BOYS’ SOCCER

Wells 5, Lakers 1: Due to injuries, the Lakers started five freshmen last Friday in the season home opener against Wells. The Warriors jumped on the opportunity, playing strong, physical soccer against the Lakers in a 5-1 victory.

In the first half, Wells dominated offensively, scoring four times including twice on corner kicks.

“At half, I calmed the team and readjusted our defense. I challenged the boys to go out and win more of the 50/50 balls and to use our speed to our advantage, and the boys did just that,” Laker Coach Michael Chaine said.

The Lakers came out as a new team and played Wells evenly and with a great pass from junior Paul Vigna to freshman Giavani Lopez, who got the Lakers on the board, 4-1.

The LR defense played well in the second half, keeping Wells to just one score — a penalty kick off a handball inside the box.

Up next: The Lakers travel to Poland on Tuesday, Sept. 12 for a 6 p.m. game and then goes to St. Dom’s in Auburn next Thursday, Sept. 14 for a 3:30 p.m. contest.

GIRLS’ SOCCER

Wells 2, Lakers 1: Feeling a few home opener nerves leading to some defensive lapses, the Lakers fell behind Wells 2-0 by halftime last week.

“We made a couple of defensive adjustments and came out in the second half with much more confidence and an intent to create some scoring chances,” LR Coach Peter Webb said.

Mindy Murphy scored midway through the second half on a loose ball in the box resulting from a corner kick. Neva Leavitt and Chandler True almost tied it up on two great chances.

Defensively, LR’s Mackenzie Siebert did a tremendous job man marking Wells’ playmaker and pretty much shut her down in the second half.

“I was a bit disappointed with our start to the game, but I am extremely pleased with how we came out in the second half and turned things around,” Coach Webb added. “We really pushed the tempo and were just unlucky on scoring two more goals, which could have won the game. So, my takeaway is a positive one. I am confident we will steadily improve each game.”

Up next: The Lakers were scheduled to play Sacopee Valley yesterday, and will host Gray-New Gloucester this Friday at 4 p.m. at Dennison Field (Kansas Road). Then, the Lakers travel to Poland on Wednesday, Sept. 13 for a 6 p.m. contest.

GOLF

The Lakers opened the regular season with a 4-3 win over Poland at Poland Springs.

“Pleasantly pleased with the play of the younger players. Their continued improvement will determine our season,” Coach Art Kilborn said.

LR’s foursome of Bobby Caron, Cutter Meeker, Ben Johnson and Justin Mushrow combined for a 211, just to nip the Knights, who posted a 213.

Caron recorded a 53 to defeat Poland’s Matt Ray (57), while Meeker posted the best round of the match with a 48 (par is 34) for another LR win.

Johnson posted a 56, six shots back; and Mushrow finished with a 54, two shots back. Ayden Glass fired a 60, six shots back, while Adam Ranco picked up another LR point with a 67, three shots better than his Poland opponent.

Non-scoring LR players included: Trevor Hill 64, Hunter Hill 61, Dan Brewer 57 and Ayden Foster 74.

Up next: The Lakers played at Old Orchard Beach yesterday, and will host their first match with Yarmouth and Fryeburg Academy today, Thursday, at 3:30 p.m. at Bridgton Highlands.

CROSS-COUNTRY

Junior Dawson Smith placed fifth overall and the Lakers had a strong secondary pack to capture first place in their regular season home opener last Thursday.

The LR boys claimed the top spot with 47 points followed by Poland 54, Fryeburg Academy 57, St. Dom’s 62 and Sacopee Valley no score.

While the Hawks did not field enough runners to score, SV had the fastest runner on the 2.95-mile course — Troy Hendricks, who motored to a time of 16 minutes, 40 seconds.

Smith checked in at 17:52, 23 seconds behind St. Dom’s Liam Levasseur.

LR freshman Nathan Casali placed eighth in 18:09, six seconds ahead of Fryeburg’s Osage Crie.

Other Laker finishers were:

12. Devyn Hatch, 18:43
13. Tim Moore, 19:00
14. Cameron Meserve, 19:21
15. Evan Willey, 19:24
16. Cody Doucette, 20:09
17. Ethan Chadwick, 20:12
18. Ian St. John, 20:24
19. Andrew Gianattasio, 21:14
20. Justin Lees, 21:27
21. Dillon Doucette, 23:48
22. Connor Martin, 27:27

“It was our best meet in a few years. Everyone improved (over their Invitational times from a week ago) and did a very good job,” LR Coach Dan Dors said. “And, we did not have our #1 runner, Jeff McCubrey.”

On the girls’ side, the Lakers had just two runners in the field — Hannah Chadwick, who placed 13th in 23:32 and Olivia Toole, who was 16th in 24:09.

Senior Emily Carty of Fryeburg Academy won the race in 18:12.

Up next: The Lakers travel to Gorham on Saturday for an 8 a.m. meet.