Windham boys lacrosse set to make first D1 playoff appearance

WINDHAM – Sawyer Gagnon has had a couple of mantras that, since he became the head coach of the Windham High School boys lacrosse team earlier this year, he’s tried to get the Jaguars to believe.

One is that life is hard and things aren’t always going to go your way. Another is to treat every game like it’s a playoff game, so you play like it’s your last.

The Jaguars experienced the first one a handful of times over the course of the regular season, but their ability to bounce back and play every game like it’s their last, has Windham poised to host a playoff game.

“You’re not always going to be handed a golden platter and life’s not always going to be easy,” Gagnon said of his message to the players. “But one thing you can do is you can control yourself and how much effort you put in. That’s a big thing I stress with these guys, and they faced adversity early in the season and battled back from that.”

Windham (9-7 in Division I) opened the year on the road against Exeter and ended up losing by 14 goals. Two days later, the Jaguars blew a multiple-goal lead to Nashua South and found themselves trailing in the second half before coming back to beat the Panthers in overtime.

“That could have been one of the turning points for us this season,” junior Sam Kramer said. “We took our foot off the gas, the got back into it, but coming back into that game, it definitely turned our season around from a pretty lackluster start.”

That started Windham on a run of seven wins in nine games, with the two losses coming against Bishop Guertin and Bedford. It ended with an 11-3 win over Merrimack that had the Jaguars feeling good about where they sat in just their second season in D1.

“I think that was a huge momentum game,” junior Ethan Peluso said. “We’re a newer D1 program but we know we belong here and that game just gave us a bunch of confidence.”

But the momentum Windham hoped for after that win didn’t last, and the Jaguars were once again faced with adversity they needed to fight through. After losing three straight, Windham was able to right the ship by winning two of its final three games, including a 16-5 win over South in the finale.

That win gave the Jaguars their first home playoff game in D1, as they’ll be the eighth seed and get to host No. 9 South again at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

After going 6-10 and missing the playoffs last year, getting in this year was a big step in Windham’s first year under Gagnon, who in 2025 finished up his collegiate career as a goalie at Rivier University.

Having been a player so recently is something that Gagnon believes helped the Jaguars make the progress they did this season.

“They know a little bit about my background, and they really saw that what we are preaching to them, what we are teaching them is viable,” Gagnon said. “We’re not just talking at them to talk. They’ve really bought in and we’ve created a great bond.”

To some of the players, that buy-in took place quickly because of the energy Gagnon brought to the table.

“He’s always getting the energy up,” senior Josh Trudel said. “He’s a great coach and he knows what he’s doing. We just follow in his footsteps.”

The Jaguars hope that trail leads them to a playoff win and spot in the D1 quarterfinals on Saturday, where the winner of Thursday’s playoff game will face top-seeded Bedford.