Pinkerton’s Cam Richard and Bishop Guertin’s Connor Donahue will both try to lead their teams to a title starting May 30.

The Pinkerton Academy boys lacrosse team will open the Division I playoffs as the top seed for the second time in three years.

The Astros (17-1) were unbeaten against New Hampshire opponents this year, and will try to end Bishop Guertin’s three-year run as division champions.

No. 1 Pinkerton will host No. 8 Nashua South (6-9) in the quarterfinals at 5 p.m. on Thursday, while No. 4 Exeter (11-6) hosts No. 5 Souhegan (9-6) at the same time. The winners of those games will meet in the semifinals.

No. 2 Bishop Guertin (14-4) takes on No. 7 Concord (7-9) at 5 p.m. Thursday at Stellos Stadium in Nashua in a quarterfinal game. No. 6 Londonderry (9-8) will head to No. 3 Hanover (14-4) for a quarterfinal matchup, also at 5 p.m. Thursday. The winners will meet in the semifinals.

The semifinals are scheduled for June 2, starting at 5 p.m., at Bedford High School, while the final will be held June 5 at 7 p.m., also at Bedford.

Technorati Tags: boys lacrosse, Division I, playoffs

Taylor Wallace and Bedford will be looking for another Division II title.

The Bedford High School boys lacrosse team is in a good position for another undefeated season.

The Bulldogs finished the regular season at a perfect 18-0, and have won more than 30 straight games, including last year’s Division II title. Bedford is the top seed for this year’s tournament, which is scheduled to begin with the quarterfinals on Thursday.

No. 1 Bedford will host No. 8 Oyster River (5-9) at 5 p.m. on Thursday, while No. 4 Bow (10-4) will host No. 5 Portmouth (10-5) in the quarterfinals at the same time. The winners will meet in the semifinals.

No. 2 St. Thomas (12-3), which lost to Bedford in last year’s final, will host No. 7 Dover (7-9) on Thursday. No. 3 Winnacunnet (10-4) will host No. 6 Goffstown (9-5) in the other quarterfinal game, and the winners will meet in the semifinals.

The semifinals will be held June 1, starting at 6 p.m., at Exeter High School, with the final scheduled for June 4 at 7 p.m., also at Exeter.

Technorati Tags: boys lacrosse, Division II, playoffs

Derryfield’s Joe Costa and Hollis Brookline’s Patrick Dunn battle for a ball during a regular-season game. Both teams are high seeds in the Division III tournament.

The last three champions in Division III boys lacrosse received the top three seeds for the tournament, which is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

This year’s D3 tournament field is made up of 16 teams and will play one more round than the other two divisions.

Derryfield (16-0) will be the No. 1 seed in the tourney, trying to win its first title – and second overall – since 2010. The Cougars will open the playoffs at home against No. 16 Gilford (4-10) at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The winner will take on either No. 9 John Stark (8-6) or No. 8 Kingswood (8-6) in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Those two teams will also play a preliminary round game on Tuesday.

No. 4 Plymouth (13-1) plays host to No. 13 Laconia (6-8) at 5 p.m. on Tuesday; the Bobcats beat the Sachems twice during the regular season. The winner of that prelim game will face the winner of No. 12 Monadnock (6-8) and No. 5 Pelham (11-3).

No. 2 Hopkinton (14-0), which won the title in 2011, will open the playoffs by hosting No. 15 Con-Val (5-9) on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The winner of that game will take on either No. 10 Trinity (7-7) or No. 7 Kearsarge (9-6) in the quarterfinals.

No. 3 Hollis Brookline (13-1), the defending champion, will host No. 14 Manchester West (6-9) at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The winner of that game will face the winner of No. 11 Windham (8-9) and No. 6 Bishop Brady (9-5).

The quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday at 5 p.m. at the home of the higher seeded team. The semifinals will be held June 1, starting at 5 p.m., at Stellos Stadium in Nashua, while the final will be June 4 at 7 p.m., also at Stellos.

Technorati Tags: boys lacrosse, Division III, playoffs

Derryfield’s Colbi Vaillancourt returns a shot during Wednesday’s match against Bedford.

Here’s a look at what happened in the quarterfinals of the NHIAA’s tennis tournaments.

