Local Roundup: Lebanon Girls Rally to Upend St. Thomas

Lebanon — Early events didn’t look promising on Wednesday for the Lebanon High girls lacrosse team, which surrendered five of the first six goals in its NHIAA Division III game with visiting St. Thomas. However, the Raiders roared back to earn a 10-7 win.

Sara Ecker, the Raiders’ 24th-year head coach, called a timeout and reiterated the defenders’ need to communicate, move their feet and back each other up. Each time an attacker gets the ball in front of the net, double-team her immediately, the bench boss emphasized.

Lebanon pulled within 5-3 by intermission, holding the Saints (3-7) scoreless for a 29-minute stretch that overlapped the first and second halves. A 7-7 tie with 10 minutes remaining disappeared when Lebanon scored the last three goals. Emma Hansen struck for the eighth tally, followed by two from Izzy Peress.

“This was our third game in three days and the kids were definitely tired,” said Ecker, whose team is 4-7 and has won four of its last six contests. “St. Thomas looked incredible on offense in the first 15 minutes. They were moving constantly with and without the ball and I thought we’d be exhausted. But then we got a couple of really solid stops and gained confidence and realized we could do it.”

Peress, in only her third year of lacrosse, has excelled on draw controls and scored three times Wednesday. The junior’s height and tenacity on ground balls has given an injury-plagued team a boost. Junior midfielder Zoe Soule returned from a back strain on Wednesday, playing her first game of the season, and junior defender Anna Wolke has overcome hand surgery to step back into action this month.

Freshman goaltender Lena Nowell made 17 saves and has a .569 save percentage this season. Ecker said the rookie is becoming more consistent and is finally receiving offensive support.

“Even though we don’t have a great record, I feel it’s been a successful season because of how much we’ve improved,” said the coach. She oversaw a similar, May resurgence last spring, when Lebanon was 5-9.

Hansen, Jessie Hastings and Katie Berthasavage each had two goals and Megan Gradijan had a goal and two assists. Lebanon visits Con-Val on Friday night.

Hanover 14, Timberlane 2

Plaistow, n.h. — Maddie McCorkle had six goals and an assist as the Marauders improved to 6-8.

Cate Wagner and Hanna Kingston each had two goals and an assist, while Maggie Lee, Miranda Galbraith, Wylie Lucas and Sabin Mitchell scored one goal apiece.

Katelyn Hurd made seven saves for Hanover, which visits Kingswood on Monday.

Boys Lacrosse

Burlington 7, Hartford 5

White River Junction — Reece Thompson scored three goals for Hartford, which was tied with its VPA Division I visitors with two minutes remaining.

Dawson Nalette (assist) and Hunter Hutchinson scored the other goals for the Hurricanes, while Jacob Derosier, Matt McGlone and Nick Porter all had assists.

Kyle Prior made 19 saves for the Hurricanes (7-5), who play at Montpelier on Friday.

Milford 17, Lebanon 7

Milford, n.h. — The Raiders dropped to 2-9 and host Stevens today. Caiden Skakalski made 17 saves for the visitors.

“We reverted a little bit,” said second-year coach Rob Fett, whose team trailed, 10-3, at halftime. “We had a lot of turnovers and we lost faceoffs and we had two starters get hurt during the game.”

Aaron Damren had a goal and three assists, Nate Chickering had two goals and two assists, Jack Sandmann had two goals and Jon Cloud had two assists. Brad Plodzik and Jack Chamley had single goals.

Baseball

Hanover 11, Laconia 0 (6)

Laconia, n.h. — Jack Loftus had three hits, Moises Celaya had two hits and three RBIs and Charlie Goodrich had two hits and drew two walks as the Marauders rebounded from a one-run loss at Lebanon on Tuesday.

Celaya also started on the mound for Hanover (7-4), striking out three batters and allowing three hits during five innings. Aris Rassias pitched the final inning. The Marauders host Kingswood on Friday.

Blue Mountain 17, Sharon 6

Chelsea — The visiting Bucks led, 5-1, after an inning. Kyle Hedgepeth had two singles and a walk, Sam Knoerlein had two singles and Tom Bissaillon had two hits, including a double.

Sharon (5-4) plays at Woodstock on Friday night.

