> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Seniors gearing up for one more run with Bow boys lacrosse
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/seniors-gearing-up-for-one-more-run-with-bow-boys-lacrosse/
- Published: 2026-04-15T19:17:10.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-15T19:17:10.000Z
- Description: Brad Ekstrom can lay claim to something that not a lot of other high school lacrosse players can. From the day he joined the team as a freshman at Bow, the senior has been the varsity starter in goal for the Falcons. Ekstrom wasn't the only newbie on that first day of practice. His head coach was,
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division III-IV, Bow, boys lacrosse, Division III, Falcons, NH High School Sports Insider, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

Brad Ekstrom can lay claim to something that not a lot of other high school lacrosse players can.

From the day he joined the team as a freshman at Bow, the senior has been the varsity starter in goal for the Falcons.

Ekstrom wasn't the only newbie on that first day of practice. His head coach was, too, as Devin Calkins took over the program during the offseason. And in the spring of 2023, Bow was getting ready for a season unlike any it had before.

Coming out of the lost 2020 season and the unusual year that followed in 2021, the Falcons won just two games in Division II in 2022\. It had been 12 years since the program's last championship, eight since the last playoff win, and the decision was made to not petition up for the NHIAA's next two-year cycle.

In D3 for the first time, with a new coach, and a new crop of players coming up to the program, Bow was in for some big changes.

But even with someone new leading the way, Calkins was somewhat of a familiar face.

“I think I was really lucky that, when most of these kids were in middle school and elementary school, I was working at the youth center in town, working summer camps,” he said. “So long before they got to high school, they at least knew who I was. I think coming in, they knew I was a lacrosse guy.”

Calkins played at Bow and graduated in 2012 before playing for his father, Paul, at Southern New Hampshire University, things that the new coach felt helped along the transition.

“I think that helped me gain some respect right off the bat with these guys,” he said. “My first year, we had five freshmen on the varsity team, which is, I think, a lot for most programs. So that was not a normal class by any means, and three of them were starting right away.”

That included Ekstrom, who played every meaningful varsity minute that year as the team's only goalie.

“It was crazy,” Ekstrom said. “I started playing goalie in seventh grade. I was still pretty inexperience at that time, and not being able to have a break, like, I’m getting poured on and I can’t come out. It’s crazy.”

What helped was that those younger players had the past experience of playing with each other, and they managed to make it work at the high school level.

“We’ve always been playing together,” Bow senior Sam Bennett said. “We played middle school, town, club, stuff like that, so it was nice to have a clean slate. I think that it gave everybody a refresh and everybody was going into something new. It made me a little more comfortable.”

Bow made it through the 2023 regular season undefeated at 14-0 before losing in overtime to Hopkinton in the semifinals. The next year, the Falcons made it a step further, reaching the D3 title game to mark the program's first finals appearance since 2010, but came up short against Campbell.

Last season, Bow was thwarted by Campbell again, this time in the quarterfinals in triple overtime.

“There’s nothing more frustrating in my opinion,” Ekstrom said. “Looking back on games like that, it just makes me want it even more. I think the bond we have with everyone, it’s a tight-knit group, and I think that will help us go far.”

Bennett sees those playoff experiences as something that will help the Falcons, especially the seniors, as they try to end their high school careers on a high note.

“I think it’s helped build our character, helped build our team culture,” he said. “We know how to lose, which is always a good thing. We always want to win, we always want to compete, but I think it’s definitely given us some grit. It’s helped us get a good sense of how to work harder.”

Despite some of those setbacks, Bow has prepared for this season with a drive and a positivity that has Calkins feeling like the Falcons are in a good spot as they get ready to open the regular season against Kearsarge on Wednesday.

“We’ve had (the positivity) the past few years, but I just feel like going into this year, there’s a lot of encouragement," Calkins said. "We had 48 kids come out to tryouts, including a lot of seniors who are great athletes who either have never played before, or maybe they have a family member who has played but they didn’t, and they came out.

"I’ve told our seniors to take ownership of our team this year because this group of seniors, I think they’ve seen every type of loss that could maybe ever happen. And we’ve experienced a lot of really crazy wins, too. They have a ton of playoff experience. I feel like they have seen it all, but I don’t want to speak too soon. There’s always something new to see in this sport.”