Milford's Justin Desmarais, left, and Campbell's Hunter Grant battle for the ball during the Cougars' 17-4 win Wednesday in LItchfield. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

LITCHFIELD – Unfinished business.

That’s the slogan the Campbell High School boys lacrosse team is using this season. The Cougars lost in the first round of the regional setup to eventual state champion Trinity a year ago despite being a major Division III title contender.

They don’t plan on that happening again, and they’re playing like it this season, bulldozing their way through the regular season. Wednesday’s 17-4 win over Milford puts the Cougars at 10-0, setting up a clash of unbeatens on Friday at Plymouth (9-0).

“Last year kind of left a little sour taste in our mouths,” said Campbell coach Josh Knight. “A lot of that core group is back, and they want to put on the back of their shirts ‘unfinished business.’ So they had that sour taste and came out strong. We have 11 seniors so they just want to keep coming and fighting for it.”

“What happened last year, we’re trying to improve this year,” senior middie Jack Noury said. “We’ve got a core group of us that have been playing together since we were young, so just continuing that and having one last year to put it together makes us want to win it even more.”

The score yesterday was no surprise, as the Spartans came in at 2-6 in Divsion III and every possession is being used as a teaching moment. While Campbell is drawing from what seems to be a thriving youth program, the pandemic basically ruined Milford’s, which this year wasn’t able to find a middle school coach.

Can the young Spartans learn from watching a team like this?

“Sure we can,” Milford coach Rick Urda said. “But it comes into buying into the whole process, and the stick skill. You saw the difference. We have a couple of kids who can pick up ground balls consistently, a couple of kids who can catch the ball consistently. But (the Cougars) are consistent. The ball rarely hit the ground with their team.

“We could be dangerous, too, if we could catch the ball. We work at it, we work hard, we rarely have an effort problem. It’s just skill level.”

The outcome was never in doubt, as the Cougars scored the first seven goals, led 8-1 after one, 15-2 at the half and 17-2 after three periods. Andrew Willnus had four goals and two assists for Campbell, which also got hat tricks from Tieman Sullivan (plus an assist) and Nick Carignan. Noury had two goals and three assists, as did Brendan Boschi. Cruz Sandquist added an assist.

The Spartans got a pair of goals by Logan Barnhill, and singles by Descoteaux and Harrison Jones. Goalie James Brew was under the gun a lot, but kept his cool for the most part with nine saves. The entire second half was played in running time.

Anyone who expected a letdown after the Cougars’ big 12-4 road win over Laconia on Monday doesn’t know this team.

“I tell the kids that I don’t care who we’re playing,” Knight said. “We just approach every single game like we’re playing the national champion. It doesn’t matter, we’ll worry about it at halftime and make adjustments from there. But we have to approach every single game like we’re playing the champions, and they come out like that.”

It’s a perfect storm. Lacrosse in the last decade has endured its growing paints at Campbell, where baseball was once king. In Knight, who is also the athletic director, the Cougars have a Syracuse lacrosse alum who has coached in upstate New York and even started a middle school program in the Bronx. And now in his second year as head coach, he’s come to a school where the players want to play in the off-season. Plus he’s inherited a strong group of which three will play in college next year – Brendan Boschi (Newman), defenseman Eric Coates (LaSalle) and Noury (Salvae Regina).

“They’ve got a good coach, a coach who really understands the fundamentals with passing, catching and picking up ground balls,” Urda said. “Then you add a good group of athletes, and he re-enforces that with moving and spacing, moving the ball, being unselfish. It all adds up pretty quickly. And they’re a class act.”

And pushing that act forward. One tough road test now leads to another.

“I think that was the best game we put together, that Laconia game,” Knight said. “But Friday will be a good game. There’s definitely some competition. We just have to keep practicing each day and keep improving.”

And by the end of the season, they hope to have settled all family business.

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