HANOVER — Sean Murphy has undertaken enough rebuilding projects that he should have his contractor’s license by now.

The new Hanover High boys lacrosse coach most recently constructed an Indiana prep school program from scratch. Prior to that, he was the first athletic director in White River Valley High history, although he exited that job late in his initial school year with the Wildcats in 2019.

There were attempts as a head coach to resuscitate football programs at a Maryland prep school and Maine’s Husson College and assistant’s gigs and administration roles at assorted other schools. In total, Murphy, a Maine native and former Plymouth football and lacrosse player, is in his 17th season coaching the latter sport.

“This is a great fit because at my last job, half my team were first-year players in the sport,” said Murphy, whose Bears are 2-1 after a 13-2 pounding of overmatched Hillsboro/Deering-John Stark on Tuesday. “It helped me boil down to the nuts and bolts of what has to be emphasized to excel in this game.”

Hanover and Norwich were once lacrosse-crazy, with seemingly every boy able to walk toting a stick during the decades after the high school program’s varsity start in the mid-1980s. There were NHIAA Division I titles during the 2007 and 2009 seasons and a runner-up finishes in 1996 and 2012.

Somewhere during the last decade, however, baseball rebounded in the youth ranks while lacrosse has declined in popularity. The Bears were 11-4 during their final Division I season before dropping down a level to reflects their diminishing participation numbers. They were 7-8 last spring

Hanover’s roster features just two seniors, and Tuesday’s starting lineup included two others who are in their first season in the sport. The days of the program sending a steady stream of players to NCAA Division III programs and the occasional star to the Division I college ranks appear over, at least for now.

“I’m tailoring really basic and fundamental stuff to our young personnel,” said Murphy, whose son, Seamus, captained the team last spring and now plays football and lacrosse at Plymouth State. “We feel really good about how we’re growing, and that will 100% be the measuring stick for our success.”

Senior standout Jack Gardner had four goals and an assist against the General Hawks (0-5), a cobbled-together outfit wearing scrimmage pullovers for tops and whose goalie went into a dance and shouted, “We scored a goal!” after the visitors’ second tally.

Schuyler Clapp had three goals and Wyatt Seelig and Brendan Kwaku each had two each for the hosts.

Gardner, a three-sport standout for his school, plans to attend the University of Virginia in the fall but won’t play sports for the Cavaliers. The rugged and athletic senior has a fan in his coach.

“Jack Gardner’s a beast,” Murphy said. “On my competitor scale, he’s at the pinnacle, and he never ceases to amaze me. I love working with kids who are that competitive in everything they do.”

Murphy’s high on Kwaku, a gritty attackman and the only other senior. Long-pole midfielder Jack Wilkinson and short-stick middie Mateo Trimble also come in for praise. On defense, George Dominiak and Keegan Murphy, the coach’s younger son, are physical intimidators learning to harness their size and aggressiveness.

Backed by promising goaltender Henry Cotter, the Bears shouldn’t be overly porous on defense. Offensively, however, they’re not likely to score many goals against the division’s stronger teams. Murphy believes his youngsters up front can only achieve an understanding for the sport’s flow by playing. Only then, he said, is it worth installing many set plays.

“We’re starting to understand the basic movements of offense and balancing our shape,” said Murphy, who’s worked at the West Lebanon Home Depot since leaving White River Valley. “When it clicked, we saw some semblance of good lacrosse today. The short-term pains will be worth the long-term gains.”

Murphy said he initially inquired about becoming an assistant after previous head coach Ryan Gardner stepped down. Instead, a dearth of replacement candidates encouraged him to up his offer.

“They needed somebody to take the reins,” Murphy said. “Our results matter, but the scoreboard isn’t our focus. Everything is based on doing every step of the process the right way.”

Notes: The Bears’ previous coaching staff attended the game, as did Gardner’s predecessor, Jeff Reed. All took a photo with Murphy after the game. … Michael Sternberg, a holdover from Gardner’s staff who’s long worked with Hanover goaltenders, had surgery on his Achilles tendon recently after tearing it while warming up Cotter. … Hanover’s uniforms feature the school’s previous Marauders head logo on their helmets and shorts. Those will disappear as new gear is bought during coming years.

Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.

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