Derryfield boys lacrosse gets by Goffstown, finishes regular season undefeated

GOFFSTOWN – The Derryfield School boys lacrosse team has done all it wanted to do in the regular season.

Now the Cougars will sit back and wait to see where they’ll end up.

Derryfield used a big run in the first half Wednesday to get a comfortable lead and picked up a 13-5 win over Goffstown to finish the regular season undefeated in Division II. The Cougars (17-0) will wait to see what Dover does in its finale against Salem to see which season it will get.

If the Green Wave (15-0), which survived an overtime game with St. Thomas on Wednesday, beat the Blue Devils (4-13 in Division I), they’ll get the No. 1 seed and Derryfield will be second. A loss by Dover means the two flip.

“If we’re the two seed, then we’re the two seed,” Derryfield coach Chris Hettler said. “If we get the one, we get the one. We’re going to play whoever is in front of us.

“(The win) was a culmination of a really good regular season. Guys came out and played with intensity. We knew it was going to be their senior night and they came out with energy, scored the first goal. We had to match it, bring the level of our play back up.”

The Grizzlies (6-9) took an early 1-0 lead, but the Cougars scored the next four goals, and after Goffstown got one back, Derryfield scored four unanswered to end the half with an 8-2 lead.

Jon Maclean led the way for the Cougars with five goals while Connor Glosner added three goals and John Anderson had a goal and four assists. Eric Mayer (assist), Lee Sipes, Robbie Dowst and Chris Benson also had a goal each while Avry Truex made 13 saves.

Going in, Hettler was concerned about how Derryfield would do on faceoffs against Goffstown’s Peyton Bickford, but Sipes was able to hold his own with the Grizzlies senior.

“Bickford has been playing really well all season and we wanted to make sure we had possession of the ball,” Hettler said. “We felt like if we could matchup on four of their guys, we’d have a good chance to win if we could take care of the faceoff circle. I think Lee did really well (on faceoffs).”

Nick Mason scored four goals to lead the Goffstown offense, while Bickford also had a goal. Finn Grant made 11 saves.

“They battled the whole game and didn’t give up,” Goffstown coach Josh Lewis said. “We had a couple of setbacks and that happens. It’s about adapt and overcome, and that’s what I push with the boys. We had to do that, but Derryfield is a solid program. They’re well-coached, they have great athletes, they’re disciplined, they play hard.”

Goffstown had a chance to pick up some momentum at the end of the first half, holding the ball for a long possession.

But the Grizzlies waited until the final seconds to attack the cage and were unable to score. Maclean scored 53 seconds into the third quarter to give Derryfield a 9-3 lead and Goffstown didn’t score again until the fourth quarter.

“In that moment, there was no urgency,” Lewis said. “They were all waiting for someone else to do something. The one person who wanted to do it was Nick Mason. He was an animal. He said ‘I want the rock, I’m going to the cage.’ That’s what we need more of and he’s a sophomore.”

Goffstown has one game left in the season, as the Grizzlies will head to Portsmouth on Friday, needing a win to have a shot at the postseason. Derryfield will have a bye into the quarterfinals, which will be played on June 3.