Division I boys

• No. 1 Bedford 9, No. 8 Bishop Guertin 0 – Union Leader
• No. 5 Londonderry 5, No. 4 Keene 3
• No. 2 Concord 5, No. 7 Pinkerton 1 – Concord Monitor
• No. 3 Exeter 9, No. 6 Timberlane 0 – Portsmouth Herald

Division II boys

• No. 1 Portsmouth 9, No. 8 Hollis Brookline 0 – Portsmouth Herald
• No. 5 Oyster River 5, No. 4 Windham 4 – Foster’s Daily Democrat
• No. 2 Hanover 9, No. 7 Souhegan 0 – Valley News
• No. 3 Lebanon 9, No. 6 Kennett 0 – Valley News

Division III boys

• No. 4 Prospect Mountain 5, No. 5 Profile 4 – Foster’s Daily Democrat
• No. 3 Kingswood 7, No. 6 Moultonborough 2

Division I girls

• No. 1 Bishop Guertin 9, No. 8 Pinkerton 0 – Nashua Telegraph
• No. 5 Exeter 8, No. 4 Nashua South 1 – Nashua Telegraph
• No. 2 Londonderry 7, No. 7 Winnacunnet 2 – Portsmouth Herald
• No. 3 Bedford vs. No. 6 Derryfield: match tied 3-3 in weather delay

Division II girls

• No. 1 Portsmouth 9, No. 8 Con-Val 0 – Portsmouth Herald
• No. 4 Bishop Brady vs. No. 5 Oyster River: match tied 3-3 in weather delay
• No. 2 Hanover 9, No. 7 Coe-Brown 0
• No. 3 St. Thomas 8, No. 6 Hollis Brookline 0 – Foster’s Daily Democrat

Division III girls

• No. 4 Gilford 5, No. 5 Monadnock 4 – Keene Sentinel
• No. 3 Conant 5, No. 6 Berlin 4 – Keene Sentinel

Technorati Tags: boys tennis, Division I, Division II, Division III, girls tennis, playoffs

Milford’s Morgan Andrews, second from left, celebrates last year’s Division II championship with her teammates. Andrews was named Gatorade’s National Girls Soccer Player of the Year.

Morgan Andrews has been named Gatorade’s 2012-13 National Girls Soccer Player of the Year, the second year in a row she’s won the award.

Andrews, a senior at Milford High School, has also won Gatorade’s New Hampshire POY award for three consecutive years, and becomes the first girls soccer player to win the national award twice since it was first awarded in 1998. Officials from Gatorade and Heather O’Reilly, a member of the U.S. national team and a former award winner, presented Andrews with the award at the high school Wednesday morning.

A member of the U20 and U23 women’s national team player pools, Andrews was also a captain of the U17 team that competed in the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Azerbaijan last fall. That team also won the CONCACAF title in Guatemala last May.

Despite missing part of the high school season while at the World Cup, Andrews helped Milford to a 16-3-1 record and a Division II championship. For the season, she scored 31 goals – including both goals for the Spartans in the title game – and had 18 assists. She also recorded her 100th career goal during the 2012 high school season.

Andrews, who will play at Notre Dame in the fall, was also named the 2012 National Soccer Coaches Association of America High School Player of the Year and is a three-time NSCAA All-American selection.

Technorati Tags: Division II, Gatorade, Gatorade Player of the Year, girls soccer, Milford

McKinley Grimes and Bedford will host Bishop Guertin in the Division I tournament on Tuesday.

A change in divisions hasn’t slowed down the Bedford High School boys tennis team.

The Bulldogs will be the top seed in the Division I tournament, which begins on Tuesday, and will be looking to win a fourth-straight championship in their first season in the top division. Bedford won three consecutive titles in Class I/Division II, and have gone 65-1 in the last four seasons.

The Bulldogs (14-0) will host No. 8 Bishop Guertin (8-6) in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at  4 p.m. Bedford won the regular-season meeting, 9-0 on April 2.

The winner will face either No. 4 Keene (12-2) and No. 5 Londonderry (11-3) in the semifinals. The Lancers won the regular-season match, 6-3 on April 17, but the Blackbirds will host the playoff match at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

No. 2 Concord (13-1) will host No. 7 Pinkerton (8-6) on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the quarterfinals. The Tide defeated the Astros during the regular season, 7-2 on April 22.

The winner of that match will take on the winner of No. 3 Exeter (12-2) and No. 6 Timberlane (10-4) in the semifinals. The teams didn’t meet during the regular season, and the Blue Hawks will host the Owls at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

The semifinals will be held on Thursday at 4 p.m. at the home of the higher seed, while the final will be May 28 at 4 p.m. at Manchester West.

Division II

Just like on the girls side, Portsmouth and Hanover both finished the season 14-0 and tied for first in the division.

