Souhegan boys lacrosse overcomes slow start to beat Nashua South

AMHERST - The regular season did not get off to a great start Monday for the Souhegan High School boys lacrosse team.

Despite a slow start, and an incorrectly painted home field, the Sabers were still able to power their way to a 15-6 win over Nashua South in the first Division I game of the season for both teams.

Mitch Hale led the way for Souhegan (1-0), scoring six goals, while Mack Walker added two goals and three assists. Joe Nutting (assist) and Blake Burnley also had two goals in the win, while Nick King made 11 saves.

Also scoring for the Sabers were Brandon Cray (three assists), Chayne Horton (two assists) and Alex Kuhnert, who had a goal each.

"We came out a little flatter than we wanted, but I figured we would because we haven't been outside as much as we wanted," Souhegan coach Brad Bishop said. "The second quarter was good, we started moving a little bit."

A seven-goal second quarter helped the Sabers overcome their slow start to the game, which was their first time on their field with lines on it. That showed in more ways than one, as the grounds crew painted some lines incorrectly.

"We just got the lines on 20 minutes before the game started," Bishop said. "We came out and the box was 10 yards too short, so we had to widen it out. Thankfully we don't have a turf field and they're not out there permanently."

South got two goals each from Max Serra and Jesse Clause, while Russell Applegate and Zach Anzel had a goal apiece. Brian McKinley made 15 saves, with most of those coming in the first quarter when Souhegan was able to maintain possession for long periods of time.

Even though the Sabers were able to control the ball, they only led 3-0 at the end of one quarter.

"I felt very good (after the first quarter), considering the fact that we didn't have the ball," South coach Bill Monsen said. "We were killing ourselves in transition and the sign of a young team is what happens in transition. If you keep passing the ball away, to only be down 3-0, that's on the work of the middies to hustle back and on Brian McKinley playing out of his mind in net."

Souhegan put in seven goals in the second, including four straight in just 1:22 to go up 9-2, and the Sabers led 10-3 at halftime. The lead grew to eight 25 seconds into the third quarter, but South scored twice to make it an 11-5 game with 6:06 left in the frame.

A goal by Walker under a minute later made the Souhegan lead seven again, and the Sabers started working on some new things in their offense and took a few too many penalties.

"We spent a lot of time in the box, so we've got to calm everyone down," Bishop said. "They scored a lot of their goals off mistakes we made, whether our head wasn't looking the right direction, or a sloppy clear, so we gave up a lot of goals that we shouldn't normally give up. I think six-on-six, we played great. Man-down, we gave up two or three goals."

Monsen saw things that he liked from the Panthers (0-1) despite the loss.

"Given the experience, I thought considering who they were up against, and the talent that Souhegan has, I thought they played well," Monsen said. "There's a lot that we can take out of it that's positive. That's what I was reminding them after. As tough as I am on them during the game, and as much as I don't want to hear excuses, I also am the first one that will tell them that we've got a long way to go. Our foundation is strong, we get to play them again, and I think we'll be a different team then."

Souhegan is back in action on Thursday at Salem, while South is off until April 21, when it hosts Windham.