The Oak Hill (4-3) boys lacrosse team enters an unusual part of their schedule. The Raiders have a week off before playing the last five games of the regular season.

Coach Dan Brannigan and the Raiders are focused on making it to the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B championship game, but will need to put together a win streak to reach their goal.

“We need to win all our Class B games to reach the KVAC championship. We need to win everyone we have left,” Brannigan said. “We will be getting ready this week and focus on our first game with Mt. Blue Saturday.”

Defensively, the Raiders were hit hard by injury when senior defensive captain Dylan Mulherin was lost for the remainder of the season when he broke his arm during a game.

“Defense will need to find their chemistry with Dylan out,” Brannigan said. “We will do some running, work on our skills and get ready to play our best.”

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Three Cony seniors have set a high standard for the Rams in girls lacrosse this season. Mia Diplock broke the 100-goal barrier, reaching the milestone in a 17-9 win over Edward Little on May 3. Diplock has 104 career goals.

Chelsea Begin, meanwhile, has scored 80 goals for the Rams.

Goalkeeper Katrina Duncan registered her 400th career save in an 11-10 loss to Brunswick. Duncan has 404 career saves.

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The Messalonskee boys team suffered a pair of hard-fought losses last week where mistakes cost them in both games.

The Eagles (4-4) lost to Mt. Ararat 10-9 on a last-second goal and 12-6 to Brunswick. They must bounce back quickly because they face a strong Lewiston team Wednesday night.

“It has been a learning process for some of the kids,” Messalonskee coach Tom Sheridan said. “The two losses were painful, but right now we need to get ready for Lewiston and be playing our best lacrosse when we get to the playoffs.

“Having a 4-4 record is below our expectations. We are learning from our mistakes. It’s just at times our youth has been showing.”

Lewiston comes to Oakland riding a three-game win streak. The Blue Devils have allowed just seven goals in that stretch while scoring nearly 10 per game.

“Lewiston will be a big game,” Sheridan said. “If the kids work hard and don’t give up, we should be OK.”

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Messalonskee girls lacrosse coach Ashley Pullen is concerned because of a lack of offensive production in the second half of games.

Last week, the Eagles (4-3) scored just one goal in the second half against Mt. Ararat and two in the second half against Oxford Hills.

“We need to figure out our second half scoring this week,” Pullen said. “It is simple, we need to score more.”

The Eagles face Gardiner today and unbeaten Brunswick on Thursday, hoping to build momentum with the playoffs fast approaching.

“We have great team speed, it is a matter of executing the basics,” Pullen said. “This is definitely a big week that we will take one game at a time and hope to build momentum and confidence.

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The Messalonskee boys will host Lewiston in their annual HEADstrong Foundation game at 7 p.m. Wednesday. All proceeds from the game will go to help research involving blood cancer.

Throughout the year, schools and lacrosse teams across the country raise money for the HEADstrong Foundation.

The Foundation was formed by Nick Colleluori, a lacrosse player at Hofstra University, who passed away after being diagnosed with blood cancer that affected his lymphatic system. During treatment, Colleluori created the foundation to raise awareness for blood cancer and help others afflicted with the disease.

To read more about the foundation and Nick go to: http://headstrongfoundation.org/about/our-mission/

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The Lawrence High School boys lacrosse program is 2-years-old and hopes to become a varsity program in the next couple of seasons.

“We are in the club process,” Lawrence athletic director Bill McManus said. “We have good parent support and interest from the students. The team follows school guidelines and plays on Lawrence athletic fields. We will keep it at the club level for a couple of years to see what the interest level is.”

Interest in the Lawrence program and in the Central Maine Lacrosse youth program, which has been providing opportunities for younger players, has blossomed, according to Lawrence coach Matt Petrie. There are more than 100 players in the CML and Lawrence has 19 players on its roster.

“A majority of the kids involved and myself would like to see it develop to the varsity level,” Petrie said. “We are discussing the process and realize there are funding issues, uniforms and equipment that we have to be concerned about and plan for.”

Petrie expects Lawrence’s numbers to increase when a large eighth grade class, many who have played in CML since they were in the fifth grade, enter the high school.

“We started at the high school level with a group of players who needed to learn lacrosse skill sets,” Petrie said. “As the younger kids moved along, they developed the necessary skills and will come into the program next year at a different level.

“Our A.D. and those at other schools have been great, helping us schedule games and working to get the program going. Our players are starting to see how different components of the game work and things are flowing much better this year. I don’t see any reason why we can’t play at the varsity level in the future.”