Pregame talk does the trick as Exeter boys lacrosse rolls past Souhegan (video)

AMHERST - When the Exeter High School boys lacrosse team got off the bus Thursday at Souhegan, coach Gerry Holly did not like what he saw.

A long bus ride for an mid-afternoon game during spring vacation week had the Blue Hawks looking a little uninspired when they arrived, and Holly felt he needed to get his players refocused.

Whatever the coach said worked, as Exeter jumped out to a three-goal lead before Souhegan was able to set up its offense, led by as many as 10 goals in the second quarter and cruised to an 18-8 win over the Sabers in a Division I game.

Spencer Clark had six goals and an assist to lead the Blue Hawks (5-2, No. 3 in the NHHSS Coaches Poll) while Wyatt Carr had three goals and two assists and Connor Flanagan added three goals and had a big day at the faceoff-x.

"I thought when we got off the bus, we weren’t ready to play," Holly said. "I didn’t like how we came off the bus and I tried to have a good conversation with them, reestablish the focus and set the tone early. I think that changed their mindset and we had a good start.

"Sometimes vacation weeks can be tough. The kids are off all day and it can be hard, so I thought a little focus meeting might not be a bad idea in that situation."

Teagan Coute added two goals and Dayton Christenson had two assists for Exeter while Jake Mantell (assist), Hayden Lechner, Ryan Scherpf and Nick Lorenz chipped in a goal apiece. Henry Vogt made seven saves through three quarters and Solomon Herring came on in the fourth and made one save.

Souhegan (3-3, No. 7) got two goals and an assist from Curtis Redd while Tyler Hall also had two goals. Riley Lawhorn added a goal and an assist and Nick Jordan and Julian Whittier chipped in with a goal.

But the Sabers weren't able to get on the board until 4:59 remained in the second quarter, and by then, Exeter had already put up 10 goals. Flanagan won the first three faceoffs of the game to help the Blue Hawks take a 3-0 lead with 5:04 left in the first, before Souhegan had been able to attempt a shot.

"They are very hard to defend," Souhegan coach Keith Bertrand said. "They are solid. They don’t drop the ball, they’re so organized offensively. We didn’t do a good job of getting on their hands and trying to force the issue. We made them very comfortable and they were able to dodge on us and find room. Next thing you know, we’re down and trying to claw back into it. You’re not going to win many games doing that."

Exeter added three goals in a span of 46 seconds at the end of the first to take a 6-0 lead after one, and the Blue Hawks tacked on two more goals in the first 1:02 of the second to go up 8-0 and force Souhegan to take a timeout.

"I felt like (Thursday), we really put together what we do in practice," Clark said. "We put stuff in, but we don’t always use it in games or follow through on it, but (Thursday), we followed through."

Holly agreed that the win over the Sabers was his team's best showing so far this season.

"I thought (Thursday) was our best overall effort as a team," Holly said. "We transitioned well on fast break, I thought we transitioned well on slow break. The ball moved. The good thing is we don’t really drop off much (on attack) between four, five and six. We kept rotating guys through and I think it matters when you have that depth. It keeps everybody pushing harder in games and in practices."

Souhegan looked like it might grab some momentum going into the half, when goalie John Lohnes made a save and hit Jack Manning in stride to start a breakout. Manning found Redd near the goal and he beat Vogt to make it 11-2 with 10.9 seconds left until halftime.

But Flanagan won the faceoff clean and rifled a shot high, just under the crossbar, to get Exeter's lead back up to 10 with 4.5 seconds remaining.

The teams traded goals throughout the second half, with the Blue Hawks extending their lead to as many as 12 and never letting Souhegan get closer than nine goals.