Nashua North's Adam Murphy, left, and Marc Lavine can't quite put a hit on Merrimack's Brandon Corbo during Thursday's game. For more photos, see the Photo Album.
NASHUA – Bill Cosentino and Keith Bertrand have a few things in common.
Both are in their first year with their respective high school varsity boys lacrosse programs, and both are trying to improve teams that missed the postseason a year ago.
But that might be where the similarities end, and that was evident on Thursday, as Cosentino’s Merrimack team defeated Bertarand’s squad from Nashua North, 13-2, in a non-division game at Stellos Stadium.
For Cosentino, this season was about getting a group of players, who went 6-12 while missing the Division II playoffs a year ago, to become more disciplined and find direction. It’s taken a while, but after a few weeks, the players are buying it.
“You can tell it took them awhile to get used to it,” Cosentino said. “I told them I’m here to win games and to make them better people and better lacrosse players. I pushed them hard. I wasn’t kidding.
“I followed through with some of the consequences and that’s really important if you’re going to get kids to buy into the system. A team of this caliber, there are some really good individuals on this team and if they play together, they can go the distance, I believe.”
Thursday’s game was the fourth time this season the Tomahawks have scored 11 goals or more. Jay Kerrigan led the way with four goals and an assist, while Alex Boudette had three scores and two helpers and Mike Curry had two goals and three assists. Joe Pelrine also had two goals and an assist and Jeff Braun had a goal and two assists for Merrimack (4-2 overall).
But despite the abundance of goals, Cosentino didn’t feel it was one of his team’s best games.
Merrimack's Nick Voight brings the ball down field.
“We got the ‘W’ but it was the sloppiest game we’ve played so far,” he said. “We went back about two steps from where we were headed. The score was not indicative of how we played. Yeah, it was 13-2, but we did not play our best game. It could have been more, and I’m glad it wasn’t for sportsmanship reasons. The boys weren’t fired up and missed a lot of ground balls.”
The only answer for that problem is for the ’Hawks to go hard in practice on Friday before they play another non-division game Saturday, this time at Stellos against Nashua South.
As for North, it’s coming off a winless season in Division I. Bertrand knew coming into the program how much work needed to be done, and he’s taking it head on.
After the varsity game was done on Thursday, he remained on the North sidelines, working and instructing during the junior varsity game.
“I’ve got to coach all these guys up,” Bertrand said. “We have a young team and it’s about what we’re trying to accomplish. We’re trying to teach them how to play, teach them how to practice. We’ve got to teach them everything, from basic fundamentals, all the way up.
“Some days are better. The main thing we’re looking for is consistency and that’s what we seem to lack. With a young team, that’s the way it’s going to be.”
A look at the standings will show that North (3-5 overall) is already ahead of where it was a year ago. But the numbers aren’t always a proper barometer.
North's Tyler Lewis tries to move in against the Merrimack defense.
“Things have definitely changed around here,” Bertrand said. “Other than (Thursday), I don’t think we’ve had one where we would say we’ve been blown out. Even when we’ve lost by 10 goals, against Souhegan, it was 8-5 at one point. Against Salem, it was 7-5 at one point. The wheels just come off. That’s one thing we’re battling because we don’t have depth.”
North’s goals against Merrimack came from Tyler Lewis and Jon Ritter. Only twice this season have the Titans scored more than five goals in a game, but Bertrand believes that the team has the talent to put up bigger numbers.
“We just want effort, everything else will come,” he said. “The talent is there. I just want effort and I want to see them improve. I don’t want these guys to feel like they wasted their season. I want them to buy into what we’re selling and by the end of the year, to feel like we got everything we could have out of the 2010 season.”
The Titans will take the field again on May 3 against South.
Looks and reads well! Thanks for covering the game and putting a little bit of character behind he coach and players! See you on the sidelines…IF you need help with the photo site please email me and I will give you some tips which have benefited me!
Mary