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Billerica Memorial High School Lacrosse

Billerica Memorial High School Lacrosse is the boys' and girls' lacrosse program of Billerica Memorial High School. The boys' varsity team began in the spring of 1974 and has won two state championships: the MIAA title of 2001, decided by a 12-3 win over Longmeadow, and the Division 2 title of 2025, a 17-16 win over Reading at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. It was also state runner-up in Division 1 in 2008 and in Division 2 in 2022, and has won league titles in the North League and the Merrimack Valley Conference. The girls' team was organized in the spring of 1994, played its first varsity season in 1995 and won its first league championship in 2004.

Lacrosse was a new game in Billerica in the 1970s. Tom Lavery, a 1978 graduate who later coached the team's goalies, played goal when the program started in 1974, and the seniors of 1975 were the first to list lacrosse among their activities in the Warrior. The yearbook of 1976 gave the sport its own pages in a spring supplement. That year the Park Department reported that the Lampson Memorial football field, now Lampson Memorial Field, was "in constant use for football, soccer and lacrosse" and needed extensive repairs. Senior notes in the yearbooks of 1977 and 1978 recall a coach named Connolly, lacrosse tours, an overtime game with Burlington and a run to the state semifinals.

The yearbooks have little more on the team until the late 1980s. Mr. Powderly coached the teams of 1986 and 1987; the 1987 team ended its season with a 6-4 tournament loss at Winchester in 95 degree heat, after which the coach said, "These kids are so fantastic. I'd rather lose with them than win with some previous Billerica teams." Grant Whiteway coached from 1988. His 1989 team went 4-12 in what the yearbook called the rebuilding of the program, and the 1990 team went 10-7 and fell just short of the state tournament.

Steve Connolly, called in 1991 "a veteran coach" returning to the team, led it through most of the 1990s, with Mr. Bishop as his assistant. His first team went 15-4, and the next two won North League titles: 13-5 and a share of the title with Lexington in 1992, and 17-4 and the title outright in 1993, clinched with a 6-4 win over Winchester. After two losing seasons the 1996 team went 11-6, finished second in the North League and made the state tournament. The 1997 team, led by "the first group of players to go through Billerica's growing youth program," went 13-4, won the school's first North League title since 1993 and was the third seed in the state tournament, and the 1998 team went 14-5 and won the league again.

Craig Flynn was head coach by 1999, when the team finished second in the Metro North League at 10-9 and beat Sandwich in the state tournament before losing to Newton North. In 2001, now in the Merrimack Valley Conference, Flynn's team went 19-1. Its only loss, to Malden Catholic, was avenged 10-9 in the tournament, and the Indians won the state final over Longmeadow 12-3 for what the Warrior called "Billerica Lacrosse's first Massachusetts State Championship Title"; the town report for the year noted simply that "The Boys Lacrosse team won the State Championship." The team won the Merrimack Valley title again in 2002, when it played eleven teams that made the state tournament and lost in the tournament to the eventual champion Duxbury, won a third straight conference title in 2003 and shared the 2004 title with two other teams.

The 2007 team went 11-2 in the regular season, beat Chelmsford 16-9 and St. John's Prep 11-10 in sudden-death overtime in the tournament, and lost a double-overtime semifinal to the defending state champion. The 2008 team went 17-5 and reached the Division 1 state final at Harvard Stadium, where it lost to Duxbury 14-13 in overtime. Flynn was still head coach in 2013, with Brian Calabro, Nick Pinto, Richard McKenna and Tom Lavery as his assistants, and the boys' team was one of the school's Merrimack Valley Conference champions of 2015-16.

Ryan Nickerson, a 2010 graduate who played on the 2008 finalist and then coached the junior varsity and the defense, became head coach in 2020. His 2021 team reached the Division 2 North semifinals, beating Marblehead 8-4 before an 8-6 loss to St. John's Prep. The 2022 team went 18-5, beat Duxbury 10-9 at Walpole on June 17 in the Division 2 semifinal, the program's first win over the Dragons, and lost the state final at Worcester State to Longmeadow 9-8 in double overtime four days later. In 2025 the Indians went 22-1 and were the top seed in Division 2. On June 14, 2025 at Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay they led Reading 11-4 at the half, let Reading tie the game 16-16 in the last thirty seconds, and won 17-16 on a goal with nine seconds left, the second state title in the program's history; the 33 goals were a record for an MIAA boys' lacrosse final. It was the school's third state championship of the year, after the girls' cheer team and the boys' hockey team, and seven of the lacrosse champions had also played on the Billerica Memorial High School Hockey team that won at the TD Garden in March.

