Lacrosse Notes: Scoring depth will be key for Kingswood boys lacrosse

Last season, Will Crane was the go-to guy for the Kingswood Regional High School boys lacrosse team.

As a junior, he earned Division II second-team all-state honors for a Knights group that won four games.

Through the preseason and into the first week of the regular season, Kingswood coach Mike Manning has seen other offensive players step up to try to compliment Crane, and it gives him hope that the Knights can improve on that win total from a year ago.

"Will has been talked about for years," Manning said. "That really shows, too, that the guys around Will … we all know Will has the potential to be great on any team he plays on. But the guys around him are now starting to realize ‘hey, I can do this, too,’ and get away from just watching the good kid play. They’re starting to improve and realize they can make it happen."

In Friday night's 16-14 loss to Goffstown, Crane had three goals for the Knights, but dished out six assists. Keegan Russo led Kingswood with five goals and Keller Peacock also had three.

Serafin Agramonte also had two first-quarter goals, the first two of his varsity career. It was the second game in a row a Kingswood had a player get his first varsity scores, as freshman Miles O'Keefe scored three times in Wednesday's 10-5 win over Hanover.

"That’s the first time he’s scored and he’s critical off-ball for us," Manning said of O'Keefe. "Sarafin, it’s his second year playing and he’s up on our first line at midfield. He’s supremely athletic. He’s got that drive so there’s no way we can not put him up there."

Kingswood (2-1) faces a tough three-game stretch, with Oyster River-Newmarket coming to town on Tuesday, followed by road trips to Souhegan on April 19 and Derryfield on April 23.

Girls Lacrosse: Goffstown looking past results

When the schedules were finalized for this spring, Marisa McLaughlin knew the first week would be a challenging one for her Grizzlies

Goffstown opened the regular season with back-to-back home games against Winnacunnet and Hanover, two teams that were in the final four and the championship game, respectively, last season. The Grizzlies came out on the wrong end of both games, falling to the Warriors, 12-9 on Thursday, and Hanover, 11-8 on Friday.

But at this point in the season, the results aren't as important to McLaughlin as the way the Grizzlies are playing.

"Our girls have the potential to really take it all this season," the coach said. "They’re a hard-working group. We’ve got to focus this year, not on the win-and-loss record, but playing those challenging teams. (Thursday) exposed us a lot, but we were already able to improve going into (Friday). I’m just hoping they’re not scared to lose, but I want them to learn."

While McLaughlin felt senior Nora Erwin and junior Morghan Dodge have stepped up in the early part of the season, she's been equally impressed with Goffstown's younger players.

"Our underclassmen, they are the most coachable kids, so that is our biggest strength," she said. "It’s a total different system than we ran last year. They’ve got to get better with playing together and get more comfortable. I’m happy with the growth from (Thursday)."

Fantastic freshmen

O'Keefe wasn't the only freshman coming up big in his first varsity games last week.

The Hollis Brookline boys had three freshmen find the back of cage during its season-opening win over Hillsboro-Deering/John Stark last Tuesday. Bennett Torgersen scored four goals and Vittorio Masoni had three to lead the Cavaliers, while Mike O’Hearn also had his first varsity goal.

In Pelham's win over Gilford last Wednesday, Aidan Cote was thrust into the lineup after an early injury and came through with five goals in the Python's 10-3 win.

On the girls side, in Hanover's win against Goffstown, freshmen Maeve Bradley and Cassidy Loughman each had three goals, while Trinity Lunn had a pair of goals for the Grizzlies.

Souhegan has also received big contributions from freshmen Izzy Stevenson and Libby Kennedy, as each had five goals in the Sabers' win against Nashua North last Friday. Kennedy also had a goal and two assists in the team's opening loss to Bishop Guertin.

Milestones

The season is only a week old, but already there have been some milestones hit across New Hampshire.

• Last Monday, Portsmouth goalie Sage Bussiere recorded her 100th career save in the team's win over Pinkerton. That was followed up by Morgan Ruhnke's 100th career goal in the Clippers' win over Bishop Guertin last Thursday.
• Also last Thursday, Hollis Brookline's Sabrina Hill recorded her 100th goal in a win over Oyster River-Newmarket.
• Nashua South's Maren Lowell picked up her 100th career point in the Panthers' win over Londonderry last Friday.
• Bow coach Chris Raabe got her 300th career win as the Falcons' head coach, as they opened the year with wins over Hopkinton and Bishop Brady.