Portsmouth girls lacrosse controls pace against Winnacunnet to capture D2 title

MANCHESTER – A fast start and strong finish saw the No. 2 Portsmouth High School girls lacrosse team control the Division II championship game and get a 13-8 win against top-seeded Winnacunnet at Southern New Hampshire University on Thursday night.

Grace Getman scored four goals and Grace Jackson made nine saves in the victory, the first Clippers title since 2013.

“We had an extra couple of days because of the rain delay,” said coach Mary Squire. “Defense was the name of the game against these guys. They have a really potent offense and some great ball handlers, some great athletes out there.”

Jordie Beresin led off the game with a tally, and the Clippers (19-2) were quickly in control with a 3-0 lead. Portsmouth led 6-1 at one point in the first half, and late in that opening stanza, the Warriors (17-2) had a chance to cut the deficit to two.

But a strong Clippers defense forced a turnover after a long Winnacunnet possession, and Sydney Ludes of Portsmouth extended the lead to four with 13 seconds left.

The Clippers scored the first three goals of the second half, and by then it was 11-4. The Warriors cut it to as close as 11-6, but that was the closest they would get until it was 13-8.

“Draw controls, simple as the that,” said Warriors coach Michaela Hardy-Lemire. “The story is, you win draw controls, you put the ball in the back of the net. You have possession, that’s something we didn’t have in the start of the first half.”

Last season, the Clippers fell in the championship contest to Hanover, 10-9 in overtime on a buzzer beater.

Thursday night certainly made that a little bit better.

“That was all Gracie Getman,” said Squire. “She was on that field last year when we lost in that last tenth of the second, and that was just her saying that’s not going to happen to me again this year. She took the team on her back and set the tone.”

Winnacunnet was in its first title game since 2006, when the team won a title. It was just the second time the Warriors had reached the final four in program history.

“Portsmouth is an exceptional team,” said Hardy-Lemire. “They have a great coaching staff and talented players and came out on fire. They have Grace Getman, she’s a fabulous, very talented player, along with all the others.”

Along with Getman’s performance, Ludes, Beresin, Kate Loughlin and Lily Madden each scored twice for the Clippers, while Loughlin added another two assists.

“We have a lot of capable, competent players and we taught them all season long to read the defense,” Squire said. “We don’t really have sets or plays, we just want them to exploit the defense and think on the feet, and they did a nice job of it.