Derryfield ran right play at right time to get win in D2 boys lacrosse championship

Chris Hettler started the timeout like he had every other break during the Division II boys lacrosse championship.

The Derryfield School boys lacrosse coach got into the huddle with his players, and before discussing anything that was happening on the field, he told each of them to close their eyes for 10 seconds and take a couple of deep breathes.

But during this timeout, with just under a minute left in regulation and the Cougars tied 7-7 with top-seeded Winnacunnet, Hettler did the same.

“It gave me a chance to collect my thoughts, too,” he said. “We called that timeout with 55 seconds left and I started thinking about, OK, we’ve been here before. Sometimes I’ve just let the kids play and say let’s put the ball in the hands of our best players. Go make a play.”

This felt different, though, and Hettler figured the Warriors were going to do whatever they could to keep Derryfield juniors Ryan Maxwell and Dom Cercone from getting the ball.

“After we played them in the regular season, they talked about at the end of that game, they thought about shutting off Dom and Ryan because they were scoring a lot,” Hettler said. “I just had a feeling they were going to do something like that. I thought what do we have that we’re confident in that maybe they wouldn’t expect us to run right now.”

Derryfield senior Garrett Lande heard a couple of teammates talking about trying to score quickly, but then Hettler decided to do the opposite.

“When he called ‘high wing,’ I just lit up in side because I kind of knew (the ball) probably would get to me and I probably would be the guy that would be able to make that play,” Lande said. “I was a little nervous, but we had run that play before and I was ready to make a play.”

Sophomore Emerson Stover had a similiar reaction in the huddle.

“When he first called it, I was shocked because I realized that play was for me,” Stover said. “We went over it in practice, so I was confidence in the play and I was just happy that coach trusted me to make that play.

“I was definitely nervous. I was talking to Ryan Maxwell walking on the field. He was telling me just don’t think about it. It’s a regular shot, and it really helped me get going.”

Coming out of the timeout, Derryfield worked the ball around until Lande ended up with the ball on near the far sideline, backed up toward midfield, and waited.

“I took the ball to the corner and was holding it,” he said. “The coaches were yelling at me from the sideline, telling me to go at 20 (seconds). Once I started running it, everything just quieted down and I was able to focus on making the play.”

Lande got around his defender, drawing a slide from Stover's defender, and leaving him open for a moment. It was just enough time for Lande to get him the ball and for Stover to take the shot.

“If Garrett beat his guys and they slid, it was going to come to me and I would be open for the shot,” Stover said. “Garrett did a great job beating his mad and causing the slide to come. I can’t really remember anything else. I kind of just shot it, and then I remember looking at the net and seeing it went in.”

It all worked out exactly how Hettler hoped it would.

“It’s exactly what I was hoping for,” the coach said. “To have a senior with the ball in his stick, he attacked that thing full speed. I think that’s why the play worked, he forced the slide to happen. It was whether or not Emerson was going to catch it and put in the back of the net, and he did.”

Derryfield celebrated the goal, which gave the Cougars an 8-7 lead with 13.3 seconds remaining, but they had to refocus quickly. A timeout by Winnacunnet helped with that.

“With 13 seconds left, there was a little bit of nervousness, and I want to give credit to my assistant coaches, too, for helping work through it,” Hettler said. “We double poled the wings. I was hoping that there would be a scrim and at least seven or eight seconds would come off the clock.”

Instead, Winnacunnet's Alec Mitchell won the faceoff and moved the ball forward before Derryfield's wings collapsed on him. It looked like the Cougars might escape with a turnover, but they were called for a hold, giving the Warriors one final chance with 4.7 seconds left.

“We definitely did leave a little bit of time on the clock,” Lande said. “I’m not a religious man, but I definitely did a quick prayer on the sidelines.”

Stover watched the whole thing unfold from his position on attack.

“We still got to keep going,” Stover said. “So me, Dom and Ryan stood at the end of the box, just incase (Mitchell) went backwards with it, just in case we could run and get him. It was definitely a stressful moment.”

Winnacunnet got the ball to the front of the goal in the final seconds, but couldn't get a shot off before time ran out. The Cougars ran to midfield to celebrate the team's first title since 2023.

“It was the slowest 13 seconds I’ve ever had in my life,” Hettler said. “It was one of the most gratifying feelings in the world, to see the guys working together as a team, buying into everything that we practiced all year.

“It wasn’t necessarily a play, it was a concept based on what we were watching. Garrett had to get a step on his guy, draw a slide. He had to make the right read, had to know Emerson was going to be open without a two slide. Then Emerson had to catch it and he hit a great shot. It was an amazing way to end the season.”