Wahconah's Poirier Inks Letter of Intent to Play College Lacrosse
DALTON, Mass. – High school senior Noah Poirier’s college plans are rooted, in part, in a conversation he had while in middle school.
“In seventh grade, I played midi and face-offs, and eighth-grade, I did faceoffs,” Poirier recalled on Wednesday afternoon. “And coach O’Neill, one of our coaches for Wahconah was like, ‘You should start doing face-offs. I can see you being really good at the position because you wrestle, and I feel like you’d be pretty good at it.”
Better than “pretty good,” as it turned out.
Poirier dominated at the face-off X in Wahconah’s run to the state championship in 2022.
And on Wednesday in the school’s auditorium, he signed his National Letter of Intent to enroll and play college lacrosse at Division II St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt.
Afterward, he said he might not be strictly a “FOGO,” the lacrosse term for “face-off, get off.” But the critical ball control skill is a big reason why he was recruited by the Knights of the Northeast 10.
“They said I’m going to do face-offs, obviously, but I think I’m going to play a little bit of defense also,” Poirier said. “They told me they might want me to play some defense, but I’m mainly going to be face-offs.”
Unlike hockey, where face-off wins, especially at the center line, are no guarantee of a good offensive opportunity, a good lacrosse team has a high percentage of generating a shot off of that initial possession. One of the hallmarks of Wahconah the last two years, when it has gone 39-4, has been Poirier’s ability to win face-offs after his team scores and trigger multiple-goal runs.
It is an ability that he has honed for years.
“Faceoff Factory, I do every once in a while, I went to Faceoff Academy a couple of times,” Poirier said. “There’s a couple of campsI went to, especially for Connecticut Valley, they helped a lot with my face-offs. There was a specific coach who came and helped us a lot with our technique and craft.”
Poirier’s dedication transferred to his other sports: wrestling, where he is a two-time Western Massachusetts champion at 152 pounds (2022) and 160 (2023), and football, where he was a big part of Wahconah’s run to the state quarter-finals in 2022 and another state tournament appearance this fall.
“I think the greatest thing for me is to see any kid realize a dream,” Wahconah football coach Gary Campbell Jr. said at Wednesday’s signing ceremony. “When a young person sets out to set a goal and to achieve that goal – it takes a lot of work, it takes a lot of extra. And Noah is the epitome of that work and extra.
“I’m just really, really proud of you, Noah, and your family, for achieving that dream. I know you’ve thought about this for a long, long time – playing at a high level and also being able to go to a great school.”