It’s hard to find a boys’ high school soccer squad in New Hampshire that has been more successful over the last six weeks than the Londonderry High boy booters have. And with the Division I tournament straight ahead, that’s a good scenario for the Lancers to be in.
The LHS booters maintained their winning ways last week by capping off their regular season with victories over Nashua South and Timberlane of Plaistow. And those successes left the locals with a 9-1-1 record since mid-September and an overall D-I record of 12-2-2.
The LHS crew thumped the Nashua South Purple Panthers by a 4-0 score at LHS Tuesday, Oct. 20.
The visiting Nashuans, who finished their regular season just under the .500 mark with a 7-8-1 mark, saw 11-2-2 Londonderry begin to claim its sixth straight win by tallying two unanswered goals in the first half.
Nate Gaw set up Griffin Cowles for the first one 4:49 into the contest, and Elijah Ellis’ unassisted marker with just 4:08 left in the half made it a 2-0 match.
The hosts then solidified their lead in the second half, thanks to a Max Hastings goal on a penalty kick (5:43 in) and a Tarik Dallahi tally that was set up by Nick Anderson with seven minutes left to go.
“It was nice to get this game in the books, and we’re looking forward to our next game against Timberlane,” said LHS coach Todd Ellis.
The Lancers’ regular season-ending meeting with those Timberlane Regional Owls from Plaistow took place at LHS last Friday, Oct. 23. And the hosts walked off their own pitch with a hard-fought, 3-2 nipping of that tough (10-6) opponent.
Londonderry zipped out to a 2-0 lead, thanks to tallies from Gaw 13 minutes in and Hastings 12 minutes later, with Elijah Ellis assisting on both.
But Timberlane trimmed its deficit in half in the 27th minute of play, and 2-1 was where the score sat at halftime.
Dallahi gave his squad a 3-1 advantage by scoring in the second half, but the Owls climbed back to within a marker but could get no closer.
LHS keeper Tim McEacharn finished with two saves, and his coach was brief and concise with his forward-thinking thoughts following the victory.
“We’re looking forward to the tournament starting,” he said.
The third-ranked Lancers faced a first-round tourney match against the visiting, 14th-seeded Dover High Green Wave at LHS Wednesday, Oct. 28, after Londonderry Times press time.