LEBANON — After a first half in which the Lebanon High boys soccer team owned possession and pelted Souhegan High with scoring chances — with no goals to show for it — the Raiders eventually broke through and cruised to a 3-0 win in their home opener on Tuesday.
With fewer than 27 minutes remaining in the match, the Raiders (2-0-0) scored three times in a span of about six minutes, with goals from senior Liam Sullivan, senior Charlie Ferland and sophomore Jesse Madory, to take a commanding lead they would not relinquish.
“We talk about keeping each other’s morale high. We had a bunch of shots in the first half … every time we shoot, we just tell each other to keep shooting, like, one is going to fall, and one did, and then we kept shooting again,” said Sullivan, who broke the scoreless tie and assisted his squad’s second goal.
The victory was Lebanon’s second of the season after opening with a 1-0 road win over Pembroke Academy on Friday.
Raiders head coach Rob Johnstone likes what he has seen from his players so far, calling their season-opening victory over Pembroke — a team that made the quarterfinals of the NHIAA Division II playoffs and beat Lebanon 3-0 in the regular season a year ago — a “quality road win.”
Not only did this iteration of the Raiders pass the test of picking up a road W, but on Tuesday they also locked down a victory in their first home game, playing in front of friends and family, which Johnstone indicated is no easy task.
“Those are little things, but those are real factors for players of this age and level,” he said. “It’s just a mature, really, really competitive and hard-working team.”
That maturity showed on Tuesday, as after 40 minutes and multiple scoring opportunities, Lebanon remained deadlocked with the Sabers (0-3-0).
Not only did the Raiders have to power through a goal drought, but they also had to fend off a surge from the visitors early on in the second half. Souhegan drew a couple of corner kicks and had more possession than Lebanon did during the first half but ultimately was unable to find the back of the net.
Shortly after weathering the Sabers’ storm, the Raiders finally found twine.
“We only talked about a couple of things at halftime. One of them was: Don’t let the fact that it’s 0-0 be a frustration. You generated seven or eight quality chances, so keep it simple; have faith in the system,’ ” Johnstone said.
“If we generate that many chances, goals are going to come.”
Initially set up by the defense of Madory, the ball found the feet of Sullivan, who battled through a Souhegan defender and booted home a shot to put his squad up 1-0 with 26:30 remaining.
Lebanon was not finished there. Just over 30 seconds later, Sullivan sent a nice pass to Ferland, who made a short run and finished the ball to extend the Raiders’ lead.
Madory would add an insurance goal with 20:56 remaining to secure the final margin of victory, as the Sabers could not muster enough offense to make a comeback.
“I think we have great team chemistry. We’re all super good friends, morale is super high, two wins, undefeated so far; it’s only up from here, really,” Sullivan said.
Lebanon visits Merrimack Valley (0-3-0) on Thursday for a matchup at 4 p.m.
