LHS Boy Booters Trounce Their First Two 2015 Opponents

If its first two matches of the 2015 season can be taken as an indication of what it can accomplish this fall, the Londonderry High boys’ soccer squad is going to score goals by the net-full.

The Lancers hammered the visiting Spaulding High Red Raiders from Rochester by an 11-0 tally in the local team’s season-opening match at LHS on Tuesday, Sept. 1, and followed up that performance by defeating the host Winnacunnet High Warriors by a 4-1 count on the seacoast Friday, Sept. 4.

In the trouncing of visiting Spaulding, coach Todd Ellis’ Londonderry bunch received multi-point performances from several players, including Nate Gaw (five goals), Elijah Ellis (four assists), Griffin Cowles (three assists), Owen Creed (three goals), and Josh Rutina (one goal, one assist).

Brian Frechette and Antonio Houde each contributed a single goal for the victors, and Nick Anderson was good for one assist.

The Lancers pelted the Spaulding net with 30 shots while the Red Raiders were only able to put two shots on the LHS cage.

“It was a nice way for the boys to open up,” said Ellis. “I thought we controlled the game from start to finish, and were able to finish our chances today.”

The Lancer offense wasn’t quite as prolific against Winnacunnet in Hampton three days later.

Rutina gave the locals a 2-0 lead in the first half, with Anderson assisting on his first marker and Nalen Iarribino setting up the second.

Griffin Cowles set up Iarribino for the tally that made the score 3-0 in the second half, and after Winnacunnet trimmed its deficit back to two goals by scoring, the Lancers answered with another tally by Iarribino (from Nate Gaw).

Tim McEacharn contributed four saves in the Londonderry net, and his squad out-shot the Warriors by a commanding 24-5 margin.

“I thought we did well possessing the ball in this game,” said Ellis. “But it would have been nice to finish a few of the many quality chances we created.”

This week’s slate had the undefeated Lancer crew facing off against a pair of teams that were also unbeaten in their early-season battles.

Ellis’ guys played host to a 2-0-1 Hanover contingent in Londonderry on Tuesday, Sept. 8, after Londonderry Times press time, and were to travel to Concord on Friday, Sept. 11, to face the 2-0-1 Crimson Tide.