Lebanon
The Raiders, 17-7 losers to Con-Val on Tuesday, struggled to stop the Cougars’ offense, which benefited from the inexperience of Raiders netminder Bryan Albright, who began playing the position only a few weeks ago. The visitors held a 26-14 advantage in shots on goal.
Following the NHIAA Division III contest, third-year Lebanon coach Lochrane Gary revealed that he and his wife will be moving to Ann Arbor, Mich., this summer and therefore the current campaign will be his last with the program. Gary, a personal trainer at a Lebanon fitness club, last year guided the Raiders to their first playoff berth since 2012. The team is 17-46 under his direction, including a 1-2 start this spring.
“We’ve improved a drastic amount, and it’s because of Lochrane,” said junior midfielder Jordan Hammond, a third-year varsity player. “He’s enforced discipline in this program that other people weren’t able to do. He doesn’t take crap and he’s straight with you. He wants the best for this program, even after he leaves.”
Hammond, who played baseball from first through seventh grade, gestured to the junior varsity lacrosse game getting underway behind him.
“Almost all those kids are freshmen, and lacrosse has taken off in this town the last few years,” he said. “It’s so fast compared to baseball, where I’d be out in the field picking daisies. It’s amazing to see all the youth players, and I hope that number can get even bigger and they can come up and help this program.”
The Raiders, who have been outscored by a combined 37-19 so far, need work in goal. Senior Joey Rogers, who had previous backstop experience, recently suffered the latest in a long string of concussions and chose to end his high school sports career.
“He got in a car accident and he’s fine, but he got what we’re calling his final concussion and isn’t playing in an effort to be safe,” Gary said. “Albright stepped up for us after playing out in the field the last three years, and he was very good against Coe-Brown, when he made 13 saves.”
No one can downplay Albright’s valor, for male lacrosse goaltenders usually toil with only a helmet, chest protector and gloves. However, a 3-1 Lebanon lead after a quarter disappeared when Con-Val scored on its first four shots of the second stanza and five out of six during a 2 minute, 32-second span. The Raiders pulled within 6-4, but then surrendered the next four goals in slightly more than four minutes. They trailed, 13-7, at halftime.
Albright exited two minutes into the fourth quarter. Gary said the netminder threw the ball at a Cougar who had just scored. In came freshman Gareth Davis, who has a soccer goaltending background.
“We’ve been working with both guys and we have hopes that they’ll be good players for the program in the future,” Gary said.
Lebanon received five goals from junior attackman Nate Damren and single tallies from his brother, Aaron Damren, and Hammond. Michael Fleury, a football lineman who moonlights on attack during the spring, set up Nate Damren with a beautiful assist and Aaron Damren and Jack Sandmann also had scoring feeds.
“If anything happened to (Fleury), I don’t know what would happen to the team,” Hammond said of the 6-foot-1, 265-pound sophomore who, like Nate Damren, had 24 goals last season. “He’s got quick first steps and he draws (defenders) to him. That leaves other people wide open.”
Lebanon’s shooting accuracy and faceoff success were poor Tuesday and as the fell behind, the Raiders tumbled into the trap of only trying to score via 1-on-1 dodges.
“We got ahead of ourselves,” Hammond said. “We started thinking we had this one in the bag early and we stopped running our plays. Everyone wants to score but we don’t want to be selfish. Assisting is as good as scoring and we have to have more discipline.”
Said Gary: “We need to play better, smarter defense and not rely on our keeper. Con-Val had one particular play that they ran effectively about 15 or 20 times. They had multiple guys shifting in front of the crease and our defense couldn’t talk or shift or slide appropriately in response. It was one long teaching moment.”
Notes: Con-Val is 2-0… Gary said his wife will soon conclude her physician’s residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and begin a fellowship in Michigan, prompting their move. … The nail on one of Hammond’s fingers was purple after the game, courtesy of a Con-Val stick blow. “Let me know how that is tomorrow and we may want to de-pressurize it,” said assistant coach Rex Atwood, referring to a procedure that usually involves drilling a small hole in the nail to allow a buildup of blood to spurt out and relieve pain. … Gary could only shake his head at his players’ affinity for lengthy windups and sidearm shots. “It’s flashy and highly inaccurate and the ball goes 15, 20 feet wide of the pipe,” he said. “But they’re 15- to 18-year old kids, so they love it.”… Lebanon dressed 14 varsity players and several of those also played in the JV game. … The Raiders are scheduled to visit Manchester West on Friday. The Blue Knights are 0-5 and have been outscored, 59-9, in four games. They forfeited their contest at Kearsarge on Tuesday.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.