Londonderry holds off Concord to win third straight title

MANCHESTER – It all came down to a final shot Monday night in the Division I high school girls lacrosse final between Londonderry and Concord at Southern New Hampshire University.

Hard to believe after the way the Lancers had dominated the first half.

But with 21 seconds left and the Crimson Tide down by one goal, Concord’s Jenna Tewksbury had a free possession right in front of Londonderry goalie Sarah Ford. Tewksbury’s shot went right into the netting of Ford’s stick and the Lancers cleared the ball, hanging on to a 10-9 win over Concord.

The win was the 52^nd in a row for Londonderry against New Hampshire opponents and the third straight championship for the Lancers.

Jennifer Thompson led the Lancers (16-0) with five goals and Alex Bedell added two scores as Londonderry got out to a 4-0 lead a little more than four minutes into the game, and was up 9-4 with 10:32 to play.

But as Londonderry coach Bob Slater expected, Concord mounted a comeback and the Lancers caught a bad break, as midfielder Kaitlyn Holland was lost for the game with an ankle injury with more than nine minutes left to play.

“This team has been about heart from Day 1,” Slater said. “They gave everything they had, and losing one of their captains, the top defender in the state, takes a lot of courage. Concord is a heck of a team and you can’t take anything away from them. It’s a good thing we took control of the game in the beginning.”

The Lancers jumped out in a hurry, thanks to their ability to control the draw and some bad positioning for Concord (14-4). The Crimson Tide had to defend the Eastern side of the field for the first half, meaning goalie Haley Schermerhorn was forced to look into the setting sun for the early portion of the game.

“You hate to make excuses, but our goalie had the sun directly in her eyes, which is unfortunate,” Concord coach Terry Anderson said. “She couldn’t see anything. Someone had to have it.”

The Tide finally got on the board on a goal from Jane Symmes, who led Concord with five scores, to make it 4-1 with 19:46 to play. Concord won the draw after that and managed to control the ball for the next six minutes.

During that stretch, the Tide got a couple of shots on goal, but Ford came up with a stop each time.

“She was big in the first half on point-blank shots and that one at the end,” Slater said. “She had to step up a week ago for our starting goalie, who for unfortunate reasons had to be released. For her to come in and come in big tonight speaks high volumes for that young lady.”

The Lancers continued to pour it on in the first half, going up 7-1 with 6:26 to play, but Symmes got Concord its second goal with four minutes left. The Tide might have had more, but Ford came up with two more saves in the final minute to keep it a five-goal game at the half.

In the second half, Londonderry tried at times to stall and slow down the game, and it worked for the first 12 minutes of the half. After Thompson gave the Lancers a 9-4 lead with 10:32 to play, Anderson took a timeout and the Tide regrouped.

Caroline Connolly scored for Concord with 9:48 left as Holland was hurt trying to defend on the play. Symmes added another goal three minutes later to make it 9-6, but was given a yellow card a few moments later.

With Symmes on the sideline, the Tide killed off the penalty, and with 3:19 left, Connolly scored to make it 9-7.

“They got the ball a little more than we did in the second half,” Slater said. “We took care of it in the first half and I think we were over-aggressive and had a few more fouls to give them momentum. They won a couple more draws than we did in the second half.

“You lose a player like (Holland), that can flip the game upside-down in minutes. We brought a girl in who hasn’t played in two weeks to be a defensive midfielder and she stepped up to the plate.”

Thompson answered for Londonderry, making it 10-7 with 2:09 to play, but Concord came right back, getting goals from Symmes and Meghan Golde, the second of which made it 10-9 with 59 seconds left in the game. Londonderry called for a timeout and Anderson used the stoppage to set up a final play for his team.

“We still had plenty of time,” he said. “It comes down to some simple stuff. At that point, with a minute left, you need to get the ball. You  need to recognize the time that you have to execute. You can’t rush it, but at the same time, you can’t take your time.

“We talked about needing the ball and then create an iso or some movement to the goal so someone could get a shot. Kind of scripted it almost the way we wanted it.”

Concord got the ball and was in position to score when Tewksbury was given the free possession.

“It makes me feel great that they were able to hang in and fight and come back the way they did,” Anderson said. “They believe in themselves and I think that’s the best part of it. They knew they could do it, they just dug themselves that hole. It’s tough to come back against a team like Londonderry.”