Nashua South's Olivia Johnson, left, has the clear edge to ge the ground ball despite the efforts of Manchester Central's Coriann Hoag during South's 14-0 win last Thursday at Stellos Stadium, one of several one-sided high school matchups during the course of the first week of the spring sports season. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

After a year away, one week is in the books.

In may way the first week of the local high school spring sports season in two years, it’s been the haves and the have nots as teams got back into action playing sports many, save for the summer and off-season, hadn’t played in two years.

The close schedules to keep things regional due to COVID have also matched up programs that normally would not play each other, such as Division III Campbell and Division II Hollis Brookline or Souhegan.

In some sports, it’s not a problem; in others, it can cause mismatches, such as when the Cougars and Cavaliers played in girls lacrosse and the two games were a combined 32-3.

But, in boys lacrosse, the games were tight; the Cavaliers needed a Jake Roy double overtime goal on Saturday to pull out a 13-12 win; earlier in the week the Cavs won 16-10. In baseball, Souhegan beat the Cougars 13-1 on Monday in Amherst but the rematch in Litchfield was washed out.

And some programs just have a lot of inexperience thanks to the year away and were hit with a tough schedule right off the bat – no pun intended. That was clearly the case with the Nashua North softball team, that has yet to score after suffering lopsided losses to Merrimack (two) and Windham. Word is the Tomahawks had a great turnout and should be a contender; they’ll get challenged this week with two games vs. Londonderry.

Meanwhile the Titans will likely be in a more competitive situation vs. Manchester Memorial.

“Right now, all I care about is developing my players on and off the field,” North coach Jenna Gianelli said, adding that the Titans competitive and upbeat spirit has proven that they are indeed developing.

And meanwhile, back to girls lacrosse, some teams just have a long year ahead with inexperience. That was clear with Manchester Central when Nashua South blanked the Little Green by a combined 31-0 two-game tally. The Little Green looked as if they had many first-year players

SISTER VS. SISTER

We’ve had some father-son matchups in coaching over the years; on Saturday morning, when the Portsmouth and Souhegan girls lacrosse teams get together, we’ll get a sister vs. sister matchup at Souhegan’s Calvetti Stadium (Saber Field).

The Sabers are coached by former college All-American and professional player McKinley (Curro) Sbordone, while Portmouth is coached by JoJo Curro. That’s right, McKinley’s sister, and the two also played together at Souhegan.

JoJo is a former high school All-American and University of New Hampshire standout; McKinley starred at Boston University and went on to be the first woman ever to score a two-point goal professionally for the Long Island Sound. She also has played for the Boston Storm.

“I’m so excited to coach against JoJo,” Sbordone said. “I’m so proud of her taking the Portsmouth position and think the girls are so lucky to have such a fun and dynamic coach…

“We’re both very competitive coaches and love to win.”

Mckinley said that the two have supported each other during their inaugural seasons on the helm of their respective programs.

“We’ve leaned on each other a lot navigating our first year coaching high school,” she said, “so this week should be really funny.”

Before the two tangle, their teams have to take care of business earlier in the week; the Sabers have a home-and-home with Exeter and the Clippers have the same with regional rival Oyster River-Newmarket.

DOD DEDICATION RESCHEDULED

The Bill Dod Field dedication at Souhegan, which had been originally scheduled for this past Saturday, has been rescheduled for Saturday, May 22 following the Souhegan-Bedford game at 10 a.m. And, after the dedication, the Sabers will host former Division II rival Portsmouth, now in Division I, at 2 p.m.

It will be a Division I doubleheader for the Division II Sabers.

PINKERTON VS. GUERTIN

The Astros and Cardinals play each other in various sports this week, and that means they will tangle in lacrosse, where they are steadfast rivals.

The girls, as of right now will only face each other once, and that will be this Thursday at 7 p.m. at Stellos Stadium.

They were supposed to face each other today in Derry, but the game was postponed to May 5 due to COVID concerns/protocols, mainly on the Guertin end. However, Cards coach Leslie Why said in an email that the Cardinals anticipate Thursday’s game “will come off without a hitch.”

The boys teams, who seem to meet every season in the Division I finals, will play Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Stellos, and the rematch will be Thursday at Pinkerton at 5:30 p.m.

WILTON-LYNEBOROUGH BASEBALL A GO

Finally the WLC baseball team will begin its season today at Hinsdale.

There was some doubt with low numbers a couple of weeks ago, but athletic director Brice Miller resisted the thought of shelving the varsity season. After all, the Warriors have been without varsity girls basketball and tennis the last couple of years.

Luckily, that didn’t have to happen, and Wilton will almost certainly be paced by Sean and Troy Brennan. Good news.

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