There was certainly every reason to believe that the Londonderry High boys’ lacrosse team could at least end its fine 2017 season with a final four tournament finish.
And heading into its quarterfinal-round tourney match on its home field last Saturday, June 3, the third-ranked LHS crew had every legitimate reason to believe it could get past a sixth-seeded Exeter High contingent which Londonderry had bested twice during the regular season. Alas, that wasn’t how the day turned out for coach Sean LeBlanc and his Lancer charges.
Despite jumping out to an early lead and scoring five goals in the first quarter and grasping a 5-2 advantage at the close of that stanza, the Lancers were outscored 5-1 the rest of the way in the 7-6 upset loss to Exeter.
Anthony Federico and Sean Snyder both managed four points for the locals, with Federico scoring three goals and assisting on one other, and Snyder notching two goals and two helpers. Connor Toth scored once and assisted once, and Nate Andrews claimed one assist. LHS goalie Alex Fawcett contributed nine saves to his team’s effort. Senior face-off ace Tyler Grant won 13 of the 15 draws in which he participated.
Coach LeBlanc’s LHS contingent had completed its regular season all kinds of hot, having won its last seven matches and eight of the last nine to wind up at 13-3 overall with the third seed in D-I. Exeter won four of its final five contests to wind up at 11-7 and number six in the seedings.
In the two regular season meetings between the Lancers and Exeter Blue Hawks, Londonderry got a 9-8 win on the seacoast on April 27 and then earned a more decisive, 13-9 win at LHS on May 13. But meeting number three would go Exeter’s way and end the Lancers’ 2017 campaign.