes against good teams, and we need to challenge better in the air.”
Two afternoons later the LHS males played host to the Manchester Central Little Green and drove out to a 2-0 lead which, unfortunately, evaporated into a 3-2 defeat to the 9-2-2 Queen City squad.
Nick Dawe potted goals in minutes 25 and 28 of the first half, with Brian Frechette assisting on the first and Will Houghton setting up the second as LHS snagged a 2-0 lead.
Both goals were made from the left side with the Central goalie way out of position.
But the Little Green sliced its deficit in half in the 35th minute of the period to place the score at 2-1.
Central then knotted the score at 2-2 in the fifth minute of the second half and potted the game-winner with five minutes left to play. Goalie Wheeler was credited with three saves in the tough loss.
“I was pleased with how we played the first half,” said Ellis. “We really worked hard to win the 50/50 ball and possess the ball. It was unfortunate that we gave up a late first-half goal, an early second-half goal, and the late game winner. We need to do more of the things we did in the first half if we want to finish our year successfully.”
This week’s schedule had the Lancers set to play road contests at Dover on Tuesday, Oct. 11, and at Keene three afternoons later as they aimed to get back to the winning track.
Londonderry High soccer stalwart Will Houghton knocks a header toward the Central net off of a corner kick during the Lancers’ tough home loss to that opponent. Photo by Chris Paul