After opening the season with a pair of losses, Messalonskee boys lacrosse coach Tom Sheridan was beginning to wonder where his team would finish this season.

The Eagles finished 13-2 last season, won the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A title and reached the Eastern A semifinals. Messalonskee returned a number of key players from that team and had high expectations this spring.

The Eagles bounced back with an 8-4 win over Lewiston on Saturday.

“I didn’t think it would take this long to get a win,” Sheridan said. “When we got the lead on Lewiston, it helped to settle everyone down and we started to play better.

“Our defensive slides were better and our overall defense improved. Our movement on offense was smoother and we passed better.”

Messalonskee’s young defense is starting to jell around sophomore goalie Jacob Smith, who had 23 saves in a 13-3 loss to Brunswick and 11 in the win against Lewiston.

“Jacob has been phenomenal,” Sheridan said. “He is solid for us on defense.”

The Eagles take on Cony (1-2) at home Wednesday. The Rams earned a 6-3 win over Oxford Hills on Saturday.

“Cony has a very athletic team,” Sheridan said. “We need to be really focused and hope to take control of the game early.”

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First-year coach Dan Brannigan believes consistency will be key in rebuilding the Oak Hill boys lacrosse program.

“One of the things I’ve learned is, you need consistency,” said Brannigan, who played at Oak Hill and Thomas College in Waterville. “I’ve played for a bunch of different coaches and the one thing I liked as a player was to have things be consistent.”

The Raiders have seen consistent play in goal from freshman Matt Martin, who turned in a shutout against Mountain Valley. He also played well in an 8-3 loss to Maranacook/Winthrop.

“Matt has been excellent in goal,” Brannigan said. “We have a goal of not allowing anyone to score double figures on us and our defense has been working hard to reach that goal. This early in the season, the defense has been the cornerstone of our team.”

Oak Hill has just three seniors but has 13 juniors to build around.

“I believe we will be a force to be reckoned with,” Brannigan said. “Right now we don’t have the team chemistry we need but we are working to find it.”

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Gardiner earned its 11th straight regular-season win Saturday, beating Camden Hills 12-3. Justin Lovely, Seth Wing, Austin Moore, Josh Caldwell and Keegan Smith led a balanced offense with two goals each.

“We are moving the ball really well,” Gardiner coach K.C. Johnson said. “We are executing in our man up situations.”

After playing a mix of Class A and B schools, along with crossover games against southern Maine teams, Gardiner will play a straight Class B schedule against fellow KVAC B teams. Johnson wonders how this will impact his team come playoff time.

Last season, schedules were mixed between Class A and B schools, along with crossovers with southern Maine teams. This season, Class B Gardiner plays a straight Class B schedule against Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference teams only, leaving Johnson a bit worried about how ready the Tigers will be come playoff time.

“We could end up getting three teams into the tournament from the KVAC B but I’m not sure if we will be battle ready,” Johnson said. “We don’t play any of the bigger schools and that always helped to get us ready.”

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The Cony girls will play at Messalonskee on at 4 p.m. Thursday in what has become an exciting rivalry between the two Class A programs. Messalonskee holds a 6-2 series edge with a 1.5 goal margin in the series that began four-years ago, when the Rams first became a varsity program.

The teams split last season. Cony won 10-9 in Augusta on Mia Diplock’s goal with two minutes left. Messalonskee won in Oakland, 13-11, erasing a four-goal deficit along the away.

Messalonksee goalkeeper Izzy Skinner and Cony goalie Katrina Duncan led strong returning groups for both teams.