Merrimack girls lacrosse buys in, rallies to beat Concord
Merrimack High School girls lacrosse coach Sarah Rothhaus said the Tomahawks have struggled at times this season to have confidence in themselves.
CONCORD – Merrimack High School girls lacrosse coach Sarah Rothhaus said the Tomahawks have struggled at times this season to have confidence in themselves. That was not an issue for her team Wednesday.
The Tomahawks (8-5) roared back from an early three-goal deficit to defeat Concord, 17-9, at Memorial Field.
Becca Proulx scored with 13:19 left in the first half to give the Crimson Tide (6-5) a 4-1 lead. During a timeout shortly after Proulx’s tally, Rothhaus talked to her players about settling down and believing in themselves.
Rothhaus’ message resonated with her players.
Mel Hutchinson scored with 12:33 remaining in the half to begin a 7-1 run that gave Merrimack a 8-5 advantage at halftime. The Tomahawks’ momentum carried over into the second half, where they scored the first three goals out of halftime and limited Concord to just four tallies.
“I think (the players) felt really confident,” Rothhaus said. “I felt confident in them as well. I know how they can play and I’ve seen it in practices and other games. They definitely came out today.”
As the Tomahawks’ built their momentum, Concord coach Steph Johnson said her team could not find a way to create any of its own.
“When (Merrimack) got those goals and their momentum picked up, ours either stayed the same or dropped,” Johnson said.
The tandem of Delana Erickson and Olivia Branch gave Concord a 9-4 edge on the draw in the second half but it was not able to turn that success into goals. The Crimson Tide trailed by at least three and as many as nine goals over the final 25 minutes.
Johnson said Concord made small errors throughout the second half that prevented it from getting back in the game.
“We had a lot of little things happening like missed passes, catches, that kind of thing,” Johnson said. “I think when that happened for us, (Merrimack was) able to capitalize on it. Basically, that’s how they ended up with that momentum and getting goals.”
Hutchinson finished with a game-high five goals and Amber Brewster added three of her own for the Tomahawks. Teammates Molly Baulier, Jenna Chambers and Jolie Jacoby each scored twice. Sydney Dubois, Kaitlyn Cota and Megan Dinsmore all tallied a goal for the Tomahawks.
Merrimack goalie Bella Beaton made 11 saves. Hutchinson, Baulier and Sam Page combined for 10 draw controls.
Proulx, Erickson, Nicole Toler and Jess Nelson each registered two goals for the Crimson Tide. Christina Soule scored once and Fabi McLeod made four saves for Concord.
Erickson and Branch combined for 17 draw controls.
“I feel we did let up a couple times and they were able to capitalize,” Johnson said. “When (Merrimack) got those extra goals, we didn’t quite step up when we needed to to be able to pull through in that sense.”