The Clippers (14-0) will host No. 8 Hollis Brookline (8-6) in the quarterfinals at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Portsmouth won the lone regular-season meeting, 9-0 on April 19.

The winner will face either No. 4 Windham (12-2) and No. 5 Oyster River (11-3) in the semifinals. The Jaguars won the regular-season match, 7-2 on May 18, and Windham will host the playoff match at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

No. 2 Hanover (14-0) hosts No. 7 Souhegan (9-5) on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the quarterfinals. The Marauders won the regular-season match 9-0 on May 10.

The winner will play the winner of No. 3 Lebanon (12-2) and No. 6 Kennett (11-3) in the semifinals. Kennett and Lebanon did not play during the regular season, and will meet at Lebanon on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

The semifinals will be held on Thursday at 4 p.m. at the home of the higher seed, while the final will be May 28 at 4 p.m. at Bedford.

Division III

No. 1 Gilford finished the regular season 14-0 and handed No. 2 Bow (13-1) its only loss, but both teams will receive byes into the semifinals, which will take place on Thursday.

In the quarterfinals, No. 4 Prospect Mountain (11-3) will host No. 5 Profile (11-3) at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, while No. 3 Kingswood (11-3) will take on No. 6 Moultonborough (9-5) at the same time.

Gilford will host the winner of Prospect Mountain-Profile at 4 p.m. on Thursday in the semifinals, while Bow will host either Kingswood or Moultonborough at the same time.

The championship match will be held on May 28 at 4 p.m. at the Derryfield School.

Technorati Tags: boys tennis, Division I, Division II, Division III, playoffs

Briana Leonard and Bishop Guertin will be the No. 1 seed in the Division I tournament.

The Bishop Guertin High School girls tennis team hasn’t lost a match in almost four years, and the Cardinals will be in a good position to keep that streak going when the Division I tournament starts on Wednesday.

The Cardinals (14-0) have won 65 consecutive matches and three straight titles and will be the No. 1 seed in the D1 tournament. Bishop Guertin will host No. 8 Pinkerton (10-4) in the quarterfinals at 4 p.m. on Wednesday; the teams didn’t play during the regular season.

The winner of that match will face either No. 4 Nashua South (12-2) and No. 5 Exeter (11-3) in the semifinals. The Blue Hawks won the regular-season meeting, 6-3 on April 29, and the teams will meet in the quarterfinals at South on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

No. 3 Bedford (12-2), in its first season in Division I, will host No. 6  Derryfield (11-3) in the quarterfinals, also at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. The Cougars won the lone regular-season match, 6-3 on May 2.

No. 2 Londonderry (13-1) will host No. 7 Winnacunnet (11-3) in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The teams didn’t meet during the regular season, and the winner will face either Bedford or Derryfield in the semifinals.

The semifinals will be held on Friday at 4 p.m. at the home of the higher seed, and the final will be May 29 at 4 p.m. at Manchester West.

Division II

Both Portsmouth and Hanover finished the regular season 14-0, but the Clippers won the tiebreaker and will be the No. 1 seed for the D2 tournament, which begins Wednesday.

No. 1 Portsmouth will host No. 8 Con-Val (7-7), which finished in a three-way tie for eighth with Souhegan and Trinity, but won the tiebreakers with the other two teams. The Clippers and Cougars, who didn’t play during the regular season, will meet Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

The winner will get either No. 4 Bishop Brady (12-2) and No. 5 Oyster River (9-5) in the semifinals. Bishop Brady won the lone regular-season match, 6-3 on April 3, and the two teams will also play on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

No. 2 Hanover will host No. 7 Coe-Brown (8-6) on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Marauders won the regular-season matchup, 9-0 on April 26.

The winner of that match will get the winner of No. 3 St. Thomas (13-1) and No. 6 Hollis Brookline (9-5), who also play Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Saints defeated the Cavaliers in the regular season, 8-1 on May 3.

The semifinals will be held on Friday at 4 p.m. at the home of the higher seed, and the final will be May 29 at 4 p.m. at Bedford.

Division III

Two teams – Bow and Profile – also finished undefeated in D3, and its the Falcons who got the No. 1 seed. Both teams received a bye into the semifinals.

In the quarterfinals, No. 4 Gilford (11-3) will host No. 5 Monadnock (11-3) on Wednesday at 4 p.m., while No. 3 Conant (12-2) will host No. 6 Berlin (10-4) at the same time.

