Girls' Lacrosse: Souhegan claims Div. I title

MANCHESTER – Wearing a wide smile, Maren Petropulos watched her Sabers celebrate last night like they claimed their first girls' lacrosse crown.

The postgame scene witnessed by the Souhegan High of Amherst head coach wasn't entirely inaccurate.

Top-seeded Souhegan officially secured its second Division I title in the program's 13-year history with a 15-7 triumph over third-ranked Londonderry High. The outcome at Manchester Memorial's Chabot-McDonough Field, however, set off the Sabers' first season-ending celebration since 2003.

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At that time, Souhegan's nine soon-to-be graduating seniors were middle-schoolers.

Yet the Sabers -- tormented by late-round tournament losses from 2004-07 -- left their less-than-pleasant postseason lax legacy in the past. Fueled by last year's surprise 10-7 title-game loss to Nashua South, the Sabers dismissed all challengers en route to a 15-0 D-I campaign.

"What we just did (last night) has been a goal in the back of our minds. We never said anything about it. We took one step at a time," said smiling senior midfielder Tyler Petropulos, who scored a game-high eight points (three goals, five assists). "But that's definitely been on the back of our minds because of what happened last year. And we finally got it."

Souhegan brought plenty of firepower to the final. Eight players posted points for the Sabers.

The team's trio of college lacrosse recruits caused its share of chaos around Londonderry's crease. Along with Tyler Petropulos (Harvard), middie Danielle Pelletier (UMass) tallied five times and dished to assists. Attacker JoJo Curro (UNH) netted five markers and an assist.

"They were huge," Maren Petropulos said of Souhegan's standouts, "with some support from some other kids -- Chelsea Larivee, Delaney Brault, Teydin Hall, Steph Norton. And (goaltender) Kate Dobbs (12 saves) really came up huge in the first five minutes of the game. That allowed the nerves to go away."

The Sabers used speed in the open field and around Londonderry's cage to build a quick 3-0 lead in the opening 3 minutes, 20 seconds. Their lead swelled to 7-1 before Lancers Josie Bezeredy and Dana Boyle (three goals apiece) netted two of the half's final three markers.

"Their transition got us off guard a little bit. They were a few seconds quicker than we were coming out of the gate," Londonderry head coach Bob Slater said. "But the girls fought every minute, every second of this game. There was no give-up on this team. Never has been nor will there ever be."

Second-half momentum remained on Souhegan's sideline. Tyler Petropulos scored her second goal 50 seconds into the second half for a 9-3 Souhegan lead. After Boyle converted a pass from Kayla Green (goal, three assists), Pelletier and Curro connected on consecutive markers. The Sabers enjoyed an 11-4 edge with 17 minutes to play.

Green's free-position goal with 8:03 on the clock cut Souhegan's lead to 13-7. But the preseason pick to finish No. 1 tallied twice in the final five minutes to end the last-ditch comeback bid for Londonderry (15-4 D-I).

"They're a very good team. We knew what we were coming in to, but I'm just really proud of our team for how far we've made it," said Green, who closed her junior year with 120 points (68 goals, 52 assists). "Londonderry's been a team since 1998 and we've never gotten this far before. We were just excited to play against such a great team like that."