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# Patience paid off for Portsmouth girls lacrosse in opener against Pinkerton
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/patience-paid-off-for-portsmouth-girls-lacrosse-in-opener-against-pinkerton/
- Published: 2024-04-09T19:40:44.000Z
- Updated: 2024-04-09T19:40:44.000Z
- Description: DERRY - It's one thing to have nervous energy going into the first game of the regular season. It's another to have it when the teams on either side of the field have high expectations for their season and are more than capable of executing them. So despite controlling the draw in the first half an
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, girls lacrosse, NH High School Sports Insider, Pinkerton, Portsmouth, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

DERRY - It's one thing to have nervous energy going into the first game of the regular season.

It's another to have it when the teams on either side of the field have high expectations for their season and are more than capable of executing them.

So despite controlling the draw in the first half and getting plenty of possession time because of it, the Portsmouth High School girls lacrosse team found itself down a goal to Pinkerton Academy at halftime of Monday's season-opener.

"We would get the possession, but then we were forcing things," Portsmouth coach JoJo Curro said. "We were seeing the first look instead of waiting for the third or the fifth and being more patient with it. I think we got a little too frantic on that attack side.

"We’d make on extra pass that didn’t necessarily need to happen. This game is all about possession and that’s where, going into the second half, we tried to drill that in that this is a possession game. We’ve got to make sure everything we do is with a purpose and we’re not just passing it to pass it."

The Clippers outscored the Astros 5-1 in the third quarter and [held on for an 11-9 win](https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/around-the-granite-state-portsmouth-girls-lacrosse-gets-opening-win-over-pinkerton-video/), but that patience was put to the test at the end of that quarter.

Portsmouth (1-0, No. 1 in the NHHSSports Coaches Poll) retook the lead with a 3-0 run midway through the quarter, and Pinkerton (0-1, No. 4) got one back to make it 8-7 Clippers with just under two minutes to play in the frame.

After Portsmouth won the ensuing draw, Pinkerton goalie Sara DiClemente came up with a stop right before the closest official whistled play dead for a crease violation. But before play resumed, DiClemente was given a yellow card for conduct, giving the Clippers possession and leaving the Astros down a player for two minutes with backup goalie Paige Fenner forced to go into the game.

Fenner made a save on the initial free position, but couldn't control the groundball, and Portsmouth's Annie Parker scored with 27 seconds left in the third. The Clippers got the next draw and Morgan Ruhnke scored on a free position with three seconds remaining to make it 10-7.

"Those opportunities are huge," Curro said. "That’s a time when we are not forcing it. It will open up for us and we’ve got to be patient. That’s what happened. It’s the type of circumstance where you need to capitalize. You only have two minutes, but a lot can happen in two minutes."

#### Game within the game

Portsmouth opened the day winning the first eight draws and won 16 of 22 for the game.

But there was a stretch in the middle where Pinkerton responded to win a few and it helped the Astros swing momentum.

"I think we made better adjustments, like who we were putting on the circle," Pinkerton coach Katie Bourque said. "Then where the ball is going and having everyone placed a little differently. It’s a game of adjustments."

Pinkerton's Mia Eckerman opened the game taking the draw against Parker, but after Portsmouth's run of controls to open the game, Bourque switched things up and had Hailey Schnider taking them the rest of the way.

After the Astros won four of five draws late in the second and early in the third quarters, Curro swapped Parker and Ruhnke, who had been on the circle, and the Clippers resumed their advantage.

"When you’re looking at that, you’ve got to figure out who is on," Curro said. "Annie was on at the beginning and things kind of shifted a little bit. We have other players who can make that adjustment and can be that person to take the draw. It’s just finding that person, which happened to be Morgan.

"There’s always a time where the girls in there know where the ball is going and they’re able to make the adjustment on the field. They can feel it and have the leadership out there to be able to make that change."

Pinkerton was without its top player on the draw, Anna Perkins, who has been unavailable since Friday due to illness.

"Anna (Perkins), who has been taking our draws, is out," Bourque said. "We found that out Friday, so it was a quick turnaround to get the draw situated. Players get hurt, players get sick, it happens, you’ve got to be ready to go."

#### Early-season test

Monday's game was the start to a tough week for both teams, as Portsmouth hosts Bishop Guertin (No. 3 in the coaches poll) on Thursday, while Pinkerton will host Central Catholic, of Lawrence, Mass., on Saturday. The Raiders ended last year [ranked No. 8 in Massachusetts by LaxNumbers](https://www.laxnumbers.com/ratings.php?y=2023&v=4032&ref=nh-highschoolsports.com).

Starting the year with a top-five matchup was something both coaches were glad to have.

"You want that because you want them to love the game and play hard," Bourque said of her team's passion. "But we also want to know it’s a long season. It’s Game 1\. We learned what we have to fix, but I’m happy with a lot of things also."

Curro added that the tough contest to open the season gives Portsmouth a better idea of what it needs to do between games.

"I think it really jump starts us," she said. "We had practices going into this and we know the intensity we want to see, but until we get that first competitive game out there, we don’t really know how competitive we need to be in practice. I think that showed us, this is what it’s going to be like, we need to bring it way more in practice for the next game."

#### Noteworthy

- With five goals to open the season, Ruhnke is close to the 100th goal of her career. The junior will likely eclipse that mark against Bishop Guertin on Thursday.
- Portsmouth goalie Sage Bussiere recorder her 100th career save, and it couldn't have come at a better time for the Clippers. With Pinkerton up 6-5 in the third and looking for more, the sophomore made a pair of saves in quick succession to keep the Astros from going further ahead. "I think she was really dialed in for this game and feeling that confidence to be a little more aggressive on the crease and being able to take away angles," Curro said.
- Pinkerton's Hannah Lisaukas finished with three goals and three assists, with two scores coming in a stretch of 1:09 to make it a one-goal game late. "Big goals," Bourque said. "She had to step up. She’s an upperclassmen and that’s what we expect of her. This game, she really stepped up."