The winner of Gilford-Monadnock will head to No. 1 Bow (14-0) for the semifinals on Friday at 4 p.m., while the winner of Conant-Berlin will travel to No. 2 Profile (14-0) at the same time.

The championship match will be held May 29 at 4 p.m. at the Derryfield School.

Technorati Tags: Division I, Division II, Division III, girls tennis, playoffs

Bishop Guertin’s Cody McInnis tries to slow down Souhegan’s Mitch Hale during Tuesday’s game at Stellos Stadium.

NASHUA – The Bishop Guertin High School boys lacrosse team has seen a lot of zone defense over the years.

But with the Cardinals struggling to shoot Tuesday night against Souhegan’s zone, and the Sabers battling for 48 minutes, things got plenty interesting at Stellos Stadium.

Bishop Guertin led by three goals with a little more than 10 minutes to play, but the Cardinals were able to keep possession of the ball for more of the fourth. When they didn’t, they thwarted any Souhegan attempt and the Cardinals pulled away late for a 9-3 win over the Sabers.

“I’ve got to give (Souhegan) coach (Brad) Bishop and their staff credit,” Bishop Guertin coach Chris Cameron said. “They got blown out at Exeter on Friday night and there are a few ways you can react to that. You could just lay down and say the season’s over, but they came back with confidence and enthusiasm and fire. We took their best shot.”

Connor Donahue led the Cardinals (12-3) with a goal and four assists while Tom Hurley added two goals and Gage Sevigny had a goal and an assist. Bishop Guertin led 5-2 at halftime, and pushed the lead to 6-2 late in the third quarter, but Souhegan (6-6) continued to hang around.

“We played a lot of zone,” Bishop said. “We were in and out of it in the second half. You’ve got to slow them down. They can dodge with all their midfielders and everyone on the field has a good stick. We tried to slow them down as best we can and throw a few wrinkles at them so they get a little confused about what they’re playing against.”

Mitch Hale, Joe Nutting and Zach Bossi each had a goal for the Sabers, who cut the lead to 6-3 with 10:37 left in the game.

About 30 seconds later, Souhegan had a great chance to make a two-goal game, when Mac Walker found himself with the ball and alone against Cardinals’ goalie Jake Sanberg. Walker wasn’t able to pull the trigger right away, but still got a good look and Sanberg made the save.

“It would have been a huge turning point, but the goalie came up with a huge save,” Bishop said. “We had a struggle against Exeter last week. We really needed to bounce back and play hard for 48 minutes and I think the kids showed that they can. We let it slip away at the end, but realistically, it was closer.”

While Cameron came away impressed with how Souhegan played, he was frustrated with the shooting performance of his team.

“We couldn’t hit the cage for the life of us,” he said. “Their goalie is good, but we shouldn’t be missing the cage like that. We have some work to do on our zone offense. We weren’t moving the ball quick enough. It wasn’t our best performance, but Souhegan didn’t let us play our best.”

Technorati Tags: Bishop Guertin, boys lacrosse, Division I, Souhegan

Derryfield’s John Lenecki tries to slow down Hollis Brookline’s Ryan Papineau during Tuesday’s game.

HOLLIS – Chris Hettler knew that Tuesday’s lacrosse game at Hollis Brookline High School was going to be as big as a regular season contest gets.

The Derryfield School coach saw how much buzz the matchup between the undefeated Cougars and the undefeated Cavaliers was getting online, and he decided to stir the pot a little more, hyping the game to his players.

Whatever Hettler did, it worked, as Derryfield rolled past HB, 16-5, in front of perhaps the biggest lacrosse crowd ever on the Cavs’ home field. Cars overflowed from the parking lot and fans stood three deep in some places along the far sideline.

“It was incredible, for a Division III game and for high school lacrosse in New Hampshire,” Hettler said. “I saw stuff on Twitter and Facebook, and it was incredible to see the excitement for this type of game, and for high school lacrosse.

“We tried to hype this up as much as we could to put them in a pressure situation, to see how they would respond. Come playoff time, we’ve got to win four games and anybody can have a bad day. We put a lot of pressure on these guys and we built it up. I wanted to see how they’d respond with some nerves and they did a great job.”

The Cougars (13-0) got six goals and two assists from Grant Alenson while Jimmy O’Brien added three goals and three assists and Matt Milne had three goals and two assists.

The game was tied early when O’Brien scored with 7:34 left in the first to start the Cougars on a 5-0 run. HB scored twice in the second quarter, but Derryfield answered each goal and led 8-3 at halftime.

