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# Derryfield boys lacrosse goes its own way on road to repeat championship
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/derryfield-boys-lacrosse-goes-way-road-repeat-championship/
- Published: 2017-06-14T19:15:52.000Z
- Updated: 2017-06-14T19:15:52.000Z
- Description: All season long, the Derryfield School boys lacrosse team made coach Chris Hettler a little bit nervous. Every time the Cougars hit a critical point in their season, players just seemed too loose and carefree. And when games the coaching staff felt were going to be tough to win turned out to be, at
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, boys lacrosse, championship, Derryfield, NH High School Sports Insider, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

All season long, the Derryfield School boys lacrosse team made coach Chris Hettler a little bit nervous.

Every time the Cougars hit a critical point in their season, players just seemed too loose and carefree.

And when games the coaching staff felt were going to be tough to win turned out to be, at least on the scoreboard, easy victories, there was some wonder as to how Derryfield would handle adversity.

But if there was ever a moment that personified what this year's team was like, it came at halftime of the Division II championship game.

With the Cougars having battled back to take a 4-3 lead over Portsmouth into the break, the team spent a few minutes going over adjustments and strategy, but as soon as they were done, the players asked to do what they've done at halftime for just about every game this season - dance.

Derryfield returned to its side of the field and started warming up for the second half to DJ Kool's "Let Me Clear My Throat," with the players adding in their own yells and cheers, and coming to a complete stop when the hip-hop artist shouts for everyone to freeze.

"It's the weirdest team I've ever coached," Hettler said. "We were feeling pretty good and no one was worried. The kids wanted music, they wanted to dance, and when I saw that, I knew they wanted to go. They were so loose and so carefree all season, and as a coach, it made me nervous. That's their personality. We're either going to win with that or not."

The Clippers, however, showed early in the game that they weren't going to go down quietly, scoring the game's first goal and eventually taking a 3-2 lead in the second quarter. Instead of taking a timeout to find out what was going on with a team that had won every game in the regular season by an average of 12.4 goals, Hettler let Derryfield play.

"They had confidence in each other and said why are we throwing the ball away, why are we jamming it in when we know better," he said. "They picked each other up. It wasn't me, it was the kids, and that's why I'm so proud of this group."

There was seemingly no panic in the second half either, when the Cougars were struggling to score against Portsmouth's zone defense, and when the Clippers got a goal of their own late in the third quarter to make it a 5-4 game.

Derryfield came out in the fourth quarter and capitalized on two opportunities where it was able to get out in transition, and kept the ball away from Portsmouth long enough to hang on for a 7-4 win.

"We don't need to win by 10, we need to win by one," Hettler said. "We said we have to value the ball more. If they want to sit in the zone, we were saying come out and play us. They played unbelievably well."