KUA 5, Proctor 2

Meriden — The top-seeded Wildcats used Kyle Young’s walk-off, ninth-inning home run to down fourth-seeded Proctor. They host New Hampton in the Lakes Region League title game at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

KUA starting pitcher Trey Parker allowed nine hits and two runs in a complete-game effort. He walked none and struck out 13 batters. Seventh-inning singles by Eli Jaynes, Andrew Hadlock and Parker produced a 2-2 tie.

Woodsville 19, Gorham 0 (5)

Gorham, n.h. — The Engineers improved to 10-3.

Brendan Walker gave up three hits and walked one while striking out seven in an abbreviated complete game for the Engineers, while Seanon May (3-for-4, run, three RBIs), Cory Bemis (2-for-4, run) and Donny Bowman (2-for-3, run) stood out at the plate for Woodsville.

The Engineers play at Pittsburg-Canaan on Friday.

Newport 15, Mascenic 7

New Ipswich, n.h. — The Tigers improved to 7-4.

Cody Turgeon was 3-for-4 with three runs and Bryce Willey went 2-for-3 with three runs for the Tigers, who led, 7-0, before the Vikings rallied to tie after four innings.

Newport plated one run in the fifth and six in the sixth.

Newport visits Mascoma today.

Newfound 6, Mascoma 5

​​Bristol, n.h. — A seventh-inning comeback came up one run short for the Royals (2-8).

Mascoma trailed, 6-2, entering the top of the seventh, but Tyler Warner (4-for-4) led off with a home run and the Royals plated two more in the inning.

Devin Tetreault (4-for-4, three runs) and Tyler Bill (3-for-4, RBI) also contributed at the plate for Mascoma.

Ethan Brueckner pitched 5⅓ innings on the mound, allowing six runs (three earned) on seven hits, striking out seven and walking five for the Royals.

Mascoma hosts Newport today.

Wilton-Lyndeborough 9 Sunapee 2

Sunapee— The Lakers slipped to 7-5.

Cade Robinson and Harper Flint had the lone hits for Sunapee and Nick Ducharme had an RBI.

Starting pitcher Darren Hulton (4⅓ innings) took the loss on the mound.

The Lakers visit Hopkinton today.

Coe-Brown 13, Lebanon 3

Lebanon— The Raiders fell to 3-11.

Starting pitcher Caleb Smith took the loss in three innings, allowing nine hits and nine runs (seven earned) with three walks and no strikeouts.

Graham Ten Haken and Matt Eylander pitched one inning each to finish. Eylander went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs for the Raiders.

Green Mountain 6Woodstock 4

Woodstock — The Wasps’ Owen Tarleton pitched six innings and struck out five batters and walked one while allowing seven hits. Woodstock had the tying run at third base with no outs in the sixth inning while trailing, 5-4.

The hosts attempted a suicide squeeze but the bunt was popped up and caught, resulting in a double play.

Tarleton had two hits with three stolen bases and Caleb Webb and Chase Christiansen had two singles. The Wasps (4-7) host Sharon on Friday night.

Softball

Brattleboro 11, Windsor 2

Brattleboro, Vt. — Ava Sutton had two singles and Hannah Wood tripled for the Division III Yellowjackets, who led the Division I Colonels, 1-0, entering the fifth inning.

Windsor (4-8) had five hits and hosts Fair Haven on Friday.

Coe-Brown 24, Lebanon 0

Lebanon — The Raiders were shut out for the sixth time this season and are 0-13. They host Trinity today and visit Souhegan on Friday.

Sunapee 8Wilton-Lyndeborough 7

Sunapee — Freshman Miah Hamm hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh innings as the Lakers (4-7) avenged an early-season loss to the rival Warriors.

It was the second run-scoring hit of the day for Hamm, scoring relief pitcher Hannah Cooney.

Sunapee trailed 7-6 entering the frame, tying it on Erin Moynihan’s double to plate Elizaneth Bennett (one-out single).

Bennett, the shortstop, finished 3-for-4 and delivered 11 assists, including two at home plate.

Mackenzie Wrightington also had an RBI hit for Sunapee.

Ellie Frederick (four strikeouts, one walk, three hits) pitched the first three innings before Cooney (strikeout, walk, three hits) took over late.

Sunapee visits Hopkinton today.

Whticomb-Rochester 27 Cabot 0 (5)

Bethel — The Mountaineers stayed perfect at 9-0.

