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# Nashua South boys lacrosse holds off Winnacunnet to open with a win
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/nashua-south-boys-lacrosse-holds-off-winnacunnet-to-open-with-a-win/
- Published: 2019-04-11T14:11:55.000Z
- Updated: 2019-04-11T14:11:55.000Z
- Description: NASHUA - The clock needed to run faster for the Nashua High School South boys lacrosse team. After going up by as many as six goals in the second half, the Panthers had watched Winnacunnet cut the lead down to one in the fourth quarter with under 10 minutes to play. With all the momentum on the Warr
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Spring Sports, boys lacrosse, Division I, Division II, Nashua South, slider, Winnacunnet, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

NASHUA - The clock needed to run faster for the Nashua High School South boys lacrosse team.

After going up by as many as six goals in the second half, the Panthers had watched Winnacunnet cut the lead down to one in the fourth quarter with under 10 minutes to play. With all the momentum on the Warriors' side, South was just looking to possess the ball and bleed a little time.

But when an opening presented itself, Jaden Murphy took advantage, not once, not twice, but three times.

Murphy scored three of his game-high six goals in a span of 2:17 in the fourth quarter to turn South's one-goal lead into a comfortable advantage and the Panthers held on for a 15-11 win over the Warriors at Stellos Stadium.

The South sophomore also had five assists to lead his team, while Drew Fleury had three goals and an assist and Dom Pasquale made 10 saves as the Panthers (1-0) opened the season with a win.

"Considering it was our first game, I’m happy with our overall performance," South coach Bill Monsen said. "I think in spurts, you definitely saw that it was the first game of the year. We took our foot off the gas and kind of lost sight of what got us here.

South (No. 9 in the NHHSS Coaches Poll) led 3-2 at the end of the first quarter and broke open the game with five straight goals in the second. Up 8-3 at halftime, the Panthers stretched the lead to 10-4 with 5:54 remaining in the third before Winnacunnet (0-1, ARV) went on its run.

"What happened was exactly what this team needed, they needed to face some adversity," Monsen said. "We’ve done really well all preseason and we needed this, we needed someone to hit us back. Winnacunnet did that. It’s a credit to this year’s group of kids because they don’t stop fighting. In years past, we might have let them take the lead."

Connor Rowsell added two goals and three assists for South and Jordan Bodwell had two goals and two assists. Joe Bodi added a goal and Jaiden Dupont also scored, while helping the Panthers win 20 of 29 faceoffs.

Winnacunnet got three goals and three assists from Ben Merrick while Tyler Hoar (assist) and Jack Ellis also had three goals apiece. Gavin O'Hara and Nick Merrick also scored while sophomore goalie Carter Renaud made six saves in his first varsity start for the Warriors, who were playing without their top three long poles.

"The first half, he stood pretty tall," Winnacunnet coach Patrick Snow said. "He’s a sophomore, so we’re hoping he can continue to get better. We’re a very young group on the defensive end. All four long poles out there (Wednesday) had never played in a varsity game. I thought they hung incredibly tough."

After falling behind by six late in the third, the Warriors were able to step up on defense and started to win some faceoffs to keep the ball away from the Panthers. Winnacunnet got goals from Ellis, Hoar and O'Hara in the final 4:43 of the third to make it a 10-7 game going into the final 12 minutes.

Ellis made it 10-8 just 42 seconds into the final quarter, and after a South turnover, Ben Merrick made it a one-goal game with 9:37 to play.

South won the ensuing faceoff and missed on a pair of shots, but Murphy's low shot from the right of the goal got by Renaud to make it 11-9 with 8:57 to go. Murphy then added two goals in 40 seconds, giving South a 13-9 lead with 6:40 to play.

"After a timeout (early in the fourth quarter), Jaden asked ‘if I see it, can I just take it’ and I said ‘yeah,'" Monsen said. "Let’s just possess it and take the air out a little, slow down their momentum, especially because they were in a zone. Jaden just saw an opening and just took it."