Nashua South's Connor Rowsell, left, is pressured by Merrimack's Jackson Forbes during the Panthers' 11-9 win Monday at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – This was the type of game that Merrimack High School boys lacrosse coach Brian Miller hopes his team will eventually learn how to win.

The Tomahawks Monday had a talented Nashua South team nervous, as they rallied from four down at one point to close to within a goal with just under a minute to go.

And had possession with a chance to tie. But South forced a turnover, Rhett Medling scored and the Panthers went on for an 11-9 win at Stellos Stadium, improving to 7-1 in Division I.

“I probably should have called timeout there on that last faceoff, but we were doing pretty well and we had a look,” said Miller, whose Tomahawks fell to 2-4. “We had a look. We just threw it away.

“When you’re where we’ve been at, and trying to take that next step, those small things will kill you.”

“Credit to Merrimack, their faceoff guy (Jackson Forbes) was great,” South coach Bill Monsen said. “They’re tough kids, they played well. But that’s the kind of game we needed. We needed to finish and pull it out. But we didn’t play very well.”

Sure, there were turnovers, missed opportunities, etc. for the Tomahawks, but when it came down to it, the difference in the game was South goalie Ethan Johnson, lauded as one of the state’s best. He didn’t disappoint, coming up with 17 saves while being poked and prodded with constant traffic around the crease.

“He’s a beast,” Monsen said. “They had screens in front of him the whole time. They gave us all we could handle. But I’m proud of how we responded.”

“They’re goalie had a heckuva game,” said Miller, who was thrilled with his own netminder, Aiden Ward, who had nine stops.

The Panthers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, but Merrimack tied the game, and it was 2-2 after one quarter.

The Panthers, though, played their best lacrosse of the day in the second quarter to lead 6-3 at the half, and expanded that lead to 7-3 early in the third and still led 8-5 before goals by Forbes and Connor Patch made it an 8-7 game heading into the fourth.

The ‘Hawks were never able to get another equalizer. Connor Rowsell and Medling scored to make it 10-7 with 6:02 left, but the ‘Hawks didn’t quit with goals by Alec Vietry (hat trick, 2:14 left) and Forbes with 56 ticks left. Medling’s clincher came with 37.9 to go.

Vietry (with an assist) led the ‘Hawks in scoring, while Forbes and Kyle Dunn each had two goals, Dunn also adding three assists. Shea Goodwin and Patch finished with a goal and assist each. Ryan Rezendes had an assist.

Medling, Griffin Johnson (with an assist) and Ryan Salemi each had hat tricks for South, while Nate Campbell had a goal and four assists and Rowsell his goal and two assists.

The Panthers may have wanted an easier win, but they weren’t going to get it.

“Two teams here with huge senior classes,” Miller said. “They’ve got 15, we’ve got 17. You’re not going to see where kids don’t know what to do or not competing, with those kinds of senior classes.”

Monsen said the Panthers had a flu going through the team, were a little shorthanded and he could see their legs start to wilt.

“At the end of the day, those plays we were doing at the end, we needed to be making for four quarters to make our lives a lot easier,” he said. “Unfortunately, it took until Merrimack gave us a bit of a scare for us to do that. But we did it, we finished, we’re 7-1.”

Which is where Miller’s Tomahawks want to be some day down the road.

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