Ketchams putting their stamp on Dover boys lacrosse

The plan was never for Chris Ketcham to coach both of his sons while they played for the Dover High School boys lacrosse team.

When the Green Wave needed a head coach before the 2024 season, Ketcham decided to go for it because he wanted to be more involved in lacrosse in his community.

At the time, his oldest son, Cooper, was about to begin his sophomore season at the Derryfield School, and his younger son, Parker, was still a year away from high school.

Ketcham would have a year without either of his sons, to coach a team that was still trying to find its spot in Division I lacrosse after spending a two-year cycle there in 2015-16 and then moving up for good before the 2019 season. The Green Wave had been a playoff team twice before the 2024 season, but never won a playoff game.

That run continued in Ketcham’s first year, as Dover reached the postseason, but lost in the quarterfinals to Bedford, the top seed in the tournament.

With Parker set to be a freshman at Dover, a change of plans led to a pleasant surprise for Ketcham. Cooper decided to go back to Dover for his last two years of high school, giving the trio a couple of seasons to share a sideline for the first time.

“I had Cooper for a couple of seasons at the youth level, but I never (coached) Parker,” Ketcham said. “This is full circle here. This senior group that’s here right now, I had at least one year with them at the youth level. It’s kind of cool that I’ve been able to watch them grow up.”

While he enjoyed his year playing lacrosse at Derryfield, Cooper didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity of getting to reunite with both his dad and brother on a lacrosse field.

“My dad does a great job of separating coach life from dad life,” said Cooper, who plans to play at Springfield College next year. “My brother and I have arguments, but overall, we play good on the field together. We’ve been around each other, playing the sport for years now.

“Being able to play on the field and be surrounded by my teammates, it’s great, but it’s even better when I’m surrounded by my own blood.”

For Parker, it helped coming in as a freshman and having so many people he was familiar with already in the program.

“It’s had ups and downs, but overall, it’s been great,” Parker said. “Because we have that chemistry, me and Cooper, we know each other’s tendencies, we know what we’re going to do with each other. And my dad, he drives us to be better. That combination creates this system that just works.”

Dover got back into the playoffs as the No. 9 seed last year, meaning the Green Wave would be on the road for the preliminary round. But despite that, Dover got out to an early lead and held on for a 14-11 win over Nashua South, with Parker and Cooper each scoring twice in the program’s first D1 playoff win.

This season has been a big step forward for Dover. With three games left in the regular season, the Green Wave sit at 9-5 in D1, with an outside shot at clinching a top four seed if they win out. The offense has been leading the way, as Dover has averaged 13.9 goals per game and is six away from scoring two hundred as a team.

Seniors Logan Carter and Porter Gray, who were also a part of the group coached by Ketcham at the youth level, have been key to Dover’s success as well, along with junior Sylas Brown and sophomore Geffen Adorian.

On defense, two more seniors, goalie Danny Bretz and defender Bryson Glidden, have stepped up for the Green Wave this year.

“We have a very unselfish group,” Ketcham said. “They move the ball around really well. They take care of each other. Nobody’s worried about getting their own and that’s cool to watch.”