Playing on the road in its second official match of the 2014 campaign and at home in the third, the Londonderry High golf contingent ended up in the middle in both of those three-team contests to have its record settle in at 3-3.
The Lancers finished sandwiched between the Winnacunnet High Warriors from Hampton and the host Manchester Central Little Green – on coach Sicard’s birthday no less – in the road match at the Derryfield Country Club last Wednesday, Sept. 3. And two afternoons later, the LHS crew was back on home turf at the Passaconaway Country Club in Litchfield, where it did an imitation of luncheon meat in finishing right between the Concord High Crimson Tide and the Spaulding High Red Raiders of Rochester.
In the Manchester match the Lancers watched Winnacunnet get a fast lead and finish with the top team score of 202.
In their battle for second place with their hosts from Central, the locals managed to tally a team count of 209 to outdistance the Little Green by four strokes (213).
Londonderry found itself down by one stroke after six golfers had completed the Derryfield course, but a new face then came to the fore for the locals and ended up making a huge difference.
“New player and up-and-coming talent Dalton Shields put up his best round as a Lancer and broke the tie wide open and sealed the victory for us over Central by four points,” said coach Scott Sicard. “It was an electrifying, come-from-behind victory. I am proud of the guys for hanging in there, never giving up on themselves or the team, and for coming back to keep us at .500 on the season. What a great moment for our young team. It will truly be a birthday that I won’t soon forget.”
Jason Coburn and Alex Powers finished the day by tying for the top individual score among the Lancers (40), and game-changer Shields ended up with a 42.
In the home match last Friday, Concord wound up tops among the three squads with a team tally of 207. Londonderry ended up second with its 214, and Spaulding brought up the rear with a 219.
“Another battle out there today for second place,” said Sicard. “Our guys are having to claw, scratch, dig, and grind out wins this year. Nothing will come easy, and they know they are going to have to work harder to keep at least .500 on the year.”
For the second consecutive match, the Lancers had young players come through in big ways.
After six players had completed the course, Londonderry was tied with Spaulding on the round. Shields gave his side the lead once again, and then Marc Landry put up, in Sicard’s own words, “the best round I have ever witnessed him playing to nail it home for us.”
Dan Pleva led the locals by shooting a 39 – tying two Concord players for top scoring honors – while Powers notched a 42 and clutch contributor Landry ended the match with a final score of 43.