Late Exeter goal cages Huskies

It was a gorgeous day for a lacrosse game as it finally felt like springtime in New Hampshire. After a long week of rest, the New Hampton Huskies eagerly took the field against the Big Red of Exeter. This was a tight game last year, down to the last goal, and this year proved to be no different. It was all Husky to start the game as Matt '19 put his face-off practice to good use and dominated the early draws giving the guys in green excellent opportunities to start the game. Good ball movement, tight defense, and lots of quality back and forth lacrosse ensued. Ian '20 stood tall in net and T.J. '21 and Mason '19 used their speed to keep excellent defensive positioning and force turnovers. There were noticeable improvements in all facets of our game. Excellent communication on defense limited the shots Exeter could take, leading to good saves and an immediate turn around in transition, a team kryptonite in the past 3 games. These transitions allowed for our offense to move the ball, another improvement on previous games, and wait for high percentage shots. It was great to see but we also came up against a goalie who seemed to be everywhere and even when not getting a clean save, still deflected the ball away from danger. A back and forth game, there was never a lead of more than a goal and both teams kept pressing. Entering the 4th quarter all knotted up at 4-4 both teams knew what they needed to do to win. Unfortunately for the good guys, tired legs led to some sloppy defense and we took a few penalties that allowed Exeter to press the advantage. Scoring late in the quarter to go up by one, New Hampton took another penalty and allowed Exeter to possess the ball and run out the clock with their lead intact. Not the outcome we were hoping for, but a game that had been a long time coming in terms of things coming together for this group of young men. We recoup over the weekend and then take to the field against the Cardigan Cougars on Monday. We hope to take this momentum into the game into the remaining games in our season!