This is a familiar sight: The Bishop Guertin boys lacrosse team celebrating a state championship, as the Cards got their fifth straight title plaque last year with a dominant 19-5 win over Pinkerton in Exeter. (File photo)

The goal for an incredibly successful local high school boys lacrosse program remains the same:

Win championships.

The last time the Cardinals of Bishop Guertin weren’t in the Division I lacrosse finals was waaaaaaay back in 2004, when Concord edged Souhegan. That’s an incredible stretch, and the Cards have dominated the sport in the post-COVID era, with five straight titles.

Will there be more of the same? Exeter, Bedford, and Pinkerton have all tried to mount challenges over the years, so we’ll see. In Division II and III, it’ll be interesting locally to see if anyone can make a run this spring.

Here’s a look:

DIVISION I

Of course the Cards are the team to watch/beat, as they’ve got a veteran offense led by four three-year starters in seniors Cam Hayden, Hudson Schmitt, Owen King, and Sean McGary.

But the strength could be on defense with tons of depth, led by senior Tyler McLeod in front of returning goalie Jonah Feliciano. Watch out to for juniors Andre Steinbrueck and Ellijah Zeeman on defense. Sampson San, a senior, is the faceoff man, with freshmen Hugh Roark and Will Osborn looking for a chance.

“It’s a strong senior class with a deep defense,” Cards coach Brian Cameron said. “Our goal is the state championship and to win our out-of-state games.”

Nashua South is looking to make more strides under head coach Will Delanoy, and there are some keys back: Seniors Tyler Benzekri and Jacob Hovey on defense, senior attack Owen Roy, and senior midfielders Cody Jackson, Cole Warshafsky and junior midfielder Grant Imbeault. Watch too for newcomer and sophomore Bryce Stuart in goal, sophomores Joe Kulda (midfield) and Brendan Skelly (attack) and freshman Max Signoroni (attack).

“We have a strong defense led by Benzekri and Hoey, and we’re excited to begin competing and pushing ourselves to grow and develop over the season,” Delanoy said. “The goal is to progress throughout the season and hit the home stretch with underclassmen getting meaningful minutes and making contributions.”

Things may also be looking up at Nashua North, where head coach Matt Muser feels he’ll have a better team, especially offensively, after losing just three seniors.

Back are offensive players like senior midfielder Dylan Noble, senior attack Nick Wilkinson, sophomore Jared Gauther (midfield), and sophomore Nico Botari. Watch too for senior Caleb Smith and sophomore Cormac Farrington.

Defensively, the Titans have experience in senior Aiden Louis, juniors Matthew Fisher and Tommy Dratch, plus junior goalie Josh Parsons. Newbies like midfielders Gavin Dungan and Ricky McKenzie will also help.

“I’m expecting us to be much stronger on offense than in previous years,” Muser said, while noting on defense the team will miss a top player like Jack Krulikowski. “It will have to be a team effort,” he said.

Still, there are a lot of familiar names going forward for a program that’s struggled but keeps pushing.

Merrimack hopes to improve on last year’s 8-6 Division I mark (11-7 overall),

but the Tomahawks did graduate 14 seniors. They have four key returnining seniors starters – goalie Mason Tremblay, defenseman Gavin Hickey, midfielder Cayden Dine, and Sean Anderson on attack. Two junior starters return, attack/midfield Hudson Rousseau and Gabe Gorman. There’s six other returnees – key of whom is junior defenseman Trevor Shorette, and a host of promising newcomers.

“We’ll look to several new players filling roles,” ‘Hawks coach Brian Miller said.

DIVISION II

Rich Luongo hopes Souhegan develops into a team that can get back to the postseason, and the long term prognosis is good with 16 freshmen. Senior tri-captains Micah Dibble (defenseman), Reid Kimball (defenseman) and goaltender Sean Reardon lead the way, Kimball being the face of the team. Offensively, the Sabers will be young, but are led by senior attackman Nate Hill, with a pair of solid juniors in Mason Mobley and Gus Stevenson (midfield/attack).

“The success of our program really lies in how the team gels as a lacrosse family,” Luongo said, citing hard work, discipline and accountability as his three main words.

Hollis Brookline went 13-5 last season but didn’t get too far in the playoffs, and won’t have many seniors on the roster judging from last year but should have a ton of juniors as their were 13 sophomores on last year’s roster. Some junior keys who were eligible to come back are midfielder Vittorio Masoni, defenseman Patrick Masoni, and attackmen Mike O’Hearn and Bennett Torgersen. Also, senior Dillon Kinney, if back, has been a defensive anchor.

Alvirne, under coach Rick Sperazzo, could have three key seniors eligible to return in attackmen Logan Reynolds and Tommy Barrett, plus Mike Landmesser, who last year was a defensive anchor. The Broncos, like Souhegan, missed the tourney a year ago.

DIVISION III

Milford is still learning how to walk, so to speak.

“We’ll be young again,” coach Darren Fleury said. “The focus continues to be on fundamentals and learning the game.”

What helps is the numbers have improved to 33, which means varsity and JV. Back from last season on defense are senior Jason Daykin, and sophomores Rocco Bartling (goalie), Eben Barb, Jack McAllister and Lincoln St. Jean.

Midfielders back are senior Stephen Abair, juniors Tyler Noble and Braeden Orien and sophomore Lukas Mangum. Back on attack are senior Jamie Noble an junior Dylan MacLeod; watch too anywhere on the field for freshmen Bentley Bowers, Josh Clark and Aiden Hartley, plus senior first-timers Chris Boza, Tiegen Barb and George LeClair.

Campbell, of course, has been a perennial contender in Division III, winning it all two years ago and losing a heartbreaker in the semis to Plymouth last year. This year’s team will likely be junior oriented, as the Cougars graduated nine and had just four juniors (now seniors) on last year’s roster: Nathan Lencki on faceoffs, goalie Will O’Brien, Sam Morrison on defense and Nathan Roche at midfield.