Bow girls lacrosse holds off Hollis Brookline for big win (video)

HOLLIS - There was one thing Chris Raabe was looking for when adding non-division games to the schedule this year for the Bow High School girls lacrosse team.

Competition.

The Falcons got that Friday from Hollis Brookline, as the two teams went back and forth throughout the night, with Bow's offense doing enough late and the defense coming up with a pair of key turnovers to secure an 11-8 win over the Cavaliers.

"It was a great game, good competition," Raabe said. "It was back-and-forth and exactly what we wanted. We came up to play good competition, which they are. We just kind of went for it. I thought the defense played extremely well. That started way back (on the ride), just fighting for the ball when it’s coming out of their end. It was a great team win."

Alex Larrabee led the Falcons (3-0 in Division III, No. 7 in the NHHSSports Coaches Poll) with three goals and the senior caused two turnovers in the final five minutes while HB was trying to close the gap that kept Bow in control.

"Alex sets the pace and she’s all over the field," HB coach Linda Haytayan said. "She’s a true two-way middie. The caused turnovers, she came up and checked from behind."

Olivia Selleck added two goals and three assists while Kate McGovern also scored twice and Kylie McKee and Kendall Murray each had a goal and an assist. Lyndsey LaPerle and Ella Trefethen also scored for the Falcons and Elena Roy made 10 saves.

The Cavaliers (2-1 in D2, No. 6) got three goals and two assists from Alyssa Hill while Paige Mello also scored three times and had an assist. Cailean Roy added two goals and a helper and Addey Dougherty came up with nine saves, the first of which swung momentum early.

Larrabee gave Bow a 1-0 lead 3:05 into the game, and after the Falcons win the ensuing draw, she had a chance to make it an early two-goal lead on a free position.

But Dougherty came up with the save, and although Roy stopped the Cavs at the other end, HB's first-year goalie seemed to gain confidence from there.

"That was huge," Haytayan said. "Addey put pads on the week before the season started and coach Shane (Sewade) worked with her. She’s doing a phenomenal job. I think our defense played great, they really did. We were able to test some things (Friday) and get challenged."

Both defenses controlled play in the first half, as it stayed a 1-0 game through the first 12 minutes. Selleck scored with 13:08 left in the half to make it 2-0, but Hill answered just 19 seconds later to get HB on the board.

Bow won the draw and Larrabee put the Falcons back up by two goals just 15 seconds after that, and then the defenses regained control until the final nine minutes of the half.

Isabella LaPerle was given a yellow card with 8:42 remaining, giving HB an extra-player advantage, and after Roy scored on a free position, the Cavs took a timeout to set up a plan for the next two minutes. But the Falcons won the ensuing draw and were able to kill off the penalty time.

With the teams even, Bow took advantage, getting a goal from Trefethen to go up 4-2, and less than two minutes later, McGovern scored to make it a three-goal lead. The Falcons went down a player again, as Larrabee was given a card with 2:49 to go in the half, and HB capitalized with a goal by Hill.

But again, Bow won the draw and ran out the rest of the time, taking a 5-3 lead into the half.

The offenses won the early part of the second half, as the teams went back and forth until a goal by Larrabee with 16:30 remaining gave Bow an 8-6 lead. That answer came less than a minute after Mello had scored for the Cavs to cut the lead to one.

Hill made it a one-goal game again with 12:27 to play, but the Falcons answered quickly again, as McGovern scored on a free position just 42 seconds after that.

"I think the answering, we’ve had two games in which we were tad better, so we haven’t had that pressure," Raabe said. "That’s why I wanted to play this game, so we could have them face some pressure. You can’t make a sloppy pass. Everyone we made, they ate up."

Selleck scored to make it 10-7 with 5:09 to go, but after winning the draw, Bow turned it over with about 4:30 to play, giving the Cavs a chance to cut into the lead. Instead, Larrabee came from behind to check the ball away from Sabrina Hill, starting a break the other way that ended in McKee's goal and an 11-7 lead with 3:31 to play.

Mello converted a pass from Alyssa Hill with 1:44 to finish out the scoring, but that was as close as the Cavs would get.