PENACOOK – Merrimack Valley’s boys’ lacrosse game against Derryfield on Monday served as a test: An upstart 3-1 Pride team that’s already matched its win total from last year against a more seasoned Cougars team that entered play 8-0, having outscored their opponents 140-33.

By practically every metric, MV failed. Derryfield trounced the Pride, 17-0.

But it’s just one game. And while MV had reason for optimism after winning three of the first four games of the year, the program hasn’t quite reached a point yet where it can take down a team of the Cougars’ caliber.

In his first year leading the program, head coach Sean Gill saw Monday’s loss as a strong measuring stick for his team to understand what it needs to do to continue to take that next step.

“Fundamentally, (Derryfield) moves the ball well, they found the open guy, they didn’t hold on to it too long, they scooped through ground balls, they didn’t second-guess themselves,” Gill said. “They seemed very confident, and I think all of those areas are what we lacked. I think we second-guessed ourselves in some areas.”

One area he emphasized in particular: scooping through ground balls. Too often, he saw guys standing in place waiting for grounders to reach them instead of attacking the ball.

Still, Gill feels like the Pride have the ingredients necessary to progress, citing their athleticism as a key strength. It’s also helped him to have the leadership he does from a small, but vocal, senior class.

“Aidan Monaghan, Danny McGonagle, Matt Sanborn, Ryan Carmichael. Those guys are huge,” Gill said of his four senior captains. “Sanborn and Carmichael … they’re able to let these guys know like, ‘Hey, this is what we’re seeing.’ And as a coach, I think that’s important because these guys don’t want to hear everything from me all the time. It’s like parents talking to their kids, so I really appreciate that.

“And then Aidan’s an action guy. He’s a big dude, so he has an intimidation factor. He plays fierce, he wants to be out there and he wants to compete. Carmichael, the kid is clearly special between the pipes. It’s working on our supporting cast and making sure that we’re learning and growing each game.”

Gill didn’t have experience coaching the current seniors or juniors, but he’s grown up as a coach with the sophomore and freshman classes, having coached in the youth program. That, he said, has helped ease his transition to the varsity level.

He also sees a hunger for improvement within the group, even among the more talented players.

“I think there’s more to come. I really believe in this team. It’s just going to come down to fine-tuning and getting more comfortable with them and them with me in this role,” Gill said. “We want to be a winning program, and quite frankly, I feel we have the athletes to do it. It’s just five games in. ... We’ll get there. It’s just a matter of time.”

After a 3-11 season last spring, it’s hard to argue that Gill doesn’t at the very least have things headed on the right track. Monday’s setback was demoralizing, no doubt, but the energy and focus provide reason for hope that moving forward, the Pride will play more like it did in its wins over Pembroke, Spaulding and Alvirne than it did against Derryfield.

“It’s just a learning curve,” Gill said. “We’re five games in now, 3-2 record. It’s not bad, but when you see a game like today, there’s a lot that can be worked on.”

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