Derryfield boys lacrosse waits for its opportunities in D2 semis win over St. Thomas

NASHUA - There were more than six minutes gone off the clock and nothing on the scoreboard.

The Derryfield School boys lacrosse team wasn't panicked; the Cougars were being patient.

When the chances finally came, No. 2 Derryfield was ready for them, going on a 6-0 run over an 11-minute stretch in the first half and hanging on in the second for a 10-3 win over No. 6 St. Thomas in Wednesday's Division II semifinal at Stellos Stadium in Nashua.

The win puts the Cougars (18-1) in the D2 championship game for the second year in a row and the seventh time since they moved up before the 2015 season. They'll face No. 1 Portsmouth in the final at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter.

Alex Murray and Tate Flint (one assist) each finished with three goals to lead Derryfield while Chili Cabot had a goal and five assists, often times distributing the ball from behind the goal. RJ Proulx (one assist), Quinn Silvio and Brady Doldo also had a goal apiece.

Logan Purvis was 15 of 17 on faceoffs and Parker Lebiedz finished with eight saves.

St. Thomas (13-4) got a goal and two assists from Anthony DiMartino while Finley De Tollas and Johnny Resch had a goal each and Trent Salyards had an assist. Eli Allaire finished with 10 saves, most of them coming early in the game when Derryfield was trying to solve the Saints' zone defense.

"We were getting good looks, the goalie made a couple of good saves, but I could just tell … we came in with the mindset that if we cleared the ball well and we played good defense, the goals will fall eventually," Derryfield coach Chris Hettler said. "The guys believe in the system we’re running on offense, and in high school, that’s half the battle. If the kids believe in what you’re doing, it eventually is going to work and it did."

The Cougars had possession for most of the first six minutes of the game, but De Tolla got St. Thomas on the board first when he scored with 5:46 to play in the opening quarter.

But Derryfield didn't wait long to tie it up, as Flint found the back of the net 27 seconds later to make it 1-1. The Cougars, who won all five faceoffs in the first quarter, had a chance to go in front, but Allaire came up with a save.

Lebiedz made one for Derryfield at the other end and the Cougars cleared the ball quickly to get a transition opportunity, which Doldo finished to make it 2-1 with 3:11 left in the first. The Saints got a stop on Derryfield's next possession, but a bad pass on the clear was picked off by Cabot, who found Murray alone on the far side of the goal to make it 3-1 less than a minute later.

"I thought it was a good start to the game, but we’ve got a lot of game to play," St. Thomas coach Scott Singer said. "It didn’t last. The (end of the) first quarter, right into the second quarter, that’s where they scored all of their goals. I think they had two or three goals over two-and-a-half quarters. Once we sort of settled in, our defense started to play, but unfortunately, our offense didn’t do enough."

Murray, Silvio and Proulx each scored in a span of 1:58 early in the second quarter to give Derryfield a 6-1 lead that held up through the rest of the half.

That was still the score midway through the third quarter when confusion on a substitution by the Cougars led to a transition opportunity for the Saints. Resch finished it with a goal, off a feed from DiMartino, to make it 6-2 with 6:36 left in the third, but Murray put Derryfield back up five with a manup goal less than two minutes later.

Cabot scored 44 seconds into the fourth quarter to give the Cougars an 8-2 lead and Flint made it 9-2 with 7:21 to play.

"That’s been the secret to our success forever, making sure that guys are ready to produce off ball," Hettler said. "We’re very lucky we have a very deep team and guys are willing to step up."