NASHUA, NH – It’s been 15 years since members of the Derryfield School boys lacrosse team began wearing “STELLOS” stenciled across the backs of their game-day undershirts and helmets.
The word, of course, refers to Nashua’s Stellos Stadium, which for years hosted New Hampshire’s varsity high school lacrosse championship games.
But its meaning goes much deeper for the Cougars.
“‘Stellos’ is a mindset, it’s not a destination, meaning everybody does their part to be where they want to be at the end of the season,” said longtime Derryfield head coach Chris Hettler.
The Cougars found themselves exactly where they wanted to be, both literally and figuratively, Saturday afternoon.
In this case, it happened to be back at Stellos Stadium, competing once again for the Division-II crown after several years playing the contest at Exeter’s Bill Ball Stadium.
Though the Cougars, who have been staples in the D-II title tilt – featuring in 10 of the last 14 state finales since adding the iconic word to their apparel in 2010 – fell for the second time in three years to rival Portsmouth High School in the championship, 13-9, Hettler said his young men never abandoned that critical mindset.
“I think we’ve overcome a lot this season,” he said. “Clearly, we’ve got a lot of talent, but in the end, that’s a really deep, talented team, and we would’ve had to play perfect today (to beat the undefeated Clippers), and we didn’t play perfect, but I’m really proud of the effort. We could’ve given up, but they never did, they fought to the end, and that was kind of the story of the season this year.”
Indeed, the Cougars (17-3) had to battle through several significant injuries this season, including a campaign-ending midseason knock to standout senior attacking threat Alex Murray, one of the heros of the 2023 championship run.
“It was a hard way for him to see his season go, and I know it was probably tough for him to sit there and watch his teammates and not be able help,” said Hettler. “I really admire him for everything he’s done over the last four years. He leaves a legacy as one of our all-time leading scorers.”
Would he have made a difference in the championship game?
“It wouldn’t have hurt,” said Hettler.
“We were seven goals away from a perfect season,” he said. “In the end, I told the guys they really should be proud of what they accomplished. It’s hard to win a state title every single year, but they’ve done a great job of being in the finals or winning it, and they should be really proud of the legacy they’re leaving behind. This is a great senior group.”
One of those upperclassmen, Chili Cabot, added five more goals and an assist to his team-leading postseason tally to finish with 12 goals and 11 assists in three games.
“We knew Chili was going to get his, and he got his today,” said Portsmouth head coach Chad Vischer.
Cabot’s classmate, John Kramer, added a goal and an assist in the contest, while star goalie Parker Lebiedz made 15 saves and Logan Purvis won nine face-offs.
Other seniors leaving sizable cleats to fill include defenders Max Fowler, Ben Rosenthal, Zach Rosenthal, Elias Kanteres and Quinn Mcginley; midfielders Hunter Crawford, Jamie Collins, Avery Bracy, Tad Faulkner and Tyler Marsden; and attacker Michael Grunbeck.
Giving his seniors one last chance to stamp their legacy with their trademark never-say-die work ethic, especially in front of the underclassmen, is one of the reasons why, with is team down by four goals heading into the final two seconds of play, Hettler called a timeout.
“It was really for the underclassmen. I knew we weren’t going to win the game, of course, but I wanted them to keep the mindset, ‘we’re going to play clean, we’re going to to play hard and we’re going to play until there are zeros on the clock,'” said Hettler, “and now next season begins.”
Junior RJ Proulx, who found the back of the net twice Saturday, and sophomore Brady Doldo, who scored once, are among the key cogs expected back next season, along with a talented group younger players hungry to recapture the D-II throne.
Led by five goals from Ben Purcell, six Clippers contributed to the final score. Zach Amend contributed three goals and an assist Nick Smith had one goal and three assists; Briggs Catino scored twice and added a helper; and Reilly Collins and Lucas Patten each provided a goal. Kai Patterson had 14 saves for the victors, while Smith won 14 of 23 face-offs.
“I’ve beaten these guys seven of eight times since we came back from Covid. They beat us in overtime of last year’s championship game, which they absolutely deserved to win. It was an epic, epic battle, which all of our games are,” said Vischer. “I’ve ran into that (Derryfield) buzzsaw more times than I can count, and I don’t know what happened during Covid, but I’ve had a good stretch the last four, five years now.”
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