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SALEM, N.H. — When Mike Lorenz arrived at Salem High yesterday morning, he expected another day as a role player.

“I didn’t see this at all,” said Lorenz. “I expected my normal day of playing some defensive back and going in on offense a little bit.”

SALEM N.H. — New Hampshire football beware. Salem, which won the Division 1 state title yesterday over Nashua North, is only getting better.

“It’s crazy,” said Blue Devils running back Max Jacques. “We have everyone returning. We’ll be back. I have confidence.”

SALEM, N.H. ­— The Blue Devils of Salem earned their top billing on the state-playoff marquee with an explosive rushing attack.

So what do they do when the season is on the line?

SALEM -- Even fullback Darren Brown admitted he was a touch surprised by his team’s aerial attack yesterday.

“We’ve had trouble with different things in the passing game all season,” said the senior. “But it sure worked today.”

SALEM — The moment Salem’s Jerrickson Federick entered the end zone with 2:01 left to play in the game, the running back simply could not contain his excitement any longer.

“I gave a high-5 to a few kids on the sidelines I felt so good,” said the sophomore. “I don’t know how I would have reacted if we had lost, but we are back on top, just like we wanted to be.”

SALEM, N.H. — Fortunately, the Salem football team will begin its “second season” at home next Saturday in the Division 1 playoffs.

That will give the No. 1-seed Blue Devils something to focus on all week rather than dwelling on the end of their first season last night, which was nothing short of a disaster.

NASHUA — “Don’t let up,” Salem coach Kendrick Whittle shouted to his players after junior Cassie Chase scored in the 58th minute to tie her team’s Class L semifinal against Manchester Central.
Whittle’s message, however, was not enough as Salem allowed a goal 15 seconds later as No. 4 Manchester Central posted a 2-1 upset victory over the No. 1 Blue Devils yesterday.
“We were on a pretty big high and they knew they had to come back hard and they did,” Chase said. “We didn’t anticipate that. (Coach) always says not to let up. But occasionally we do because we’re so excited.
“We worked so hard this season that we feel like we deserve to be in the finals.”
Whittle added: “You’ve got to play hard after you score, even when we’re up 4-0, 5-0 — that’s usually what I say. Our defense, coming into today, we’ve allowed 10 goals all season. So to allow those two goals, it’s just not what we do. It hurts.”
Salem finished the season with a 17-2 record. Both losses came against Manchester Central.
The Blue Devils also dropped a 2-1 game to the Little Green on Sept. 15.
“I don’t think we talked about revenge,” Whittle said. “We talked about correcting the mistakes we made last time and we didn’t. I don’t feel as though we corrected to the caliber we needed to.”
Salem had its chanced to tie the game late. Chase hit the crossbar on a free kick with just seconds left in regulation.
“There was a lot of pressure at the end of a game down a goal,” Chase said about her shot over the crossbar. “I just didn’t get my head over the ball and just didn’t focus enough.”
Manchester Central’s Sarah Velasquez scored the game winner on a shot from about 12 feet out.
“It just got by us,” Salem goalie Sarah Snyder said. “I know (Sarah Raye) was trying to stop them from coming in but a player got by her and we’re not used to having Raye sweep because our usual sweeper Hanna LaRochelle is sick. I just couldn’t get out fast enough before she popped it over me,”
Londonderry loses
in PK session
Londonderry hadn’t spent much time on penalty kicks at practices this season.  
“Yesterday was actually the first day,” senior Kelley Griffin said, adding with a chuckle: “Maybe we should’ve practiced them a little bit more.”
No. 2 Londonderry fells to No. 3 Exeter on PKs yesterday, after the score remained deadlocked 1-1 after two 20-minute overtimes. Exeter won the shootout 3-1.
Lancers goalie Lindsey Bolduc looked strong in the PKs after making three nice saves during the second overtime, including one that she stopped with both hands after completely stretching to her right.
“I knew going into the second overtime that it was going to go to PKs,” Bolduc said. “In practice I had done really good (with PKs) so I was just going with what I did in practice.”
Bolduc, who was named the starting keeper about midway through the season after Kelsey Derhak broke her nose, saved the second PK shot going to her left after Exeter missed wide on its first attempt.
But the Blue Hawks were able to find the back of the net.
Meanwhile, Londonderry failed to score its final two tries after converting on its second attempt.
Londonderry coach Derek Dane was proud of his goalie’s performance.
“The group gained confidence in her,” Dane said. “You can see it on the field. She performed.”  
Griffin and Londonderry felt upset that the game  and their season — ended with PKs.
“I personally hate them (PKs) because that’s not how a team wins,” Griffin said. “It’s not a team thing. It becomes individual. Obviously you can’t continue to play because it gets crazy when it keeps going longer but nothing stinks worse than PKs.”
Exeter 2, Londonderry 1

 Just days ago, No. 10 Salem shocked No. 7 Winnacunnet. But it was not to be yesterday, as the Blue Devils fell to No. 2 Exeter 5-0 in the Class L quarterfinals.

It was just one month ago that Pinkerton dealt Salem a 3-0 sweep. But the Blue Devils took their revenge in the tournament.

Melissa Ouellet had a team-best eight blocks and nine kills as No. 4 Salem downed No. 5 Pinkerton 25-21, 25-13, 25-27, 25-17 in the Division 1 quarterfinals. Courtney Wright added 12 kills for the winners, while McKayla Floyd led the way with 36 assists for the Astros.

Amanda Vaudreuil's second-half goal sent the game into overtime, and her tally in penalty kicks clinched No. 1 Salem's 2-1 victory over No. 8 Concord in the Class L quarterfinals. Gina Righini, Tayllar Righini and Sarah Raye each added a goal to set up Vaudreuil in PKs.