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Windham's girls soccer team turned its first varsity game into an impressive 4-1 victory. Bernadette Connors led the Jaguars with two goals and an assist and Sarah Chau contributed a pair of assists.

Freshman Sami Hennequin allowed just two hits in a complete-game effort as Pinkerton topped Manchester West 12-0.

Hannah Feneberg and Victoria Bassi won their singles matches then paired to triumph in first doubles as Timberlane won its first match of the season, 6-3 over Manchester West.

Traling by a run going into the seventh, Lucas Alper, John Faia and Dan Armstrong each singled home a run and P.J. Singster closed out the game in the bottom of the frame to give Timberlane a 5-3 win over Manchester West.

In Timberlane's commanding 121-24 victory over Manchester West, Chris Dow was triumphant in the long jump (19-5), 100 (11.4) and 400 (54.8), and also helped out in the winning 4x100 relay.

Salem's softball team opened its season with a bang, throwing a three-person perfect game in a 20-0 romp over Manchester West. Nora Galvin and Val Bauer both went two innings, striking out six each, and Brittany Hall pitched the fifth before the mercy rule ended the game. Stephanie Long (4 for 4) led the offense with three doubles and five RBIs, Nicole Gubellini added three hits and Julia Gray slugged a long home run and had a pair of RBIs.

Nick Harbilas kicked off his season in fine fashion, scoring seven goals and adding four assists to lead Salem to a season-opening 23-2 drubbing of Manchester West.

DERRY, N.H. —  Pinkerton senior Zach Mathieu doubled his pleasure last night in the Class L quarterfinals.
Before the season, the 6-foot-7 center didn’t think either would happen, but he scored his 1,000th point while pacing the Astros past Manchester West, 63-58, and into Wednesday’s semifinals at UNH.
Pinkerton (16-4 in Class L), which will be making its first semifinal appearance since 1994, will face Dover at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Dover defeated Exeter, 63-60, last night.
“Early in the year, we didn’t think this was possible,” said Mathieu. “But we’ve become real close, everyone knows their role and the chemistry has been really good.
“The 1,000 points was a complete surprise. I didn’t even know I was close. I thought I had around 600.”
 Mathieu’s 1,000th point, which came deep in the fourth quarter, was certainly needed, and it came at the most opportune time.
After the Astros had taken a commanding 36-20 halftime lead, West roared back in the third quarter with a 20-1 run to take a brief lead and had the score tied, 52-52 ,with less than three minutes remaining to play in the game.
But Mathieu scored his 1,000th point on an offensive rebound put-back to make it 54-52 and, on the next time down the floor, put back another rebound off the glass to make it 57-52 with 1:41 remaining. From that point, the Astros used perfect foul shooting to seal the victory.
With junior guard Chad Park (11 points) leading the way with four free throws, the Astros were a perfect 10 for 10 from the line in the fourth quarter.
“I don’t know if we’ve been a good free throw shooting team during the year, but we are now,” quipped Pinkerton coach Peter Rosinski, whose club was 14 of 15 from the line overall. “We’ve worked hard at it.”
Prior to that point, it was largely the inside strength of the Astros, and in particular of Mathieu, that made the difference. He led all scorers with 23 points while hauling down 13 rebounds and blocking six shots, which gives him over 70 blocks for the season, according to Rosinski.
“Zach has just had a tremendous year and he keeps getting better the longer we play,” said Rosinski of the four-year mainstay. “We knew they’d come back, especially since we were in foul trouble.”
Indeed, 6-4 sophomore Alex Patrikis spent most of the second and third quarters on the bench and, when he came back in the fourth quarter to join Mathieu and 6-4 Ben Proulx (12 points, nine rebounds), Pinkerton was much more effective.
Patrikis scored five of his seven points in the final frame.
“We’re a different team with Alex out there,” said Rosinski.
And the Astros are now different from the previous 15 Pinkerton teams, including last year when it had a pair of fine guards in Colby Verge and Beau Cassidy.
“Our defensive intensity is better this year and we’re deeper,” said Rosinski, whose club was shocked in the first round last winter.
Also, as he is likely playing the last basketball of his career, Mathieu — who will be focusing on baseball at Franklin Pierce next year — is becoming a man among boys at just the right time.                                                                 

Pinkerton 53, Manchester West 58
Class L Quarterfinals
Manchester West (58): Martin 3-5-11. Abdalla 5-1-12, Valentin 6-3-17, Gonzalez 1-3-5, Asselin 3-4-11, Ilic 1-0-2. Totals 19-16-58
Pinkerton (63): Park 2-6-11, Colbert 2-2-6, Williams 2-0-4, Light 0-0-0, Curry 0-0-0, Patrikis 3-1-7, Proulx 6-0-12, Mathieu 9-5-23. Totals 24-14-63
3-pointers: MW — Abdalla, Valentin 2, Asselin; P — Park
Manchester West (13-7 Class L):    14  6 24 14 — 58
Pinkerton (16-4 Class L):    15 21  7 20 — 63

Chad Park scored 14 points and Ben Proulx and Zach Mathieu each netted 13 points as Pinkerton rolled to a 64-50 victory over Manchester West. Pinkerton was ahead by just one point at halftime but the Astros outscored Manchester West by nine points in the third quarter to build an 10 point lead. The two squads are now tied in the Class L standings with identical 5-2 records.

LONDONDERRY, N.H. — The birthday boy Alex Lambert caught a punt at his team’s own 47, burst through a hole near the center of the field, accelerated some more and darted 53 yards for the touchdown. The 5-8, 150-pound Londonderry senior, who turned 18 yesterday, celebrated his big day in impressive style, leading the Lancers to a 40-13 rout over Manchester West.
Lambert rushed 24 times for 217 yards, including touchdown sprints of 23 and 3 yards. He completed both passes he threw for 56 yards total, including firing a 46-yard TD.  
The highlight of the day for him though was his punt return since it is so rare.
“I haven’t done that in years,” Lambert said. “The last time was freshmen year. I just took the ball, got good blocking and just shot right up the middle and it was open.”
Lambert comes from an athletic family. His brother, Eagle-Tribune All-Star Ryan Lambert, played football for Londonderry before graduating in 2007. Although Alex certainly does not share the same large build as Ryan — who played linebacker and fullback — the younger sibling does a nice job relying on his quickness.
The senior rushed for 60 yards on Londonderry’s 68-yard opening drive, which resulted in a touchdown.
Lambert lined up at running back, with a wingback beside him, and took many direct snaps.
“I just get the balls straight up shotgun and the holes were huge,” Lambert said.
Sophomore wingback Sean O’Gorman added about Lambert: “He’s an all-around good player. His punt return was the first one we’ve had all season. Even coach Rich has been saying we needed one every game. He’s wicked fast and agile.”
Londonderry put the game away in the second quarter by outscoring Manchester West 27-6 to take a 34-6 lead.
The 27-point second quarter included a 43-yard TD pass from Ross Johnston to Kevin Hale.
Hale was mobbed by his teammates in the end zone. It was a well-deserved celebration as Hale was playing his first game after sitting out the first three weeks with a slight MCL tear suffered during the preseason.
“It was pretty exciting,” Hale said. “It was pretty cool that my first reception back ended up being a touchdown like that. It was a perfect pass by Ross. He put it right on me.”