BY SAPNA PATHAK
Sitting in a lawn chair, can of soda in hand, the family Dalmatian, Rosie, nipping at his heels, Tom Meighan doesn’t exactly have the air of a head coach preparing his team for a match.
But since when do you question a mentor who’s gotten his team off to the best start in program history?
Standing at 8-2 following a loss to Class L’s best in Concord on Monday, May 7, the boys of Goffstown tennis don’t worry about their coach’s pregame attitude.
Behind those sunglasses, he’s watching, making sure each player is properly stretched before setting foot on the courts. Leaning back under his baseball cap, a smile on his face, Meighan is analyzing the Grizzlies during warm-ups, identifying and correcting the smallest of miscues.
“He takes the laid-back approach before, even during, matches,” said the Grizzlies No. 2 player, Zach Morris. “He puts a lot of faith in us and trusts we’ll get the job done. He’s not running us all the time, but he also knows what’s going on. We can’t really get away with much.”
Morris, with only two singles losses, said this year’s success came mainly from a change of the doubles teams. Unconventional pairings place the Grizzlies top player, senior Greg Meighan, with fourth-seeded Nate Lafond. Morris teams up with the No. 6 player, Alex Stoyle in the No. 2 doubles slot, while Connor Western and No. 5 player Jon Reilly round out Goffstown’s doubles duos.
“Me and Greg knew coach wouldn’t want us playing together because it would be smarter to have us on two different doubles teams,” said Morris. “At practice, we played around with different combos and sort of saw what worked. It’s cool how all the doubles teams really gelled together. Doubles is so crucial because some matches come down to doubles.”
The Grizzlies earned their eighth victory with a 7-2 drubbing of Nashua North on Friday, May 4. Meighan defeated his opponent, 8-1. Morris took home an 8-2 win. Western fell, 8-3. Lafond won his match, 8-4, Reilly played to a 9-7 win in No. 5 singles, and Stoyle was stymied, 8-4.
In doubles, the Meighan-Lafond and Morris-Stoyle combos won, 8-5 and 8-0, respectively, while Reilly and Western won, 9-7.
Notes
Against Bishop Guertin of Nashua on May 2, the Grizzlies put up an 8-1 win. In singles, Meighan won, 8-4; Morris won, 8-4; Western lost, 9-8; Lafond won, 8-3; Reilly won, 8-6; and Stoyle won, 8-4. In doubles, Meighan and Lafond won, 8-4; Morris and Stoyle won, 8-2; and Western and Reilly won, 8-2.
On April 30, Goffstown lost its first match of the year, a 5-4 decision to Central. Western beat Hooksett’s Mike Ouellette, 8-5; Lafond beat Will Brooks, 8-4; Meighan and Lafond were 8-6 doubles winners; and Morris and Stoyle prevailed, 8-2. Western and Reilly dropped a 9-8 decision, 8-6 in the tiebreaker.
Lafond was the sole winner against Concord, beating his opponent, 9-7, during the team’s 8-1 loss to the state champs. Morris and Stoyle forced a tiebreaker in their doubles setback.