Second-half rally leads Exeter boys lacrosse to win over Souhegan

AMHERST – The Exeter High School boys lacrosse team needed something to wake it up during Monday’s game against Souhegan.

The Blue Hawks trailed the Sabers into the third quarter, and were staring at a 0-3 start to the season, when all of a sudden, something clicked.

Down 7-6 with 5:13 left in the third, Exeter scored eight straight goals in a little more than eight minutes to take a 14-7 lead and held on to beat Souhegan 14-10 in a Division I game.

Donnie Litzleman led the way for the Blue Hawks (1-2), scoring four goals – three of which came in the second half – while Jimmy Young and Galen Antolino each had three goals.

Jamie Vogt also had two goals for Exeter, and it was his second of the game that started the Blue Hawks on their 8-0 run.

“I thought we were flat until probably halfway through the third,” Exeter coach Gerry Holly said. “We played a solid fourth quarter. Not a lot of energy and I thought they outplayed us and outworked us. They looked like they wanted it more than us for the first 24 or 36 minutes of the game. I’m glad we finally put it together and got a little run in there.

“I don’t know what it was that got the momentum going in our favor. It could have been some of the captains. You could see those guys working hard out there. Maybe they just finally woke up.”

After losing second-half leads in losses to Bishop Guertin and Bedford to open the season, pulling out a win in this one was huge for Exeter.

“Huge, especially when we have Salem and then Pinkerton coming up Saturday,” Holly said. “You don’t want to be staring at 0-4 or 1-5 in the face. I’m glad we battled through.”

Souhegan got five goals and two assists from Blake Brunley while Mitchell Hale had two goals and three assists and MacKenna Walker scored three times for the Sabers (2-1). Nicholas King made 13 saves, including a couple down the stretch that kept Souhegan’s chances alive.

Down by seven with 8:55 to play, the Sabers were able to cut into the lead, scoring three in a row, but Souhegan didn’t have enough left in the tank to get any closer.

“We had a lot of heart out there, but unfortunately, we had a little bit of a drought in the third (quarter),” Souhegan coach Brad Bishop said. “They made that run and it took us a little more to get back and play defense. We just didn’t have enough left in the tank to get the lead back. They’ll learn from this. And we get to play Exeter again.”

The teams play on May 10 in Exeter. Both teams are back in action on Thursday, as Souhegan hosts Concord and Exeter hosts Salem.