Lacrosse Notes: Seniors making difference in Pelham's strong start

Brian Johnson has seen some encouraging differences from the Pelham High School boys lacrosse team in the first two weeks of the season.

The biggest has been the way the senior class has handled itself, not just in the Pythons' early games, but going into the season.

"The biggest difference this year from the previous three years is our senior leadership," Johnson said. "I’ve got eight seniors who have bought in. We’ll call a play and they’ll recognize something better.

"They’re not robots. A lot of times, we don’t even call the matchup because they see the matchup and they go right after it. Very patient this year, where in years past, we’d run down and take the first shot we see. We have a lot of possession, move the ball, and look for the best shot."

Pelham is out to a 4-0 start in Division III, including a comeback overtime win at Laconia on April 15, in which the Pythons trailed 8-5 before rallying for a 9-8 win.

In their most recent win, a 14-8 home victory over Plymouth on April 18, the Pythons took advantage of that possession time to keep the Bobcats at a distance throughout the game. That included a possession to start the fourth quarter where Pelham had the ball for over three minutes before scoring.

Johnson added that faceoffs have been a key factor to the Pythons' increase in possession time this season.

"You can not understate Matthew Sprague and what he means to this team," the coach said. "We take it for granted, but he went 89 percent last year. We expect to get the ball every time. There were a couple of procedural ones, a couple of 50-50s they came up with. I think he might have got beat once clean."

Sprague, a sophomore, isn't the only underclassmen who has stepped up. Freshman Aiden Cote was forced into the lineup in the first game and has handled the increased role well.

"We lost a senior attackman the first two minutes of the Gilford game," Johnson said. "We had a freshman (Cote) step in and he’s got seven or eight goals. His IQ is off the charts. I knew he was a good little lacrosse player, but he’s always in the right spot."

Pelham was scheduled to play Coe-Brown last Saturday, but the game was postponed, so the Pythons are off until a home game against Lebanon on May 1.

Girls: Winnacunnet enjoying early success

There was a common theme to the first five games of the season for Winnacunnet (5-1), aside from the Warriors being victorious in all of those contests.

"One of the big things we’re trying to build a culture of is that confidence is a self-construct," Winnacunnet coach Colleen Farias said. "That’s something you decide internally. They’re also playing with a little bit of joy, which is something we press a lot.

"It should be fun. It’s an opportunity to be out with your friends, throwing a ball around in a game, it should be the highlight of your day."

With 18 players returning with varsity experience, there was already a connection between everyone on the Winnacunnet roster. Many of those players participated in offseason activities, including a great showing at the NH Tomahawks Indoor League.

It's paying off on the field for the Warriors. Before Friday's loss to Bishop Guertin, Winnacunnet was averaging 13 goals per game against Division II competition and getting contributions from up and down the lineup. It's helped the Warriors to have a senior captain at every level of the field, with goalie Cadence Oleniak, defender Clara Nardone and midfielder Shea Graham serving in those roles.

"They’re talking to each other on the field, they’re connecting, they’re enjoying it," Farias said. "All of that builds that culture. Now we’re five games deep, it kind of feels like we’re catching a head of steam."

Boys: Big week for Bishop Guertin

The Cardinals (2-2) are coming off two out-of-state loses in which they held a lead in the third quarter. In last Tuesday's 10-7 loss to St. John's Prep (Danvers, Mass.), Bishop Guertin was up 7-6 late in the third, but went scoreless in the fourth.

Against Staples (Westport, Conn.) on Saturday, the Cardinals led throughout until the Wreckers took the lead for good late in the third quarter. Bishop Guertin's lone goal in the fourth came in the final 90 seconds.

This week will be the Cardinals' toughest against in-state competition. Bishop Guertin hosts Bedford (3-0) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Stellos Stadium and then travels to Exeter (5-0) for a 5:30 p.m. start on Friday.

"Bedford is a legitimate challenge," Bishop Guertin coach Chris Cameron said. "Them and Exeter, we have them both next week, and both of those teams are as close as anyone has been to us since Covid. We’ve got some real challenges. It’s a great experience for the kids."

Girls: Windham's first tests

The Jaguars opened the season with eight days off in between their first two games, thanks to a couple of postponements, and won both by a combined score of 36-3.

Windham's defense got its first great tests to end last week, facing Winnacunnet on Thursday and then Nashua South on Friday. While the Jaguars had a tough time at moments against the Warriors, they held Winnacunnet to its lowest output against a D2 team.

Windham followed that up by holding the Panthers in check in a 10-4 win.

"Our defense got a lot more action in this game over the other two," Windham coach Jordyn O'Boyle said after the Winnacunnet loss. "It was a change for them. I thought they did a great job communicating. They had good doubles. We’ve been focusing on when we can have the double, stay in the double, and take it. We did a great job crashing in the middle."

O'Boyle was excited about the early-season performance of sophomore goalie Jaidyn Seitzer, who had never played the position until this preseason.

"We have a brand new goalie and she did a great job," the coach said. "That was her first big game. This is her first year playing goal and her third game."

Milestones

• Last Wednesday's game between Nashua South and Souhegan saw two milestones reached. South's Ella Benzekri scored her 200th career goal, while Souhegan's Emma Kennedy scored her 100th.
• Manchester Central's Grace Manning notched her 100th goal in the Little Green's loss to Hollis Brookline last Thursday.
• Megan Leahy, of St. Thomas, took care of two milestones at ones, scoring her 200th goal and recording her 300th point at the same time in a win over Coe-Brown last Friday.
• Kennett's Bob Murphy also reached the 100-goal mark in the team's season-opening loss to Kingswood.