BY MATT STOUT
The last time the Bow girls lacrosse team took the field, it little resembled the team it had been all year. In fact, it looked nothing like any Falcons team Bow coach Chris Raabe had ever seen.
“It was probably the worst game I’ve ever coached in my life, if you want to call it coaching, and it was probably the worst game I’ve ever seen Bow play,” said Raabe, referring to last year’s 12-3 loss to Winnacunnet in the Division II final. “It just happened to be in the championship.”
And the next time they take the field in an NHIAA-sanctioned game, the Falcons may again look unlike any other Bow team in program history. But that’s a good thing.
Still stinging from last year’s shellacking, the Falcons begin this season as “probably the most skilled team that I’ve had in my 10 years” as coach, said Raabe, who returns several key players at every position. Gone are nine seniors from last year’s squad, but in their place is a mix of talented veterans and underclassmen who have the speed, athleticism and experience to reach the state final for the sixth straight time.
They also have a history; in those five years, Bow has alternated wins and losses, every title coming in an odd-numbered years. More importantly, they have motivation. And it’s that, Raabe said, that’s proven the difference between the teams that have won it and those that haven’t.
“I think it gives practice a little bit more meaning,” Raabe said, “because I don’t think we worked as hard as we could have in practices (last season). So now all we have to say is, ‘How far do you want to go in the postseason?’ And the ones who were there last year know it, and the other ones (who weren’t) obviously want to go deep in the postseason.”
On attack, sophomore Allison Meagher has improved from offseason training, Raabe said, and is joined up front by classmate Caitlin Pratt.
In the midfield, Sherry Darrell and Kiley Corson both return in front of an even more experienced defense that includes senior Taylor Phelps, senior Kelly Ryan and junior Jackie Laboe. Sophomore midfielders Mackenzie Langston and Colby Jacobson are also expected to contribute.
Yet, the league may be decided, Raabe said, in the area Bow faces its “biggest challenge.” Without since-graduated Emily Perkins in net, Raabe plans to rotate a trio of underclassmen at goalie. She hopes one takes the reins by midseason.
Freshmen Erin MacDonald and Sarah Strempfer and sophomore Leanna Shea, a converted defender, would all benefit from another year on the junior varsity team, Raabe said, but so far have looked strong in practice and
scrimmages.
Luckily, Raabe said, it seems few teams are comfortable with their goalie situation, a definite advantage for Bow, one of the few perennial powers in Division II. In the last five years, the Falcons have faced three different teams in the final.
Bow’s season opener against Bishop Brady was postponed to Saturday, April 14. An uncertain forecast could mean the Falcons officially open up on Monday, April 16, against – who else? – Winnacunnet.
“The girls have pride,” Raabe said. “The fact that we’ve gone to every Division-II championship, I think they know they have to step up to get what they’re working for.”