Portsmouth climbs in this week’s NHHSSports Boys Lacrosse Coaches Poll
The Portsmouth High School boys lacrosse team may have come up short in its last game against Exeter, but the Clippers made some history in this week’s NHHSSports Coaches Poll.
Following Saturday’s 10-9 loss to the Blue Hawks, the Clippers moved up a spot to No. 3, becoming just the fifth team to ever reach one of the top three spots in the poll (Bishop Guertin, Pinkerton, Exeter and Derryfield are the others).
After losing some first-place votes a week ago, Bishop Guertin was once again a unanimous choice for the top spot in the poll. The Cardinals have a busy week, as they go to Bedford for a 5:30 p.m. start Monday before hosting Nashua South on Thursday, and a Saturday morning matchup with La Salle Academy, from Providence. The Rams are the No. 1 team in Rhode Island and are coming off an 11-10 win over St. John’s Prep, the top team in Massachusetts.
Exeter, which was received all of the second-place votes, has back-to-back home games, hosting Londonderry on Monday and South on Tuesday, with both games starting at 4 p.m. Meanwhile, the Clippers will try to bounce back at 6:15 p.m. Monday against Goffstown and then head to Windham on Wednesday and Kingswood on Friday.
Pinkerton, which dropped to No. 4, plays a pair of road games this week, as the Astros go to Merrimack on Tuesday before an out-of-state road trip to face Algonquin Regional, of Northborough, Mass., on Saturday. Winnacunnet made the biggest jump of the week, moving up two spots to No. 5. The Warriors host Windham at 4 p.m. on Monday before road games at St. Thomas (Wednesday) and Spaulding (Friday).
Derryfield moved down one to No. 6 and will host Hollis Brookline on Wednesday and play at Goffstown on Thursday. South also dropped a spot to No. 7 and the Panthers have a tough week, starting with a 4 p.m. game Monday at Timberlane. South also heads to Exeter on Tuesday and faces Bishop Guertin on Thursday. After hosting South on Monday, Timberlane, which moved up a spot to eighth, goes on the road to face Coe-Brown on Friday.
Londonderry dropped to No. 9 despite picking up three wins last week. Along with the trip to Exeter, the Lancers host Bedford on Wednesday and go to Concord on Friday. Concord moves back into the top 10 and the Crimson Tide will host a pair of games this week against Souhegan (Tuesday) and Londonderry (Friday).
Here is the NHHSS Boys Lacrosse Coaches Poll for Week 4. These are the top 10 lacrosse teams in the state, with record, first-place votes/points and last week’s ranking (T=tie).
- Bishop Guertin (9-1), 12/120, 1st
- Exeter (11-1), 108, 2nd
- Portsmouth (8-1), 95, 4th
- Pinkerton (7-4), 84, 3rd
- Winnacunnet (8-1), 61, 7th
- Derryfield (7-2), 54, 5th
- Nashua South (9-1), 53, 6th
- Timberlane (8-1), 33, 9th
- Londonderry (7-4), 32, 8th
- Concord (5-5), 8, NR
Dropped out: Windham.
Also receiving votes: St. Thomas (5-3), 5; Campbell (9-0), 4; Windham (6-2), 2, 10th.
The coaches poll is voted on by coaches from all three divisions, as well as members of the media. If you would like to sponsor the coaches poll, send an email to nhhighschoolsports@gmail.com.
