Portsmouth girls lacrosse gets back to winning ways, beats Exeter 17-3 in Division I match

PORTSMOUTH - After suffering its first Division I loss last week, the Portsmouth High School girls lacrosse team rebounded in a big way Monday on it home turf.

Portsmouth kept its perfect home record intact as the Clippers stormed out to an 11-1 halftime lead and defeated Exeter, 17-3 in a Division I matchup at Tom Daubney Field.

Portsmouth's Avery Ruhnke and Annie Parker each scored a team-high four goals, while Charlotte Marston added three to lead the Clippers.

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"I think it was a good win for our team, I think we really needed that after our Bedford loss," Marston said. "I think we came out really strong."

Lily Patterson scored twice for the Clippers, while teammates Morgan Ruhnke, Ginger Vinciguerra, Sadie Alati and Addie Delisle all had one.

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"I think today's win was a much better representation of how we play lacrosse," Portsmouth head coach JoJo Curro said. "Especially on our attacking end."

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Exeter's Gracie Pizon, Hailey O'Kane and Karli Scherpf each scored a goal.

"It's always really great when you go up against a super strong team and you're able to see a level of play that is inspiring," Exeter head coach Taylor Landers said. "I think a lot of what Portsmouth did out there wasn't these crazy sets, it was the basics of the game that are successful if you do it right and with the right speed. Even though we were challenged by it, we were also able to get better from it."

Here are highlights from the game

Portsmouth with bounce-back effort

Portsmouth had won its first seven Division I games before falling to Bedford, which was a motivating factor coming into Monday's game.

"It definitely motivated them," Curro said. "I think they knew exactly kind of fell through for us in the last game and kind of where we need to improve and continue improving, and also owning that. There's no blame, except only on ourselves and only we can make the change."

"We really wanted to come out strong and use this game to work on what we did wrong in that game," Marston said. "We really just wanted to get that back and kind of move on to make sure we didn't get that in our heads. One loss isn't going to change our season too much. We're just really looking forward to playing Bedford again and hopefully beating them."

Curro added that the loss is something the team can learn from.

"It's not so much putting it behind us, it's how can we improve," Curro said.

Portsmouth had seven different goal scorers in Monday's first half. Avery Ruhnke scored three of her four goals in the first half, and Annie Parker scored twice. The other five players were Vinciguerra, Patterson, Marston, Delisle and Morgan Ruhnke.

"This year we have a lot more depth on the field and on the bench," Marston said. "We're trying to get everybody involved. I think in the past, it's kind of been a few people scoring most of our goals, but we're trying to get everyone involved."

The Clippers reverted back to its usual stout defense on Monday. The Clippers have allowed a total of just five goals in their last four wins. Exeter scored the most against Portsmouth in that span with three.

"I think we're really just communicating," Portsmouth freshman goalie Sage Bussiere said. "We have some really strong players on defense, I think most of our starters are seniors and it's just really great to see how we all work together, and how they create a strong defense in front of me."

Bussiere on adapting to the varsity level, "I think it's really just I need to know that there's great players in front of me and I just have to do my best, because they're going to support me no matter how I play."

Curro said that defense is a huge part of the team, and that the defensive unit us very disciplined.

"Sage has been awesome, and an awesome addition to our team and we have benefitted highly from it," Curro said. "Definitely the communication and the fact that I feel like our defensive unit is always on the same page with how they work together. It definably makes that a huge threat."

Exeter finding a groove, despite loss

The Blue Hawks started the season 4-4, but have won three of its last five games to move a game above .500.

Landers said the offense did some good things against Portsmouth, with the focus centered around good ball movement.

"The goals that we did have were from working together," Landers said. "We had one off of a transition, off of a substitution off of the bench - fresh legs made the smart decision - an assist to a goal. It's nice that it just wasn't one person trying to carry the team on their shoulders, but everyone was really trying to keep their heads in the game and play as a team."

The Blue Hawks scored 13.25 goals per game in their first four wins, but in their last three, Exeter has saw that scoring clip jump to 15 goals per game.

"It's about taking care of the ball and valuing the ball," Landers said. "I think at the start of the season when we were having not so much success, it was because we were forcing and weren't valuing the ball. So, I think getting the girls to recognize when the fast break is smart versus when the slow break is needed. They're making that decision a bit quicker and it's setting them up to have more chances."

Exeter goalie Grace Martin had seven saves against Portsmouth, which was an encouraging sign that Landers liked to see.

"She had some really awesome stops, and she had seven saves and when you see that many goals, it's very easy for a goalie to get down," Landers said. "I think what's great is she's so positive. She kept the positivity up on the defensive end and was able to be such a huge leader out there today to really get the girls to continue to work hard and stay present. I'm really thankful to have such a positive, hard-working goalie be out there."

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Porsmouth girls lacrosse beats Seacoast rival Exeter in NHIAA game