Souhegan girls lacrosse rolls to win over Londonderry (video)

AMHERST - As the regular season has moved along, McKinley Sbordone has seen her Souhegan High School girls lacrosse team continue to progress.

As the Sabers enter the final week before the postseason, they look like they're just about where their coach thought they could be.

Souhegan played well all around the field Friday, controlling possession, limiting chances on defense and getting plenty of scoring in a 17-6 win over Londonderry in a Division I game.

Mackenzie Cretsinger led the Sabers (11-3, No. 4 in the NHHSSports Coaches Poll) with seven goals, including a run of five straight over the final 13 minutes of the first half to help Souhegan take control of the game.

Elle Stevenson added four goals and two assists and Emma Kenney had three goals and an assist, as Souhegan scored nine straight goals to turn what had been a 1-1 game into a comfortable lead.

"This is a game that mattered for us because we need to keep pace for the playoffs," Sbordone said. "Really excited to see what the matchup looked like, especially on the draw. It was senior day, so it was nice that our seniors on the field were huge contributors. It was great to see they had great games, too. It’s nice to see that we just keep climbing and that we’re not seeing any setbacks."

Natalie Heimarck also had two goals and an assist while Lyla Kimball had a goal and Riley Devine had two assists. Shannon Hargreaves made 11 saves.

Londonderry (8-7) got two goals and two assists from Caroline Leone and Tara Wright had two goals and a helper. Lauren Allen and Ava Naar each scored, but the Lancers struggled at times to get the ball away from the Sabers and the extended time on defense was tough.

"I think that definitely, especially with the defense, you get tired," Londonderry coach Kelly Gordon said. "We had opportunities on offense that we couldn’t capitalize on and we ended up playing a lot of D. With lower numbers, I’ve just got to keep them out there. I think that made the second half hard to hang in there. We had our moments, but we couldn’t be as consistent in the second half as we would have liked."

Despite that, Gordon feels good about where the Lancers are heading into the final week, where they have games against Dover, Nashua South and Exeter.

"I think we are headed in the right direction," Gordon said. "I think about where we were in the beginning of the season and then (Friday). The defense played awesome even when they were tired and I was proud of the way they stepped it up. Our transition have come a long way. It’s about cleaning up the offense and I think where we’ll need to be."

For Souhegan, seeing so many of the seniors play well in their final home game was a reward for Sbordone. That included Cretsinger, who has come on as a second scoring option for the Sabers behind Stevenson.

"(Stevenson) is obviously one of our strongest players, but we’re seeing how she can be a contributor taking a lot of the defense," Sbordone said. "She’s really owned that role of drawing the best defender, and she’s likely drawing two people, so it’s opening up holes for the offense.

"That’s hard for a player to recognize because you’re not necessarily the one finishing the play, but you’re creating it. She’s done a good job of doing that. Other girls have been able to rise and own that. We’ve got seven contributing on our offense, which is nice to see, because you can’t defend that."

Souhegan has now won eight games in a row to give itself a shot at one of the top seeds in the division. The Sabers finished the year with games at Nashua North and at Portsmouth next week.