Offense keeps rolling as Nashua South boys lacrosse blows past Nashua North (video)

NASHUA - Bill Monsen always expects the Nashua High School South boys lacrosse team to be a little too fired up for the start of games against Nashua North.

What the Panthers coach was pleased to see Thursday was that, once the initial burst of adrenaline wore off, South was able to maintain a high level of play.

The defense kept North in check throughout, giving the offense plenty of opportunities to find the back of the net, and South outscored the Titans 9-2 in the second half on the way to a 16-3 win at Stellos Stadium.

Joe Bodi led the Panthers (4-6) with five goals while Drew Fleury added three goals and an assist and Devin Linscott and Tyler Bernard each finished with two goals and two assists.

"I thought we opened up the game and we were playing a little out of control in the first quarter," Monsen said. "I can’t complain. Overall, I thought it was a great game defensively. We shut them down and executed exactly what we talked about pregame. Offensively, we were opportunistic and possessed the ball and finished. We did all the little things."

Jaden Murphy also had a goal and an assist for South while Aidan Walsh and Joe Buturla added goals. Even goalie Nate Radin got in on the scoring, as the senior had a goal in the second quarter to make it 7-1 South, and he also stopped 13 shots.

"It was awesome," Bodi said. "The last few games have been great and there was a lot of pressure on us to come out big. We started strong and finished strong. It was a great win and feels really good."

It was the third win in a row for South after a 1-6 start to the season, and during that stretch, the Panthers have averaged 15.3 goals per game. South led 2-1 at the end of the first quarter, but it looked like the Panthers could have had more, but North goalie Ryan Palmer (14 saves) came up with several huge stops.

"Their goalie played outstanding," Monsen said. "In the beginning, he was shutting us down and making great saves. We just wore them out. We just weren’t finishing, we hit a few pipes, but their goalie made some great saves."

Troy Bottari had two goals to lead North (2-5) and Nick Riddell also had a goal while Todd Redman recorded an assist, as the senior had a tough time finding room to work against South's Jarret Bieren.

"He did an outstanding job," Monsen said. "Todd is one of the best players in the state and he didn’t score. That’s a credit to Jarrett. The unit as a whole, the communication (was good)."

South took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Bodi with 8:22 left in the first quarter and Fleury made it 2-0 with 2:23 to go until the second, but a great effort by Redman got North on the board before the end of the frame.

The Titans took a timeout with 18.8 seconds left and Redman started with the ball near midfield. He got away from three South players and outran another into the box before finding Bottari for a goal with 3.3 seconds to go.

But the second quarter belonged to South, as the Panthers outscored North 4-0 to go up by six goals at halftime. Riddell scored 47 seconds into the third quarter to make it 7-2, but South went on a 6-0 run to take a 13-2 lead with 8:04 remaining.

"Their goalie played really well right away," Bodi said. "He made some good saves. Our defense played very well and we came back. We eventually capitalized, which was good. This win means a lot for this team. It was awesome team play."