Derryfield boys lacrosse pulls away from Portsmouth, clinches No. 1 seed

PORTSMOUTH – The Derryfield School boys lacrosse team entered Monday’s game against Portsmouth averaging better than 15 goals per contest.

The Clippers knew they needed to keep the Cougars’ top scorers from finding the back of the net, and for a while, they did so.

It was Derryfield’s other options that ended up hurting Portsmouth.

Jonny Maclean finished with four goals and Eric Mayer had three goals, while Michael Chiasson had three goals and a game-high six assists to lead the Cougars to a 16-5 win over the Clippers. With the win, Derryfield (15-1) clinches the No. 1 seed in Division II for the second year in a row.

Lee Sipes added two goals and two assists for the Cougars and Drew Johnson had a goal and three helpers, as Derryfield shut out Portsmouth (13-3) in the second and fourth quarters.

“If you’re going to pole some of our guys, other guys are going to have to step up,” Derryfield coach Chris Hettler said. “In other years, we haven’t had that. I think we can go seven deep in the midfield, and we’ve got three attack who, fine if you don’t want to pole them, they can create.”

That depth is what Portsmouth coach Chris Vishcer believes is the difference between Derryfield and the rest of the division.

“Watching their film, that’s the difference between them and some of the other teams in D2,” Vishcer said. “They have two, maybe even three lines, almost as good as their top line. Their top line is something different. For the ability to come out on the field and do that, it’s difficult. We don’t see it very often, and I think that’s why they’re capable of putting up the scores that they do.”

The Cougars also got two goals from Matt Dubreuil and one from Joe Costa, while goalie Avry Truex made seven saves.

Portsmouth got two goals and an assist from John Franks while Jack Alden, Luke Lacroce and Ollie Allen also scored. Oscar Kozikowski made 14 saves for the Clippers, who scored the first goal of the game with 8:14 remaining in the first, 20 seconds after Chiasson was called for interference.

Derryfield answered 1:20 later, tying the game on Maclean’s first goal, and the Cougars added two fastbreak goals just seven seconds apart to go up 3-1 with 4:12 to play in the first.

Maclean made it 4-1 by putting home a rebound just 1:04 after that, and the teams combined to score four goals in the final 1:32 of the quarter to give Derryfield a 6-3 lead at the end of the first.

Neither team could find the back of the net for the first seven minutes of the second, with Chiasson breaking the drought to make it 7-3 with five minutes left until halftime. The Cougars scored three more times in the final 3:33 of the half, including Johnson’s goal with one second left on the clock to give Derryfield a 10-3 lead.

“They’re a good team and they move the ball well,” Vishcer said. “They’re unselfish, they go for the pass, and their team speed and movement off-ball is fantastic.

“These guys are good enough to where, if you make a mistake, they’re going to capitalize on it. We’ve got to do a better job of possessing the ball. Stay away from giving them those opportunities. Once you start getting down, you have to start making decisions that get you into more vulnerable positions. We were pressing a little bit more.”

Portsmouth got the first goal of the second half, but Derryfield still held a seven-goal lead, 12-5, at the end of the quarter. The Cougars added four more goals in the fourth to put the game away.

“They’re very good players,” Hettler said. “We got some early and we went on that run in the second quarter that helped to open things up.

“We remember the two games we had with them last year. They were two intense battles. I fully expect to see these guys again, they are a very talented team.”