Derryfield went on another 5-0 run to open the second half, going up 13-3 with 4:33 left in the third.

“I don’t think it was anything different than had happened all game, it was just that we missed a lot of assignments and missed a lot of slides,” HB coach Mike Soucy said. “We were struggling in a lot of different aspects of the game. You give a quality team like that a lot of possession time and that many opportunities to score and they’re going to and they did.”

The Cavs got two goals from Ryan Papineau and Patrick Dunn had a goal and two assists. Sam Whitaker and Zach Nardone also had a goal each, while Logan Blake made 11 saves.

While the loss drops HB (10-1) into third in the Division III standings – Hopkinton also remains undefeated, but doesn’t play either HB or Derryfield – both teams thought there would be a pretty good chance of a rematch. And if both teams win out, that rematch would have to take place in a championship game.

“It’s just like anything else,” Soucy said. “We’ll make some adjustments and we’ll be better the second time we play them, if we have that opportunity. That’s an if. There are a lot of good teams. There are plenty of games left to be played.”

Technorati Tags: boys lacrosse, Brookline, Derryfield, Division III, Hollis

Merrimack’s Nate Cushman, left, and Mickey Gasper celebrate after Monday’s win over Manchester Memorial. For more photos, go to the Photo Album.

MERRIMACK – With the way Monday’s baseball game between Merrimack and Manchester Memorial high schools was going, Nick Jaskolka felt it would end in a strange way.

The Merrimack coach couldn’t have been more right.

Up by a run going into the top of the seventh, the Crusaders put the tying and winning runs on base. But Memorial’s attempt at a suicide squeeze turned into a game-ending double play and Merrimack escaped with a 10-9 win over the Crusaders.

Merrimack’s Evan McCormick delivers a pitch during Monday’s game.

“I knew it was going to be a crazy finish,” Jaskolka said. “We put ourselves in a tough situation by walking the first guy and struggling to throw a strike to the second guy, even when he couldn’t get a bunt down. Then he gets a base hit and we have to make a play. We got lucky is what it was.”

Merrimack (9-4) was also resilient, falling behind 6-0 in the top of the second inning, only to rally and tie the game in the bottom of the frame. Memorial went back ahead, 8-6, in the top of the fourth, but again, Merrimack rallied and took a 10-8 lead.

“That’s a big win,” Merrimack catcher Mickey Gasper said. “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. A win like this is definitely big. It set the tone, after a tough loss at Keene (on Saturday), it set the tone for the rest of the week.”

Gasper helped lead the Tomahawks’ offense, going 2 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Brenden Holt drove in two runs with a single in the second and Brett Glendye drove in two more with a bases-loaded walk in the second and when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the fourth.

Despite not having his best stuff, Evan McCormick picked up the win, allowing eight runs on six hits and two walks in four innings. Devin Gillis also had two hits and pitched three innings of relief to get the save.

Gillis also started the game-ending double play. Cody Marchant walked and Brendan Sullivan singled to open the seventh, and both advanced a base following a sacrifice bunt by Aaron Mersereau.

With Darren Sayer at the plate, Marchant broke for home on Gillis’ second pitch. Sayer was able to connect on a bunt, but the ball popped up and Gillis was able to race in for the catch.

Memorial’s Kevin Gonzales gets the out at second as he tries to turn a double play.

Holt had been charging in from third, but was closer to the bag than Marchant, and Gillis waited until to make the throw until his third baseman was back at the bag to double-up the runner.

“We called a two-seam (fastball), so it was running up and in on him, trying to get him to do that,” Gasper said. “As soon as I saw it in the air, I knew that kid was breaking on a steal. Make sure we catch that ball and it was good we gave our guy time to get back and make the play. I thought (first baseman Nate) Cushman was going to get it, but (Gillis) slid in there and grabbed it. It was a nice play.”

For Memorial (3-10), it was another frustrating loss in a season of them. Monday’s defeat was the sixth of three runs or less for the Crusaders.

“We have been fighting all year,” Memorial coach Aaron Abood said. “We hang around in games and can’t put it together at the end. We didn’t do the little things we should do. We didn’t throw strikes, we didn’t make plays, we didn’t get our bunts down. We walked a couple and that’s what happens when you walk guys, you let teams back into the game.”

Jacob Boylan was 3 for 4 with three RBIs and two runs scored, while Donovan Murby had a three-run double and scored a run in the second inning and Ethan Pollock also had two hits, a RBI and a run scored.

Technorati Tags: baseball, Division I, Manchester Memorial, Merrimack