Dover's Chalifour poised to etch his name in Granite State boys lacrosse history books

Dom Chalifour is on the verge of making New Hampshire high school lacrosse history.

But if it hadn't been for the encouragement of a neighbor growing up, the Dover High School senior might be on a different path.

When Chalifour was in first grade, that neighbor - Sean Houlahan, who started the Houlagan Lacrosse program and was the head coach at Dover and St. Thomas - was able to convince him to give lacrosse a try.

"At first, I didn’t want to play," Chalifour said. "I wanted to play football. I was neighbors with the Houlahans. They’re whole family played and our families are friends. They convinced me to start playing. That’s just where it started and I fell in love with it from there."

That love for lacrosse has lead Chalifour a long way. When the Green Wave take the field for a 3 p.m. start Wednesday against Bedford, the goalie will be just 10 saves away from setting the state record for saves in a high school career.

Chalifour sits at 690 career saves, with the state record at 699, held by Pinkerton's Matt Johnson, who graduated in 2015.

"He pays attention and he’s aware of it," Dover coach Chris Ketcham said. "It’s tough to stay mentally focus, but Dom’s done that. It’s neat to see him set a personal goal for himself, he’s able to have it in the back of his head. But you’d never know that’s a focus. It’s always team first."

Going into this season, that was the order Chalifour listed his goals for his senior year. Help the team improve - and prepare for life after him in goal - and set the save record.

"We always have the goal of improving every year, getting better every season," he said. "We’re trying to make sure we’re prepared to win as many games as we can. We’re trying to keep improving and get as far as we can.

"I want to get the team ready for when I’m gone, but have fun this season. Last year with these guys, I’m trying to have fun with it."

That's not much different than what Chalifour looked to do when he first started playing. After dabbling at all positions on the field, he ended up playing goalie and it was a perfect fit.

"I just got stuck at goalie one game, and I was good at it, so I stayed with it," he said. "I had a lot of fun. I was probably third or fourth grade when I started playing goalie full time.

"The mindset is, I have to have a short memory. I want to save every single shot. I’m a super competitive person and I’m disappointed whenever I let one in. Each time we’re on defense, I’m completely locking in and I have to have the best defensive possession here."

It hasn't always been easy for Chalifour.

While he's been an all-state performer in goal, and a starter on varsity since he was a freshman, reaching the state record for saves has also meant seeing a large volume of shots. The more shots he sees, the less the Green Wave have the ball.

"We’re very young on defense, we don’t have a ton of depth," Ketcham said. "He wants to go out with our team performing well and making improvements. Not just a team that’s going to win four or five games, but is going to grow."

Ketcham, who is in his first season as Dover's head coach, saw his senior goalie take on his part right from the beginning.

"Dom has been instrumental," the coach said. "He bought in right away to changes in the culture that we’ve worked on implementing. He does a really good job of taking what the coaches are trying to install. Some kids might be might be more stubborn, but he does a good job being able to relate it. Dom leads the charge."

The vocal aspect of being a goalie, and now, being a captain, didn't come easy for Chalifour, but he's grown into it. He plans to continue his playing career at the next level at UMass-Boston.

"I feel like I’m a lot more vocal now," he said. "I feel a lot more responsible now. Really, a lot of it has come off the field, getting new guys on to our team, trying to get the team all settled. I feel a lot more responsible."

And after Wednesday's game, Chalifour should have his place in the record books.