Division II boys lacrosse preview

The Derryfield School boys lacrosse team enters the season as the defending Division II champion, and perhaps the favorite to win the title again, but there is no shortage of teams in line to try to knock the Cougars off.

Doing so might be easier said than done, as Derryfield has lost just four games in the last four seasons, dating back to when the program was in Division III.

St. Thomas, Portsmouth, Hollis Brookline, Goffstown and Dover – which returned to D2 after two seasons playing up – will all try to take their shot at unseating the Cougars.

Here’s a look at how the division might shake out.

Favorites

• Derryfield (19-1): The Cougars have made the final in each of their first two years in D2, and have played for a title in each of the last four. Derryfield lost a lot on offense, including D2 Offensive Player of the Year Michael Chiasson, but returns two of the players who could challenge for the award in senior Lee Sipes and sophomore Jon MacLean. While the Cougars were also hit by graduation on defense, they do return sophomores Max Horton (defense) and Avry Truex (goalie).

Contenders

• Portsmouth (15-4): The Clippers lost 10 players to graduation after making the semifinals the last two years, and the strength of the returning players is on defense. Leading the way is senior goalie Oscar Kozikowski, along with junior defensemen Jack Stevens and Jacob Morin. Ollie Allen and Zadoc White are both three-year varsity middies and will be looked upon to lead the offense.
• Dover (7-9 in D1): After making the playoffs in D1 a year ago, the Green Wave move back down to the division they won a title in in 2011. Despite having a young team, Dover has a lot of experience returning, including including junior captains Dominic Silverio and Justin Colizzi on attack and senior captains Dylan Russell (midfield) and Christian Towel (defense). The Green Wave have three goalies – Griffin Hanson, Noah Schwartz and Sebastian Cook – battling for the starting job.
• St. Thomas (10-8): For the second year in a row, the Saints saw their season end in the quarterfinals against Derryfield. With the loss of some of the team’s top offensive players, St. Thomas will rely on the defense early, which is led by captains Garrett Downs and Andrew Geppert, along with Will Kaspari. Senior captain Aidan Crisp will look to lead the offense from the midfield and junior Tim Bouchard should be solid on faceoffs.
• Hollis Brookline (15-4): The Cavaliers bounced back from a tough first year in D2 to reach the title game last season. HB has a new coach in Rich MacDonough, who takes over for Mike Soucy. The Cavs have a pair off all-state performers back on defense in Colin Loftus and Jack Bryne, and they’re joined by Jack Aldana-Proulx and goalie Garrett Moloney. Nick Hinchcliffe was second-team all-state in the midfield last season and will team with Derek Davidson and George Driscoll, while Will Crosby and Ryan Olson lead the attack.
• Goffstown (12-5): The Grizzlies were hit hard by graduation, losing 15 players from last year’s semifinalist. Goffstown has just four seniors returning, but two of those are midfielders Peyton Bickford, the team’s faceoff guy, and Nick Nault. Junior Connor Chapdelaine is the lone returning starter on defense while senior Tyler Riendeau moves from goalie to defense this season.

Dark Horses

• Merrimack Valley (8-7): The Pride were a playoff team a year ago and look to get back with the help of seniors Josh Farmer (defense) and Chase Mercier (midfield), both of whom were all-state players last year. Also getting in the mix are freshmen Cody Mercier and sophomore Dylan Arrant on attack and while senior Chris Carmichael returns at midfield.
• Windham (11-7): While the Jaguars graduated some all-state performers from last year’s playoff team, they return some players in key positions who picked up experience in 2016.

In the mix

• Oyster River (5-9): The Bobcats return a solid group of players, with 11 starters back, led by an all-state performer in senior captain Troy LaPolice (attack). Joining him are fellow senior captains Ben MacDonald, Stephen Orlich and Max Litchfield. Also on attack is junior Nick Ackerman while junior midfielders Max Stenslie, Sam Davies and Parker Spinney return. Senior goalie Liam McNamara and junior Ben Buteau will lead the defense.
• Kingswood (6-10): The Knights finished the season strong last year, knocking off Goffstown in the final week of the season and beating Windham in the first round of the playoffs. Kingswood lost 19 players to graduation and it will take time for the Knights to develop, but they have solid returning players in seniors Garrett Scott (midfield) and Alex Mattarozzo (defense) and juniors Erik Madden (captain, midfield) and Liam Morrissey (captain, defense).
• Bow (7-8): The Falcons are coming off a playoff berth a year ago and will look to be strong from the goal out, with senior goalie Chase Chamberlin leading the way. Also on defense are seniors Aiden Koorneef and Skylar O’Reilly and junior Matt Harkins. Seniors Brendan Ulrich (midfield) and Alex Killion (attack) will look to lead the offense.
• Keene (2-15): The Blackbirds return a starter at almost every position on the field after losing just two seniors from a year ago. Senior defensemen Cam Berry and Brendan Laperriere look to lead the way, with juniors Tim Greenwood and Ben Brudett (goalie) rounding out the defense. Senior Luke Plumley leads the offense alongside junior Marcin Maleski and sophomore Manning Kirker. Juniors Avery Houston, Zach Jankowksi and Spencer Hokanson will look to hold down the midfield.
• Spaulding (1-14): The Red Raiders have nine seniors returning this season, four of whom will play collegiately next year. Jeremy Lang, Alex Sullivan and Ben Toussaint will be called upon to lead the offense while Jacob Brown, Spence Hebert, Brandon Laganiere, Andrew Lucs and Alekz Munoz give Spaulding a solid midfield. Connor Breeze leads the defense and will be joined by Nate Hunt, who is in his first year in goal.

Rest of the field

• Winnacunnet (12-5): The Warriors return just four players with significant varsity experience from last year, led by seniors Darren Gibadlo, Jack Rademacher, Matt Havey and James Nash.
• John Stark (8-8): The Generals knocked off Merrimack Valley in the first round of the playoffs last year before falling to Hollis Brookline. John Stark took a hit from graduation, but returns a handful of experienced players.
• Pembroke (5-10): The Spartans made the playoffs as the 12th seed a year ago, but lost more than a dozen players to graduation. Pembroke will look to senior Glenn Dion to lead the offense.
• Timberlane (4-13): The Owls struggled last season, but will look to bounce back with senior attack Mike Bowman leading the way.
• Kennett (3-11): The Eagles will try to get back to the playoffs after missing out in 2016.
• Manchester Memorial (0-15 in D1): The Crusaders carry an 83-game losing streak into D2. Memorial’s last win came early in the 2011 season.
• Manchester West (0-14 in D3): The Blue Knights move up to D2 after winning 10 games in D3 the last four seasons.
• Alvirne (NA): The Broncos open their first season as a varsity program and coach Jason Downey is “excited to have a varsity program and will take the season as it comes.”

Playoff Predictions

Playoff teams: Derryfield, Dover, Hollis Brookline, Goffstown, John Stark, Keene, Kingswood, Merrimack Valley, Oyster River, Portsmouth, St. Thomas, Windham.

Final four: Derryfield, Dover, Portsmouth, St. Thomas.

Championship: Derryfield over Portsmouth.