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# New faces helped extend D2 dynasty for Portsmouth girls lacrosse
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/new-faces-helped-extend-d2-dynasty-for-portsmouth-girls-lacrosse/
- Published: 2021-06-21T17:30:39.000Z
- Updated: 2021-06-21T17:30:39.000Z
- Description: It will say on paper that the Portsmouth High School girls lacrosse team won its fourth straight Division II title in 2021 after beating Hollis Brookline 8-7 in the final.
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, championship, Clippers, girls lacrosse, NH High School Sports Insider, playoffs, Portsmouth, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

It will say on paper that the Portsmouth High School girls lacrosse team won its fourth straight Division II title in 2021 after beating Hollis Brookline 8-7 in the final.

But the reality is the Clippers' run - eight titles in 10 appearances in the last 14 years - got a reboot this spring and it was a brand new cast lifting the program to familiar heights.

This season's roster had four players who saw time in Portsmouth's previous championship in 2019, combining for two goals and an assist in that game. While that quartet - now juniors - got a taste of a final as freshmen, the Clippers had plenty of freshmen and sophomores playing key roles on this year's team.

And perhaps the biggest change was on the sideline. Long time coach Mary Squire stepped down after the 2019 title, with JoJo Curro replacing her for the spring of 2020\. With a coach in essentially in her first year leading the program, with a mostly inexperienced roster, there were a lot of unknowns for the Clippers going into the season.

"For me, coming into a winning program, there’s definitely expectations that you have," Curro said. "Me coming in, wanting to change some things that, people may not want to change right away. Having the girls buy in to what I want the program to be, and we created this bond that was unmatched."

A big part of creating that bond was having a former player return as an assistant coach, as Corinne Lamond, who graduated from Portsmouth in 2020 and was a member of the previous championship team, stepped in to help Curro after what would have been her first season at Bowdoin College was cancelled.

"It was really helpful that Corinne was here from the beginning," sophomore Charlotte Marston said. "We did a lot of preseason stuff and we had a lot of team bonding stuff. During April vacation, we did so much team bonding and that brought everyone so close, and JoJo just filled those shoes right away."

When the games started, Portsmouth (18-2) picked up right where it left off, beating all of its D2 opponents, while playing competitive games against Division I teams. The Clippers knocked off Souhegan in late April and Exeter before the playoffs, and their only losses came against Pinkerton and Bedford by a combined five goals.

Heading into the final against HB, Portsmouth's closest game against a division opponent was a four-goal win over Windham in the second game of the season.

"I don’t think we were expecting them to come out that strong," Marston said of the Cavaliers. "I think we lost our composure for sure. We had no idea what to expect coming into this game, we just had to fight the whole way through."

But there's a difference between fighting through in the regular season and doing it in the championship game, and it took the Clippers time to understand this game was it.

"We are a young team," Curro said. "Not many of our players have been in a game like this, where the intensity is this high and the outcome is, this is it, there’s no second chances here. Moving forward, everyone has this experience."

With only four seniors graduating, Portsmouth could be in line to see this group extend its run even further.

"Being able to go through this whole junior (year) with a bunch of new girls and show them what it’s really like, fighting through, it was really exciting," junior Mia Smith said. "(Curro) adjusted to how we played and she became really good with us. We’re only losing four seniors, so next year, we’ll be way more experienced."