Pair of comebacks helps lift Souhegan girls lacrosse past Nashua South (video)

NASHUA - There a few factors that went into the Souhegan High School girls lacrosse team's win Saturday over Nashua South.

But perhaps the biggest one was how the Sabers handled each team's free position opportunities.

Souhegan scored seven goals on free positions, including two on each of the Sabers' momentum-swinging runs, while limiting South to just two free position goals on the way to a 12-10 win over the Panthers in a Division I game at Stellos Stadium.

The Sabers went on a 4-0 run at the end of the first half to tie the game at 6, and after the Panthers retook the lead early in the second, Souhegan used a 6-0 run to take command. Both runs were started by two free position goals less than a minute apart.

"We played with a lot of heart (Saturday)," Souhegan coach McKinley Sbordone said. "We did a great job drawing them (free positions) to get on the line. I was so impressed with our second-half shooting. The last two minutes of the first half and the whole second half, we were staying with the game plan. We were looking at what was working and able to execute. Really good win for us."

Mackenzie Cretsinger led the Sabers (4-3, No. 6 in the NHHSSports Coaches Poll) with four goals while Natalie Heimarck scored three. The two scored just 32 seconds apart late in the first half to start Souhegan's run.

Elle Stevenson added two goals and an assist and Lyla Kimball also scored twice while Emma Kennedy had a goal and an assist. Shannon Hargreaves finished with 13 saves, one of which came in the second half on a point-blank shot by South's Ella Benzekri that kept the Panthers from breaking up the Sabers' run.

"Free positions absolutely killed us (Saturday), just trying to clean up the fouls," South coach Ciki McIntire said. "That and we just kept shooting right into Shannon’s stick. We probably had five shots right into her stick. If we can just place those a little bit better, maybe we can get the score the other way."

Benzekri led the Panthers (7-1, No. 7) with four goals and an assist while Maren Lowell had two goals and two assists and Kaitlyn West had a goal and three assists. Maddy Matylewski chipped in with two goals and Kylie Dawe also scored while Keira Walsh made six saves.

Souhegan got out to a 2-1 lead early on goals by Stevenson and Cretsinger, but South answered just 1:05 later, tying it on a goal by Benzekri.

That started a 5-0 run for the Panthers that saw them take a 6-2 lead on a goal by Lowell with 9:17 left in the first half.

"Right off the bat, they were killing us on the draw and dump," Sbordone said. "We changed some of our matchups and we were able to be more confident with our 1-vs- 1 defense. Try to stay on that person who was looking for that draw. They made an amazing adjustment. They have great players, really smart attackers."

With just over two minutes to go in the half, Souhegan got out in transition and Heimarck was awarded a free position that she finished to make it 6-3 with 2:16 left in the half. Cretsinger scored with 1:44 to go in the half and Heimarck added another goal with 28.5 remaining to cut the lead to one.

Kimball tied the game at the buzzer, scoring to make it 6-6 going into the break.

"Their four goals at the end of the first half killed us," McIntire said. "I think we were all right going into the second half, and we knew it was going to be a game. I’m just proud of the way they competed."

South went back in front just 1:41 into the second half, as Dawe scored to make it 7-6. The Panthers won the draw, got a good look, but Hargreaves made the save.

A turnover on the clear gave South the ball back, and after McKenzie Berry drew a yellow card, Lowell scored to make it 8-6 with 19:50 remaining in the second half.

But after that, momentum swung as quickly as Souhegan winning the next draw. Heimarck scored just 48 seconds after Lowell's goal to make it a one-goal game, and that started a four-goal run by the Sabers over the next 1:55 to make it a 10-8 lead for Souhegan.

South was able to draw out possessions after that, but twice, Panthers turnovers allowed the Sabers to get out in transition, leading to free-position goals by Kennedy and Stevenson to give Souhegan a 12-8 lead with 6:10 remaining.

The Panthers weren't done. After getting a stop on defense, West scored with 3:06 left to cut the lead to three, and after South won the draw, Benzekri scored with just under two minutes to play, making it a two-goal game.

But Souhegan got the draw and was able to run out the clock to hang on for the win.

"They proved that they can compete with Souhegan," McIntire said. "That game could have gone either way. They got the momentum swing toward the end of the first half, and we started to swing it a little bit the other way. They can compete, and looking around the circle, they’re not happy with the loss."