Bow girls lacrosse hands Gilford first loss (video)

BOW - The Bow High School girls lacrosse team knew Wednesday's matchup with Gilford was a big one.

With top two teams in Division III meeting for the only time in the regular season, there were a lot more eyes on the game, and a lot more pressure, not only off the field, but on it.

For a long stretch of the first half, the Falcons struggled against the Golden Eagles' ride, turning the ball over before the offense could get a chance to get going. But as time ran down in the half, Alex Larrabee scored a pair of goals to give Bow a 5-0 lead at the break and the Falcons were able to regroup on the way to a 12-4 win.

Larrabee finished with eight goals, including the 200th of her high school career, and two assists, as Bow (12-1, No. 6 in the NHHSSports Coaches Poll) went on a 4-0 run in a three-minute span in the second half to go up 9-1.

"We declined a little on our passing and groundballs, but we had a lot of pressure (from Gilford), so it was a little tougher," Bow coach Chris Raabe said. "(Larrabee's goals) pumped us up a little bit before the half because we’d been struggling with throwing and catching. We had a lot of turnovers, something like 15 in the first half. That’s what we usually have for a game. That’s good pressure by them."

Olivia Selleck added two goals and two assists for the Falcons while Ella Gray had a goal and an assist and Kylie McKee also scored.

Elena Roy made eight saves for Bow, as she and the defense held the Golden Eagles (10-1) off the board in the first half despite plenty of chances for Gilford.

"It was huge," Raabe said of the defensive performance. "I think our defense actually played quite well. Elena played great. She makes that one save and you can feel the team rise. The saves she made in the beginning set a great tone. I’m really happy with the defense."

Gilford got a goal each from Lauren Gallant, Abigail Watson, Makenna Clayton and Lexi Shute, all in the second half.

Bow went up 3-0 in the first seven minutes, but both teams were scoreless for the next 16-plus minutes. Larrabee finally broke that drought with her 200th goal with 1:52 left in the half to make it 4-0, and the senior added another goal just 19 seconds later.

"I think having those two goals gave us some momentum, but I think at the same time, we got a little to ahead of ourselves," Larrabee said. "We were going a little fast.

"Almost every girl on our team, including myself, just played the worst lacrosse we’d played all year, and they didn’t have one goal. That’s something to be proud of in itself. If we can come back and stop them and our goalie can make saves, that’s been a positive. We have a ton of really good athletes back there."

Gilford did get on the board just 1:09 into the second half, on Gallant's goal, but Bow answered quickly, getting four straight goals - three from Larrabee - in under three minutes to take a 9-1 lead and force a timeout from the Golden Eagles.

After the break, Gilford was able to get a goal back, but momentum was still with the Falcons. Larrabee tacked on two more goals in under a minute to make it 11-2 with 8:37 remaining.

Barring a loss in its final three games, the win likely clinches the No. 1 seed for Bow when the D3 playoffs begin.

"Everybody was geared up for this game because it was a 1-2 matchup," Raabe said. "This was a perfect game to have (near) the end of the season."