Parker, Portsmouth get past Souhegan to return to D1 girls lacrosse final

EXETER – Annie Parker already missed a chance to break a tie off a free position opportunity in the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s Division I semifinal between her Portsmouth High School girls lacrosse team and Souhegan.

She didn’t miss a couple of minutes later, and now the Clippers are headed back to the championship game.

Parker converted her second chance with a laser past Souhegan goalie Emma Crisman for her fourth goal on the day with 4:52 left in regulation. Reagen Lawton provided insurance shortly after to give top-seeded Portsmouth a 12-10 victory over No. 3 Souhegan at Exeter High School’s William Ball Stadium.

“I knew I needed to get that one; I missed the first,” Parker said. “I changed my strategy and got it. I just ripped it.”

Portsmouth (16-2) jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the second quarter before Souhegan (14-5) chipped away before eventually taking a lead in the fourth quarter before the Clippers regrouped.

The game was the latest coaching matchup between sisters JoJo Curro of Portsmouth and Souhegan’s McKinley Curro-Sbordone. The teams split a pair of matchups during the regular season.

“We came out guns a blazin’ in a way, really high energy, and then we got into a lull and they capitalized on that,” Curro said. “What we as a team realized is that we need to savor our energy a bit more and make that continue throughout the entire game, because those lulls can’t happen and it could be a different outcome.”

Portsmouth returns to its second championship game in as many seasons in D1, and seventh straight overall, when it returns to Exeter on Tuesday to face No. 3 Bishop Guertin (16-3). The Cardinals ousted defending-champion Bedford (14-4) in Saturday’s earlier action, 14-11.

The Clippers eliminated Bishop Guertin in last year’s semifinals, 14-12, before they dropped a 14-10 decision to Bedford in the title game. Portsmouth won five straight Division II championships before moving up last year.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game, a close one, and we knew we never could let up, even despite the lead we had to keep going,” said Parker, who recently passed the 200-goal milestone. “I’m excited we get another opportunity. I really want it and everybody really wants it.”

Souhegan closed to within an 8-5 halftime deficit before coming out of the locker room firing when Libby Kennedy (four goals) scored twice and Isabelle Stevenson scored to tie the game. Morgan Ruhnke (three goals) scored late in the third quarter to give Portsmouth a 9-8 lead heading into the fourth.

The Sabers fully put Portsmouth on its heels when Emma Kennedy and Stevenson scored to give Souhegan a 10-9 lead with 10:05 left in regulation.

“I’m amazed with how we fought back in this game, a lot of teams could just give up and not be able to crawl out of that deficit,” Curro-Sbordone said. “We continued to chip away and we had them until the last five minutes. But I’m really proud of every single person in that field.”

Ruhnke evened the game at 10-10 with 8:53 left in the fourth quarter before Parker scored and Lawton gave the Clippers a two-goal cushion with 3:13 remaining.

“All games are games of runs and (Souhegan) is a really good team and we knew we were going to go back-and-forth with them because they’ve got a lot of great talent,” Ruhnke said. “At the end we battled it out, it was a real competitive win, and it set us up well for the finals.”