Drouin, Laliberte writing next lacrosse chapter with PLL's Atlas

Hunter Drouin was already waiting by his cell phone on the morning of June 1 when he got a text message.

Looking at his phone, Drouin saw the message was from Nathan Laliberte, and there was a song with it.

He opened the message, and for the first time in a while, listened to “1000hp” by Godsmack.

“We would listen to that song in the back of his dad’s truck at full blast,” Drouin said. “It was our hype song. We’d listen to it every time we’d hang out. I hadn’t heard it in a long time, so when he sent it to me, it brought back so many memories. Now we’re playing together and getting hyped up to that before playing as professionals.”

That morning, the Premier Lacrosse League had sent out a release about the New York Atlas adding Drouin to their roster, meaning he and Laliberte – who like Drouin, graduated from Derry’s Pinkerton Academy – were going to be teammates.

“As soon as I saw it, it took me about five seconds to shoot him a text,” Laliberte said. “I was never thinking I’d get the opportunity to play with him again. Now on the biggest stage of the sport, it felt like a dream come true.”

It’s a bit of a second chance for that opportunity. While they graduated from Pinkerton just a year apart – Laliberte in 2020, Drouin in 2021 – they never actually played a varsity game together for the Astros.

After starting as a faceoff specialist as a freshman, Laliberte decided to leave Pinkerton for Governor’s Academy, in Byfield, Mass., before his sophomore season. But an ACL tear early in the spring of his junior year led Laliberte to think about returning to Derry to play with his friends one more time.

Hunter, and his older brother, Mason, who also graduated in 2020, did what they had to do to convince their friend to return.

“Hunter and Mason made a power point on why I should go back to Pinkerton,” Laliberte said. “They came to my house and presented it to me.”

Laliberte decided to return, but they never saw the field together once the 2020 season was cancelled due to Covid. While Laliberte and Mason Drouin ended up being teammates at Bryant University, Hunter Drouin went his own way, doing a postgraduate year at the Loomis Chaffee School, in Windsor, Conn., before playing at Colgate University.

“I feel like it’s the reward of that presentation,” Hunter Drouin said of their reunion with Atlas. “It definitely helped the transition. It helps you make small talk with other people. They hear you’re from New Hampshire, they ask, then you must know Nate. He’s my friend, but he’s also a role model. He works his tall off. No matter what he goes through, he comes out on top.”

Not only did Laliberte rebound from the ACL injury in high school, he did so again in college, after suffering the same injury eight games into his freshman season. He ended up being a three-year starter for the Bulldogs, where he played for Atlas coach Mike Pressler, earning All-American honors as a senior while ranking second in the nation in faceoff win percentage.

Laliberte was picked up by Atlas before the 2025 season, but didn’t dress for a game as the team went on to win its first PLL championship. This year, he’s seen action in four games, serving as the backup to Trevor Baptiste, a former league MVP as a faceoff specialist.

“Coming out of high school, I thought I knew everything,” Laliberte said. “Then going through college, I thought I knew everything. Now I’m around a guy like Baptiste, who does know everything. From getting to go against him in practice, there are no nerves. Having a guy like that in your corner, it brings the excitement out.”

Drouin earned All-American honors of his own this spring, and at one point, was on the watch list for the Tewaaraton Award, given to the top college lacrosse player each year. He thought he was on a path to the PLL when he finished playing at Colegate, having had conversations with a couple of coaches leading up to the league’s entry draft.

But the draft came and went without his name being called.

“I thought I was going to (get drafted), and when it didn’t happen, the negative thoughts crept in,” Drouin said. “I was like ‘uh oh, maybe it won’t be a reality.’ The PLL had a pro day coming up, so I knew I’d be going to put the pads on one more time and at least have another chance to play with a purpose. Thankfully coach Pressler had a lot of faith in me.”

Drouin has been in two games this season, and while he and Laliberte have yet to dress for the same game, they have another opportunity to do so in front of a home crowd. The PLL returns to Harvard Stadium this weekend, with the Atlas set to take on the Denver Outlaws at 1 p.m. Saturday.

“We haven’t been on the field together yet, but being on the same team, on all the calls, talking to each other, it’s been awesome,” Drouin said. “When people think lacrosse hotbeds, I’m sure New Hampshire doesn’t come up. We’re hoping to make New Hampshire one of those hotbeds.”