Fiona Vallaincourt struck out 10 and walked four in the abbreviated one-hitter, helping her cause at the plate with a 3-for-5, three-run, six-RBI performance.

Sammy Barcomb (2-for-2, triple, five runs, three RBIs), Chelsie Trask (4-for-5, home run, four runs, four RBIs) and Kayla Townsend (3-for-4, four runs, two RBIs) also stood out at the plate for Whitchester, which plays a doubleheader Friday against Blue Mountain.

Woodsville 16, Gorham 2 (6)

Gorham, n.h. — The Engineers (12-1) won their seventh in a row.

Alyssa Prest pitched the whole game for Woodsville, striking out nine while allowing four hits and walking a pair. She also did well at the plate, smacking two doubles as part of a 2-for-3, 5-RBI performance.

Emily Prest went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and Sarah Britton was 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Engineers.

Woodsville plays at Pittsburg-Canaan on Friday.

West Rutland 27Woodstock 12 (5)

Woodstock — With their No. 2 pitcher in the circle, the Wasps trailed, 20-0, early before rallying.

Sophomore Kaylee Longley was the starting pitcher while normal starter Lizzie Peck played the outfield due to a sore muscle.

Sammi Yates had three singles, Peck smashed a home run and Cassie Hill had two hits, including a triple, for the Wasps.

Woodstock plays at Leland & Gray on Friday.

Boys Tennis

Hanover 9, Salem 0

Salem, n.h. — The Marauders improved to 11-1.

Matty Siegel, Will Tarnowski, Matt Bonner, Chris Lee, Gary Li and Alec McDevitt earned singles wins for Hanover. In doubles play, Aidan Biglow-Jasper Meyer, Matty Siegel-Trevor Siegel and Lincoln Adam-Will Blinkhorn won for the Marauders.

Hanover hosts Bishop Guertin today.

Rutland 6, Woodstock 1

Rutland — Carl Gebhardt (No. 4 singles; 6-4, 6-2) earned the lone win for the Wasps.

“There were three really close matches,” said Woodstock coach Dave Miles. “If we win those, we win the match.”

Woodstock (2-6) visits Mount Anthony on Friday.

Hollis Brookline 8Lebanon 1

Hollis, n.h. — The Raiders (9-3) earned their point at No. 1 doubles with the team of Owen Johnstone and Pedro Izquierdo-Sacristan. They will likely play a road match in the upcoming NHIAA Division II playoffs.

Girls Tennis

Woodstock 6Otter Valley 0

Woodstock — The Wasps lost one game in singles competition and swept in doubles. The contest was played in pro set format after the Otters arrived late.

Woodstock hosts Bellows Falls on Friday in a doubleheader.

Kearsarge 8, Lebanon 1

North Sutton, n.h. — Fatima Khan won, 8-2, at No. 1 singles for the Raiders, who finished the season 2-12.

Hanover 7, Salem 2

Hanover — Mindy Wu, Bri Laycock, Ellen Lamm, Grace Li, Marta Sanchez and Emma Burwell each had singles triumphs for the Marauders (11-2).

Li and Sanchez teamed for a doubles victory for Hanover, which ends the regular season today when it visits Bishop Guertin.

Women’s Soccer

Chargers Coach Resigns

New London — Colby-Sawyer College women’s soccer coach Meghan Medbery has resigned after six years at the helm.

Medbery, a 2004 CSC graduate, guided the Chargers to an overall record of 82-30-9 overall and a 49-3-2 mark in the North Atlantic Conference.

She led the team to the program’s first conference title in 2013 and followed with championships in the next three seasons.

The Chargers went 9-0 in the NAC regular season three times and had eight wins in two other seasons.

Medbery, a four-time NAC Coach of the Year, is the program’s all-time leader in victories and winning percentage and has guided the team to the top four single-season win totals in program history.

Correction

Matty Siegel, Will Tarnowski, Matt Bonner, Chris Lee, Gary Li and Alec McDevitt all won singles matches Wednesday as Hanover defeated Salem 9-0 in boys tennis. In doubles play, Aidan Biglow-Jasper Meyer, Matty Siegel-Tre vor Siegel and Lincoln Adam-Will Blinkhorn won for Hanover. An earlier version of this story inadvertently identified the Salem players as the winners.