Souhegan gets plenty of contributions to beat Nashua South in D1 girls lacrosse quarterfinals (video)

AMHERST - When the Souhegan High School girls lacrosse team faced Nashua South in the regular season, it was a group trying to get itself on track.

When the two teams met Wednesday in the Division I quarterfinals, the Sabers were not only on that track, but they made sure they continued going.

No. 4 Souhegan got goals from six players, including four each from Elle Stevenson and Mackenzie Cretsinger, and never looked back in a 16-8 win over No. 5 South. The victory sends the Sabers to the semifinals, where they will face No. 1 Bishop Guertin at 7 p.m. Saturday at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter.

"We came out, I think the biggest thing is, we had so many people who were contributing and following the game plan," Souhegan coach McKinley Sbordone said. "We had six different goal scorers and we dominated on the draw. That made a big difference in terms of possession. Our defense was lockdown. We knew matching up against them who their key players were and our defense did a good job."

Emma Kennedy added three goals and four assists for Souhegan (13-4, No. 5 in the NHHSSports Coaches Poll) while Lyla Kimball and Natalie Heimarck each had two goals and Maddie Lim also scored.

Shannon Hargreaves finished with nine saves while Sierra Kimball, Alice Serbin and Alison Jordan combined for six groundballs and five caused turnovers, helping to slow down a Panthers team that averaged 13 goals per game during the regular season.

"I think team defense was our biggest advantage, but Sierra Kimball shut down Ella Benzekri for the most part," Sbordone said. "That was her matchup and she was a wall there. Our slides and our team defense was what changed our game."

Benzekri finished with three goals, Kaitlyn West scored twice and Kylie Dawe, Maren Lowell and Morgan Uzdanovich had a goal apiece. Kiera Walsh finished with seven saves, but the Panthers struggles on the draw hurt them in the first half and led to Souhegan taking a 10-3 lead into halftime.

"We’ve been down before and been able to come back," South coach Ciki McIntire said. "I think it was just off the draw. I think in the first half, we maybe won three draws and we scored three goals. That was the hard part.

"It looked like our defense was just getting a little confused with off-ball cutters, which is something we’ve struggled with all season. I don’t know if they were in their heads because it’s a tournament game, but I was just proud of the way they kept fighting until the end. I had some kids just leave it all out on the field and that’s all I can ask."

It looked like South (13-5, No. 6) had taken an early lead when Lowell found the back of the net, but the goal was waved off on a Souhegan foul and Lowell's free-position attempt hit the post. The Sabers got the groundball and went the other way, getting a goal from Stevenson with 18:38 remaining in the half to take a 1-0 lead.

Souhegan put in two more goals before Benzekri got the Panthers on the board, making it 3-1 with 12:30 remaining until halftime, but the Sabers took over after that.

With Stevenson taking the draw, Souhegan won four straight, leading to four goals for the Sabers in just 1:40, turning it into a 7-1 lead and forcing South to take a timeout with 9:39 left in the half.

"She’s become a master at it," Sbordone said of Stevenson's ability on the draw. "She’s able to identify who it’s going to on the circle, which makes a huge advantage, knowing who is going to be able to get that jump on it. Elle was fantastic. Mackenzie (Cretsinger) was amazing getting those 50-50 balls."

After West got one back for the Panthers, Stevenson scored her fourth goal of the game - and the 100th of her high school career - to make it 8-2 with 6:01 left in the half.

Cretsinger scored all four of her goals in the second half, including two in the first 3:16, to give the Sabers a 12-3 lead. Benzekri got one back right away for the Panthers, but South couldn't get any closet than eight goals the rest of the way.

"We felt prepared, but then things start not going our way," McIntire said. "That’s something we’ve got to work on, to keep a positive mentality and keep competing."

While South will lost 10 seniors, many of their contributors will return next year, and McIntire hopes this result will help fuel them for 2023.

"Hopefully, they can remember what this feels like and it will fuel them for the future," the coach said. "A lot of them play in the summer, which is good. It’s good that I have so many competitive kids who want to come back and fight. The seniors just left it all on the field."