A lopsided loss to a seacoast opponent followed by a decisive victory over a contingent from the state capital brought the Londonderry High boys’ lacrosse squad into this week with a very solid, 4-2 record.
The Lancers had their season record slip closer to the .500 mark at 3-2 on dreary Thursday, April 26 thanks to a rough, 14-5 home loss to the visiting Exeter High Blue Hawks.
The Blue Hawks jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first half and then outscored their hosts by a much smaller 4-3 margin during the second half. Exeter also became 3-2 on the campaign with that outcome.
But the short-handed Concord High Crimson Tide was simply no match for the host Lancers at LHS on the morning and early afternoon of Saturday, April 28, when the locals powered their way to a 13-4 blowout success.
Londonderry had the match in control from start to finish, racing out to a 6-0 lead during the first period and never having any serious reason to look back over its shoulder against its now 2-4 opponent.
The Lancers put 10 shots on the Crimson Tide net during that opening stanza, and at the other end of the field their own goalie Patrick Murphy could have used a magazine and a rocking chair as he didn’t face a single shot.
Jeff Wiedenfeld gave his side a 1-0 lead with 10:01 left in that period, and Connor Toth made it a 2-0 match less than two minutes later.
During the next 8:33 the hosts would receive additional markers from Aidan Dennis, Cole Keegan, Toth again, and then James Cranmer in snagging the 6-0 advantage.
LHS keeper Murphy finally faced a shot with eight minutes remaining in the half, and he turned it aside.
His teammates won the second qarter as well, outscoring their guests by a 3-1 margin to carry a commanding 9-1 advantage into the halftime break.
The Lancer goals during that period came from Anthony Federico (two) and Dennis.
The LHS advantage bulged to 12-2 during quarter three, in which the locals outscored their guests by a 3-1 margin. Keegan, Federico, and Jake Holland did the honors on those three Lancer scores.
Concord “won” the third period by outscoring its host by a 2-1 tally, with the lone Londonderry goal being potted by Ryan O’Neill.
Lancer goalie Murphy finished the match with six saves, and his offense pelted the Crimson Tide cage with a total of 26 shots.
With that victory tucked away, the Lancers then strode into this week looking at a Monday afternoon meeting with Division II opponent Portsmouth at LHS.
And the locals were able to edge their way past that seacoast opponent in a hard-fought, 13-11 match.
The Lancers led 5-3 after one quarter, but the score was all knotted up at 6-6 at halftime. Londonderry then grasped a slim 11-9 advantage going into the fourth period, in which both sides scored twice with the final result still in question.