BOW, N.H. — The first half took place in a downpour. The second half was cut short by snowfall so thick, it limited visibility to less than 50 yards.
By the time Lebanon High’s girls lacrosse players shivered and sloshed their way off the field on Tuesday following an NHIAA Division III season opener at Bow, many were in disbelief that the contest had been played at all. An 11-5 loss was certainly disappointing, but having survived without hypothermia or a groin sprain served as a consolation prize.
“It was so slippery and really hard to see,” said Lebanon midfielder Izzy Peress, whose team surrendered the game’s first four goals. “A new experience for me. The snow would get stuck in your cleats, and then you’d just slide around.”
Lebanon coach Sara Ecker and Bow counterpart Chris Raabe conferred with the officials during halftime and, informed that 80 percent of the contest had to be played for it to be official, decided to tough it out. The snow started soon after intermission and, with 2 minutes and 43 seconds remaining, the zebras called a permanent halt because they could no longer see the field markings.
“In weather like this, it’s a mental game more than anything else,” said Ecker, who recalled playing in snow during her college career, but never coaching in such conditions. “Teams with better stick skills, like Bow is, they’re going to be more confident in weather like this, and that makes a big difference.”
Bow opened the scoring during the fifth minute and led, 4-0, with 11 minutes remaining in the first half. Lebanon, 5-9 each of the past two seasons, rallied to score three of the last five goals before intermission. Ashlyn Taber, Peress and Megan Gradijan produced the tallies.
Trailing, 6-3, to start the second half, the visitors surrendered two goals during the initial three minutes but spent much of the game’s remainder in the Falcons’ end. Gradijan scored again, along with a strike by Sydney Gonyea.
“We had some first-game, first-half jitters, but in the second half, we slowed things down and were doing a better job holding the ball on offense,” Peress said. “They won a lot of the first-half draws, but in the second half, we went harder after the ball and won a lot of the 50-50 ones.”
Ecker said her team, which had a handful of outdoor practices and two scrimmages under its belt, has definite potential given its eight seniors, all of whom start. Gradijan, a junior, has seen significant time since her freshman season. How sophomore and second-year starting goaltender Lena Nowell progresses could have much to say about whether the Raiders make the playoffs.
“I’ve seen some great things from us in our practices and scrimmages, and I don’t feel like we put them together today, so it was a little of a bummer of a way to start a season,” Ecker said. “But to show up at another school when it’s cold and wet, it takes you a while to get into it. Once we started to get warm, it changed.
“I think we’ll build confidence throughout the season. If we play Bow at the end of the season, it will be a different game.”
Notes: Lebanon is scheduled to host InterLakes-Moultonborough on Thursday, the Lakers’ season opener. The Raiders are then off until an April 26 clash with visiting Kearsarge. … Ecker spoke with Lebanon athletic director Mike Stone by phone during the first half. The administrator was concerned about the Raiders’ trip home, but the roads were mostly clear by the time they hit Interstate 89. … Lebanon’s junior varsity is coached by McKeanna Teevens, the daughter-in-law of Dartmouth College football coach Buddy Teevens. The JV players spent most of the varsity game inside an equipment shed down the track from the visitors’ bench. … Lebanon freshman Amalia Hickey started on defense, and classmate Kayla Taber got into the game during each half. … Raabe, in her 20th season, shouts to her players on the field by a variety of nicknames. Among them Tuesday were Twinkle Toes, Sand Castle, Mini Mouse and Pickles.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.