Sabers go down to the wire in lacrosse opener

AMHERST -The Souhegan High School girls lacrosse team dropped a nail-biter to Exeter on Monday, falling 8-7 in the Division I season opener for both teams.

Chelsea Larivee and Meggie Whitney had three goals and an assist each for the Sabers (0-1), who held a 2-0 lead for most of the first half, but struggled to slow down the Blue Hawks' offense in the second.

Exeter got three goals and an assist from Erica Estey and Amanda Floodstrom added three goals of her own, including the game-winner.

"I think I had a heart attack and came back to life," Exeter coach Megan Reddy said of the down-to-the-wire finish. "I took a lot of deep breaths today."

Souhegan was able to score twice on its first three trips into the Exeter end of the field, thanks to a deliberate approach on offense. While the Hawks were moving all over the offensive zone when they had the ball, the Sabers slowed down the pace, and held the ball behind the Exeter goal until the perfect situation presented itself.

That pace worked for Souhegan - which got early goals from Larivee and Whitney for a 2-0 lead - until there were about seven minutes left in the half.

Exeter scored three times in 1:11 to take 3-2 lead, but Souhegan answered on a goal by Greta Dupuis a minute later to tie the game. The Hawks scored again just before halftime to lead 4-3 at the break.

"I think in the first half we just weren’t passing and catching like we’re supposed to be doing," Souhegan coach Maren Petropulos said. "Second half, we did that a little better. They’re a fast team. They were a fast team last year and they didn’t lose many kids. We knew we had to slow it down on our end when we could control it."

The Sabers successful controlled the ball to start the second half, but a miscue allowed the Hawks to race down the field and make it a 5-3 game on a goal by Floodstrom with 20:47 left in the game.

Souhegan answered a few minutes later on a goal by Whitney, but Exeter came right back less than a minute later. Estey made it a 6-4 lead with 16:33 to play.

Again, the Sabers came back, and again, Exeter scored to go back up by two with 12:45 to play. Exactly two minutes later, Larivee scored her third goal of the game to make it 7-6, and this time, Souhegan held Exeter from scoring.

The Sabers took control of the tempo with about seven minutes left, keeping play in Exeter's end while they fought for the tying goal. Whitney finally did so, scoring her third of the game with less than two minutes to play to tie it at 7.

But Exeter marched down the field one more time, with Floodstrom scoring the game-winner with less than a minute remaining in the game.

Ali Sagon and Mattison King had an assist each and goalie Alexa Katsigianis made 14 saves for Souhegan.

"They learn a lot from this," Petropulos said. "We need a little bit more confidence out there. We have a game on Friday and we’ll go from there."

The Sabers go on the road for the first time this season, as they'll play at Manchester West on Friday.