The girls' team "made their debut" in the spring of 1994 as "the first girls lacrosse team in Billerica High School's history," under coach Carolyn O'Brien, and played toward varsity status. Its first varsity season, in 1995, ended 0-16, but the 1998 team posted a winning record of 8-7-1, and the 2000 team went 12-3-1 in the regular season, "the school's best seasonal record for girls lacrosse ever," and hosted its first state tournament game, beating Sandwich 11-8 before a 6-4 loss to Duxbury. Andria Belanger coached the team in 2001. In 2004, with a new coaching staff, Paul Powderly and Grant Whiteway, and "a beautiful field to call their own," the girls went 15-4 and beat Andover for "the first league title the Billerica girls high school lacrosse team has ever claimed." The 2006 team went 13-3 in the Merrimack Valley Conference and won a game in the state tournament. Ashley Martell, coach from 2010 into the middle of the decade, was named coach of the year in her first season, when the team went 11-8-2 and came back from seven goals down at the half to beat Chelmsford 17-16.

Billerica Memorial High School boys' varsity lacrosse by season, from Warrior yearbooks, town reports and news reports. Records are as printed; blank cells are not known, and seasons with no surviving information are omitted.
Season	Head coach	League	Record	League finish	Tournament result	Notes
1974						First season of the program
1976						First team pages in the Warrior (spring supplement)
1987	Mr. Powderly				Lost 6-4 at Winchester
1988	Grant Whiteway					Four returning veterans
1989	Grant Whiteway		4-12
1990	Grant Whiteway		10-7		Missed the state tournament by a few points
1991	Steve Connolly		15-4
1992	Steve Connolly	North League	13-5	Co-champion with Lexington	Tournament play
1993	Steve Connolly	North League	17-4	Champion		Title clinched 6-4 over Winchester
1994	Steve Connolly		7-14
1995	Steve Connolly		7-9	2nd	Playoff win over Beverly	Three wins over Lexington
1996	Steve Connolly	North League	11-6	2nd	State tournament
1997	Steve Connolly	North League	13-4	Champion	No. 3 seed in the state tournament	First league title since 1993
1998	Steve Connolly		14-5	Champion	Lost in the state tournament	Second straight league title
1999	Craig Flynn	Metro North League	10-9	2nd	Beat Sandwich; lost to Newton North
2000			14-5		Tournament play	Regular season record
2001	Craig Flynn	Merrimack Valley Conference	19-1		State champion: beat Longmeadow 12-3 in the final	Only loss to Malden Catholic, avenged 10-9 in the tournament
2002		Merrimack Valley Conference	10-9	Champion	Beat Braintree; lost to Duxbury
2003		Merrimack Valley Conference		Champion		Third straight conference title
2004		Merrimack Valley Conference	10-6	Co-champion		Title shared with two other teams
2006			13-5
2007			11-2		Beat Chelmsford 16-9 and St. John's Prep 11-10 (OT); lost the semifinal in double overtime	Regular season record
2008			17-5		Division 1 state final: lost to Duxbury 14-13 (OT) at Harvard
2013	Craig Flynn	Merrimack Valley Conference
2016		Merrimack Valley Conference		Champion
2021	Ryan Nickerson				Division 2 North semifinal: beat Marblehead 8-4; lost to St. John's Prep 8-6
2022	Ryan Nickerson	Merrimack Valley Conference	18-5		Division 2 state final: lost to Longmeadow 9-8 (2 OT) at Worcester State	Semifinal win over Duxbury 10-9
2025	Ryan Nickerson	Merrimack Valley Conference	22-1		Division 2 state champion: beat Reading 17-16 at Massachusetts Maritime Academy	No. 1 seed

Billerica Memorial High School girls' lacrosse by season, from Warrior yearbooks. Records are as printed; blank cells are not known, and seasons with no surviving information are omitted.
Season	Head coach	League	Record	League finish	Tournament result	Notes
1994	Carolyn O'Brien					First girls' team, not yet varsity
1995	Carolyn O'Brien		0-16			First varsity season
1996	Carolyn O'Brien		5-8-1
1997	Carolyn O'Brien
1998			8-7-1			First winning record
1999	Coach Freda		6-9
2000			12-3-1		Beat Sandwich 11-8; lost to Duxbury 6-4	First home tournament game; regular season record
2001	Andria Belanger		10-7		Lost to Lexington in the first round
2004	Paul Powderly	Merrimack Valley Conference	15-4	Champion		First league title
2005		Merrimack Valley Conference	8-10	2nd	Beat Masconomet 5-4; lost to Peabody	Five early wins forfeited
2006		Merrimack Valley Conference	13-3		Won a first-round game
2010	Ashley Martell	Merrimack Valley Conference	11-8-2		Lost to Masconomet in the first round	Martell coach of the year
2014	Ashley Martell	Merrimack Valley Conference

Billerica Memorial High School Lacrosse

Billerica Memorial High School Lacrosse

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