Laconia lacrosse playing for the title this weekend

LACONIA — The Laconia High School lacrosse team is heading to the championships at Exeter High School on Sunday, following what head coach Steve McDonough called “a very strong season” in which it defeated the number one seed, Campbell, in a rematch on June 8.

The team had a regular-season record of 11 wins and three losses.

“We are now 13-3 including the playoffs,” McDonough said. “We are very proud of our part of this program’s history and lacrosse as a whole in the city of Laconia.”

The team’s losses during the regular season were to Plymouth (4-3 in overtime), Campbell (12-4), and Hopkinson (8-5).

Notable regular-season wins were against Lebanon (6-3), Kearsarge (16-4), Trinity (6-3), and, settling a score from earlier in the season, Plymouth (5-4).

“Closing out the season with a tough opponent in Plymouth really helped prepare us for the playoff push,” McDonough said.

“In the first round of the playoffs, we beat Lebanon in a 13-11 game. We typically are not involved in too many high-scoring games. In this game, we got exceptional play from our senior offensive players, led by Cole Roy with 5G and Carson Tucker with 3G.”

McDonough continued, “That set up a rematch for us with Campbell, who were the undefeated number one seed, and we were the number four. From the start, our team played with great confidence, and in the first half, Camden Harriman made several saves that were crucial to keeping us in the game, 2-2. The score of the game was 2-2 at halftime.

“Out of the gate in the second half, Campbell was able to get ahead, and led, 5-3. In the last couple minutes of the third quarter, we scored a transition goal, with Evan Carignan assisting Lucas Beane to cut it to 5-4.”

In the fourth quarter, Laconia capitalized on great play on face-offs from Tim Ausevich, Zach Whitney, Brody Rollins, and Cole Roy to gain the possession advantage and get the game-tying goal from Evan Rollins, assisted by J.P. Harriman, with six minutes to play.

“We were able to score again to take the lead on a goal from Evan Carignan on a great assist from J.P. Harriman, with 3:37 to play in the game,” McDonough recounted. “Tim Ausevich scored a goal, assisted by Evan Rollins, with 1:37 to play, to make the score 7-5, ultimately winning, 7-6.”

The coach said it was “really a tremendous effort from our team.”

Laconia’s defense — Jake Mello, Edgar Conroy, Cody Newman, Zach Whitney, Keaton Beck, Brody Rollins, and Cam Harriman — were tremendous, McDonough said, holding one of the best offenses in the division to six goals in the game.

Scoring were Carson Tucker, 1G; Cole Roy, 1G; Tim Ausevich, 2G; Evan Carignan, 1G 1A; Lucas Beane, 1G; Evan Rollins, 1G; and J.P. Harriman, 2A. Cam Harriman had 18 saves “and was our rock, as he was all season for us,” McDonough said. “Cam started his career as a midfielder for us, but switched to play goalie to fill a big void for our team.”

Laconia had several All-State players this season. First Team All-State were Cam Harriman, Goalie; Cole Roy, Midfield; Zach Whitney, Long Stick Midfield; and Jacob Mello, Defense.

Second Team All-State were Carson Tucker, Midfield; Tim Ausevich, Midfield; Edgar Conroy, Defense; and Evan Rollins, Attack.

Achieving Honorable Mention were Brody Rollins, Defensive Midfield, and Evan Carignan, Attack.

Rod Roy was named Assistant Coach of the Year.

Laconia will face the 2-seeded Hopkinton at 2:30 on Sunday. The title match will be played at Bill Ball Stadium at Exeter High School. Hopkinton defeated Trinity 10-7, and Plymouth, 12-9, en route to the championship game.