Youth movement working well so far for Nashua South girls lacrosse

MERRIMACK - Ciki McIntire knew that if the Nashua High School South girls lacrosse team was to keep up the standard it has built the last few seasons, the Panthers were going to have to put a lot on some young players.

Through two weeks of the regular season, that plan has been working just fine for the Panthers.

With wins in six of its first seven games, South (6-1, No. 8 in the New Hampshire Orthopaedic Center/NHHSSports Coaches Poll) has received more than McIntire and the coaches could have asked for from their underclassmen, a group that includes a dozen sophomores on the varsity roster.

“They’re just working hard and trying to figure it out,” McIntire said. “It’s frustrating to watch when we make the same mistakes, but they need to have growing pains in order to get better. They’ll figure it out and they’re going to figure it out.”

Leading the way offensively has been sophomore Carly Benzekri, who has 32 goals and four assists, and has served as a go-to player for the Panthers. Benzekri scored in the fifth overtime for South in a win over Windham on April 22, and followed it up the next day with the game-winner late to beat Merrimack.

“We’re putting a lot of heat on Carly’s shoulders and she’s handling it like a champ,” McIntire said. “She’s such a good team player. She’s always looking for other people.”

The third of three siblings, Benzekri’s older brother, Tyler, is a senior defender for the South boys team, while their older sister, Ella, was a four-year starter for the Panthers who graduated in 2024 and now plays at Stony Brook University.

Although she never played with her sister, Carly Benzekri saw how she became a leader for South and has tried to do the same this season.

“I’ve kind of just embraced it because a lot of my teammates are young,” she said. “We’re all at that same kind of level of wanting to learn and work well together.”

Fellow sophomores Lexi McGuire and Briley Landsteiner have provided South with other scoring options to take some of the pressure off Benzekri, while senior Wylie Hart has been a steadying presence for the Panthers.

Meanwhile, the defense received a lift in the preseason when senior Nicole De Jesus, a first-team all-state player for the South girls basketball team, decided to give lacrosse a try this spring. She’s teamed with juniors Karina Santana and Nitzann Alkalay, who also plays basketball, and sophomore goalie Emma Herlihy to help the Panthers hold opponents to an average of 5.1 goals so far this year.

“It helps to have a lot of basketball players on the team because they have been in situations like (against Windham and Merrimack),” said McIntire, who is an assistant coach for the basketball team. “It’s not pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but they’re finding ways.”

Against Merrimack, it looked for a while like some of that good fortune might run out.

After the Panthers were leading 4-2 midway through the second quarter, the Tomahawks went on a 3-0 run to go up 5-4 at halftime, and Merrimack was able to stay a goal ahead throughout the third quarter.

South tied the game on a goal by Olivia St. Hilaire less than a minute into the fourth to tie the game 7-7, but a bad turnover on a clear was scooped up by Merrimack's Jackie Hayes, and she scored with 9:05 left to put the Tomahawks up 8-7.

Merrimack won the ensuing draw, and looked to take some time off the clock, but South's defense forced a turnover, and with 5:48 to play, McGuire converted a pass from Benzekri to tie the game again.

The Panthers controled the draw this time, but a shot by South was off the mark, and the Tomahawks won the chase. But like the Panthers earlier in the quarter, Merrimack was unable to clear the ball, and Benzekri got the groundball and raced in for the winning goal with 4:29 to play.

“I noticed they were struggling to clear the ball, so I marked up on one of their middies,” Benzekri said. “When the ball went over the girl, I kind of just boxed out and went towards it, and then went straight to the goal because I saw that lane.”

The Panthers won the draw again and were able to run off enough the remaining time to hang on for the win.