There are few things a team’s coach likes better than to have his squad put together a long winning streak just before the start of the playoffs.
And after watching his charges win nine consecutive matches and 11 of their last 12 regular season contests, Londonderry High School’s first-year boys’ varsity lacrosse coach Sean LeBlanc has plenty of reasons to be pleased with where his squad stands as the Division I tourney begins.
The Lancers tallied consecutive victory number nine Wednesday, May 27, at home with a 16-2, Senior Day slamming of the Salem High Blue Devils to finish the regular campaign with a 13-4 overall mark. And that fine finish placed Londonderry among the top handful of squads in the tough division.
“I think our recent success is mostly just due to my guys finally fully understanding and buying into our new systems,” said LeBlanc. “The senior leadership, which includes 12 of them, has been great, and they have done a good job keeping the team focused. Also, we played a tough schedule up front so we are a battle-tested group at this point in the season.”
In the 16-2 blasting of the Blue Devils – who finished the regular season under the .500 mark at 8-10 – LeBlanc’s Lancers received six points from Max Hastings (five goals, one assist), five goals from Devin Brunet, two goals and three assists from Dave Wiedenfeld, and one goal and two helpers from Lewis Carroll.
Additionally, Shayne Holland bagged a goal and an assist, single goals came from John Derhak, Scott Beedham, and John Galluzzo, and Tyler Grant contributed an assist.
Chris Rowan made five saves in the Londonderry net and Alex Fawcett was good for three.
The Lancers claimed the number four seed in the D-I tournament and a first-round bye, which left them preparing for a quarterfinal-round match with number five Souhegan at LHS Saturday, June 6, at 5 p.m.