Throughout the 2008 season, the Bow boys lacrosse team took one fellow Division II foe after another to school.

Even Chris Kelleher, coach of D-I Salem, admitted the Falcons smacked his squad with a lengthy measuring stick during an 8-1 interdivisional loss.

“Some of the kids were saying, ‘They’re D-II, so no problem ... ” said Kelleher, following the April 26 setback. “Skill-wise and athletically, I don’t think they’re that different than us. Mentally, though, there’s a big gap there.”

The Falcons even taught their own coaches not to underestimate them.

“Every year we expect to be in the mix because we have such a great youth program, but when you lose 14 seniors from the previous season … you just don’t know how kids are going to respond moving into larger roles,” said co-head coach Chris Gaudreau. “We had a bunch of kids step up to a level that would have been unrealistic for us to expect prior to the season.”

After watching the Falcons sweep through the playoffs and easily pass their final test with an 11-5 title game victory, it’s evident other D-II coaches learned their lesson as well.

When the final results were graded, 10 Bow players and both head coaches were voted to the New Hampshire all-state lacrosse team.

Sibling revelry

Chris and Steve Gaudreau shared the throne when Bow won its first boys lacrosse title in 2004.

Steve left for a year, in 2007, and the Falcons fell one win short of their second title. This season, Chris said his brother provided the extra boost needed to once again hoist the title.

Now, they share another accolade: New Hampshire coach(es) of the year.

“Steve and I have coached together a lot, in basketball and lacrosse, but this was really a storybook year for us,” said Chris. “I mean, you have years when you’ve got great kids, and you have years when you have a lot of talent, but to have it all in one, and to share that with my brother, well, this was one of those unforgettable seasons you might get once in a lifetime.”

The defense never rested Nick Sarette and Andrew Hunter were voted team captains prior to the season. Neither disappointed, said Gaudreau.

“Nick’s the kind of guy I’d put on the other team’s best player and ask him to shut them down,” said the coach of the first-team all-stater. “That’s a lot of pressure, to be a stable force while everyone else got their feet under them.

“Andrew is a coach’s dream. He’s a kid that has a good amount of ability, but he probably gets more out of himself than he should, and I mean that as an extreme compliment,” Gaudreau continued. “He’s a true gentleman in a sport that gets real physical. He keeps his head about him, and he’s probably the hardest-working kid I’ve every had.”

While the captains took much of the attention in the backfield, Gaudreau said it was Zy Noury who held the defense together.

The senior, who wanted to be an attackman his freshman year, played stellar “D” all season.

“It was a tricky position for him because a lot of times we’d stick Andrew and Nick on the other team’s best players and kind of left Zy on an island,” said Gaudreau. “He was just rock solid for us.”

Net gains

Goalie has never been a position of need on the Bow High School lacrosse field. As Gaudreau put it, “We’ve had great goalies that have handed the torch over, one after another.”

Yet it was junior netminder David Bucchino who may have impressed his coach more than any of his predecessors.

In a sport predicated on scoring, Bucchino maintained a 65- percent save percentage throughout the season, holding opposing teams to 4.3 goals per game. To put that into perspective, the Boston Cannons’ Kip Turner, Major League Lacrosse’s statistical leader in goals against average, has allowed 12.79 shots past him a game. He maintains a .517 save percentage.

And Bucchino’s presence, said Gaudreau, grew with the weight of the games.

“He was going along, playing steadily good, and at the end of the season, on the biggest stage, he really rose up,” said the coach. “I mean, he was seeing the ball really well. He really frustrated the other team’s scorers.”

Bucchino made 10 saves in an 8-4 quarterfinal victory over Bishop Brady, 18 saves in a barnburner against Winnacunnet, and denied 12 Oyster River shots in the finale.

Now that’s just offensive

Leading a balanced offense throughout the season was Steven Gallerani, the leading vote-getter among attackmen.

The senior led Bow in scoring with 41 goals and 20 assists. He was also Bow’s lone representative in the New Hampshire-Vermont all-star game, where he found the back of the net three times.

“For him to step up and be our leading scorer … We thought he would have a real solid year, but we couldn’t have expected him to be as dominant as he was,” said Gaudreau. “He was kind of a quarterback back there.”

Sean Dippold, who notched 25 goals and tallied 31 helpers, was also recognized for his contributions with an all-state honorable mention.

The junior, who played all over the field as a sophomore, was able to use his strength and size to dominate in front of the net this season.

Gaudreau said Dippold may have been the most fundamentally sound player on the field.

Mid-level exceptions

The Bow midfield, said Gaudreau, was the difference in the state title game.

Alex Stevens, with his superior offensive talent, and sophomore Greg Bueddeman, with his stellar speed, each received a firstteam nod.

Stevens, an all-state attackman his junior year, was asked to change positions this season to strengthen Bow’s midfield.

“I don’t know how many kids would embrace that change and do what’s best for the team. I’m very impressed with the maturity in which he handled that for us,” said Gaudreau. “He really presented a great matchup problem for other team’s midfielders. It’s harder to match up there, because a lot of times guys kind of get lost in transition, and that’s where Alex really excelled for us.”

While Stevens was a known commodity, Bueddeman played JV his freshman season.

“We thought Greg could do some damage in the midfield, but to score 18 goals and be one of the main scorers on the first line would really have been a lot to expect of a sophomore,” said Gaudreau. “Usually sophomores show up (mentally) one day, and the next day they’re a little bit off their game. But he was really a game changer with his legs and speed. When he turns it on, he finds another level.”

Longstick middie Griffin Sandler, who Gaudreau said plays with the most intensity he’s seen, and Chris Roberts, who took charge of Bow’s first-line faceoffs, each received honorable-mention nods.

“Chris, we expected to be on varsity, but we didn’t expect him to play nearly as much as he did,” said the coach. “He got opportunities because of injuries and some other things, and he played himself into a position where we couldn’t take him out.

“If team energy was low, there’s a good chance Griffin would go out there and do something to change it,” added Gaudreau of the soon-to-be junior, who captains next year’s team with Dippold and Bucchino.

National intelligence

Steven Lagos didn’t make the all-state lacrosse team, but he earned an honor on a larger field.

The senior, who notched 10 goals and eight assists playing first-team midfield, was one of three Granite Staters named to the U.S. Lacrosse Academic All- American team, which combines excellence in the classroom with a high level of play on the field.