Londonderry boys lacrosse hangs on late to beat Nashua South (video)

NASHUA - The Londonderry High School boys lacrosse team went in Tuesday against Nashua South wanting to possess the ball for long stretches.

The Lancers did that, keeping it away from the Panthers and limiting an offense that scored 32 goals in its first two games to just 21 shots. But when it came down to crunch time, the Lancers' defense was able to stand up and take care of business, right up until the final seconds.

With Londonderry up one with 19.3 seconds left, South won a faceoff, got the ball quickly down the field for a quality look, but Griffin Johnson's late-second shot was stopped by Lancers goalie Colby Walden to preserve a 6-5 win for Londonderry in a Division I game at Stellos Stadium.

The save by Walden prevented what could have been a disastrous finish for the Lancers, as they led 6-2 with 6:29 remaining in the third quarter, but tried to take time off the clock for most of the second half. Instead, Londonderry (2-2) turned the ball over 11 times and saw South goalie Ethan Johnson handle anything they threw his way.

"We were trying to dominate some time," Londonderry coach Roger Sampson said. "We had some quality shots and their goalie made some phenomenal saves. He made great saves. He kept them in the game.

"We possessed the ball well, we moved the ball, we got some good shots and looks. Defensively, our guys played the best they’ve played all year."

While the Lancers were turning the ball over, the Panthers (2-1, No. 6 in the NHHSSports Coaches Poll) were returning the favor, as they also had 11 turnovers over the final 18 minutes of the game. South was unable, or unwilling, to try to get in transition for most of the game, which allowed Londonderry's defense to put more pressure on the Panthers.

"All preseason and our first two games, we’ve been stressing, off those saves, pushing transition, and we just weren’t doing it," South coach Bill Monsen said. "We were slowing it down and we are a more of a run-and-gun team and dictate the pace from there.

"It’s incredibly frustrating because we have the guys who know how to make the plays, they just didn’t. We were in a funk from the moment we got here. I think they knew it was a big test and I think they overcomplicated the game."

Londonderry got four goals from Josh DeFranzo, including what proved to be the game-winner off an assist from Noah Malcolm midway through the third quarter. Malcolm and Brandon Savage also had goals for the Lancers while Dane Duarte played the first half and finished with six saves. Walden played the second half and also stopped six shots.

"They’ve been working hard, so they got a half each," Sampson said. "They were good about it and both are very talented. They stepped up and made quality saves."

Rhett Medling had two goals and an assist for the Panthers while Griffin Johnson, Nate Campbell and Connor Rowsell had a goal apiece. Ethan Johnson finished with eight saves.

Both teams struggled out of the gate to establish much, but Londonderry started to get opportunities on offense after the midpoint of the first quarter. DeFranzo gave the Lancers the lead with 5:03 left in the quarter and then made it 2-0 just 1:26 later, and to that point, Londonderry had outshot South 7-1.

Campbell was able to get the Panthers on the board before the end of the quarter, as his goal came with 14.4 seconds left on the clock. But Savage put the Lancers back up two goals just 1:13 into the second and DeFranzo added a manup goal a little more than two minutes later to make it 4-1.

Londonderry was able to convert a South turnover into Malcolm's goal with 3:45 left in the half, and the Lancers looked poised for more, as they kept possession after the faceoff and fired a couple of shots. But Ethan Johnson came up with a save and found Medling, who scored in transition to make it 5-2 with two minutes left in the half.

The Panthers looked like they might have picked up some momentum when the Lancers were called for a penalty with 26.9 remaining until halftime. South held on to the ball to get possession to start the third, but turned it over before the end of the manup.

South was able to answer DeFranzo's fourth goal before the end of the third quarter on Griffin Johnson's score, and Medling added another goal just 66 seconds into the fourth, making it 6-4. But the Panthers had just two shots between that and Rowsell's goal with 19.3 remaining.

"By then, we were fortunate to be in a one-goal game with 20 seconds left with how bad we played on offense," Monsen said. "To have a chance at the end was great, but our go-to guys on offense were too passive. We can’t be successful this year if that’s the case."