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# Murphy aiming high in senior season for Nashua South boys lacrosse
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/murphy-aiming-high-in-senior-season-for-nashua-south-boys-lacrosse/
- Published: 2021-04-06T17:15:44.000Z
- Updated: 2021-04-06T17:15:44.000Z
- Description: Jaden Murphy felt like he had it all figured out. The start of his junior season of lacrosse at Nashua High School South was on the horizon and he'd just given a verbal commitment to continue playing in college. And then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and a lot of things changed for Murphy. With the spri
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, boys lacrosse, Jaden Murphy, Nashua South, NH High School Sports Insider, Panthers, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

Jaden Murphy felt like he had it all figured out.

The start of his junior season of lacrosse at Nashua High School South was on the horizon and he'd just given a verbal commitment to continue playing in college.

And then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and a lot of things changed for Murphy.

With the spring season gone, he began reconsidering some decisions he had made, including about his future.

"I started asking myself some questions," Murphy said. "Not having a junior season, not being in high school at all, everything was adding on, and I really wanted to work. I wanted to work harder than I ever have before and that’s what I was doing."

Murphy also started thinking about his future in sports other than lacrosse, too. While he had continued playing basketball in high school, he'd given up football after freshman year, and last fall, he decided to give it another shot.

Not only did he end up having a solid year for South, he found getting around his friends and teammates was something he needed.

"Sophomore year, I didn’t want to play, but I wanted to focus on the other two sports I’d played for most of my life," he said. "That was my mistake. I should have played those two seasons. Always get out there.

"For sure, I definitely needed it mentally and physically. All of those football guys, they made me close and comfortable with getting after it every day."

Through all of the craziness of the last year, South coach Bill Monsen feels that Murphy is in a better position as he enters his senior year with the Panthers.

"If you had told me two years ago, he would be the dependable leader he is, I may not have believed it," Monsen said. "But after going through this, he has grown up quite a bit. It’s driven him even more this offseason, to make the best of the opportunity."

That leadership is something the Panthers are going to need early in the season, after losing a talented senior class that never got to take the field in 2020.

"It’s huge to have somebody who has been a rock with the program pretty much since he stepped on the field for us," Monsen said. "He’s had to compete for everything. I don’t think he realizes how good he could be, but he’s starting to put it together more and more."

Murphy's path to lacrosse is a familiar story. He started out playing baseball when he was young, but when he was in fifth grade, a new sport caught his attention.

"One of my close buddies, John Sullivan (a senior at Bishop Guertin), he introduced me to lacrosse," Murphy said. "I didn’t know what it was, but playing all kinds of sports with him, I wanted to pick it up. It took off from there."

From there, on the field, Murphy has become the type of player that South hasn't seen too often since the early days of the program.

"He is a fearless dodger and he can adjust on the fly better than anyone I’ve had in a long time," Monsen said. "Because of that, he draws slides and knows where to put the ball, who to find and when to shoot. If he shoots, good things happen. He can dodge either way, so if you play him straight up, his change of direction is ridiculous."

Murphy is now planning to take a postgraduate year at prep school to decide what he wants to do down the road. One thing is for certain, he's going to keep as many options open as he can.

"He's going to try to play all three sports," Monsen said. "He’s a good basketball player, he’s a really good lacrosse player, but he could be an even better football player. If he wanted to play college lacrosse or football, he could play either."