From left, Bishop Guertin's Tiffany Ann Stanton, Kristianna Purington and Nicole Pettiglio celebrate the Cardinals' win over Bow. For more photos, go to the Photo Album.
The Bishop Guertin High School girls lacrosse team made a bit of history on Saturday in the Division II semifinals.
For the first time in their nine-year history, the Cardinals defeated Bow, 12-9 at Southern New Hampshire University. That win keeps the Falcons out of the Division II final for the first time ever.
“I said (to the team), we could make history for Bow,” BG coach Ron Cote said. “We could be making history on so many levels. That kind drove my team today. We had never beaten them ever. They knew where they needed to be today and I’m so proud of them.”
Julia Wright scored three goals to lead the No. 3 Cardinals (13-2) while Rosie Buchanan had two goals and two assists and Kristianna Purington and Callie Santos had two goals and an assist each.
The Cards will take on No. 4 Portsmouth in the Division II final on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at SNHU. The Clippers upset No. 1 Winnacunnet, which had been undefeated, in the other semifinal.
Boys lacrosse
Two late goals by Bedford helped propel the No. 2 Bulldogs past No. 3 Dover 9-8 in the Division II semifinals on Saturday at Exeter High School.
Dover tied the game at 7 with about seven minutes left before and a costly penalty by the Green Wave gave the Bulldogs the opportunity they needed. Connor Sullivan scored to make it 8-7 and Tyler MacKay added an insurance goal 25 seconds later to make it 9-7.
Bedford (14-2) will now face No. 1 Bow (14-2), which defeated No. 5 Winnacunnet, in the final on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Exeter.
In the Division III semifinals, No. 6 Hollis/Brookline saw its season come to an end at the hands of No. 2 Derryfield, 12-6, at Stellos Stadium in Nashua. The Cavaliers made it a 6-4 game just before halftime and seemed to have the momentum, but the Cougars opened the third quarter with three goals in two minutes to take control.
Patrick Clark and Andrew Green each had two goals for H/B (9-6), while Kyle Moynihan had a goal and an assist. Goalie Alvaro Guzman finished the game with 23 saves.
Baseball
Top-seeded Nashua North won its 14th game in a row, holding off No. 9 Spaulding 3-2 in the Class L quarterfinals on Saturday at Holman Stadium. Kevin McGowan, Jake Mellin and Alek Morency pitched well in the win for the Titans (18-3), who will face No. 4 Salem in the semifinals on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Holman Stadium.
North scored all three of its runs on one play in the second inning. With runners on second and third, Louis Tarantino bunted, and a throwing error allowed the two runners to score. Tarantino headed for third on the play, and another error allowed him to score.
Also in Class L, No. 11 Alvirne saw its season come to an end in a 13-3 loss to No. 3 Londonderry. The Lancers will take on No. 7 Keene, the defending champion, in the other semifinal. Keene defeated No. 15 Pinkerton 20-3.
In Class I, No. 1 Portsmouth defeated No. 8 Hollis/Brookline 4-0 to advance to the semifinals. The win was the Clippers’ 61st in a row, which ties them for the 10th-longest winning streak in high school baseball history.
Mike Chase pitched well for the Cavaliers (10-8), but gave up a three-run home run to Jack Gonsalves in the fifth inning that put the game away. Kenny Glover and Ian Fay had the only H/B hits off Portsmouth starter Nate Jones, who had nine strikeouts and needed just 82 pitches.
The Clippers will face No. 4 Con-Val in the semifinals at 8 p.m. at Gill Stadium on Wednesday.
Also in the Class I quarterfinals, No. 7 Bedford upset No. 2 St. Thomas, 11-10. The Bulldogs, who split two games with the Saints during the regular season, battled back from a 6-0 deficit to tie the game 9-9. St. Thomas got a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth from Jordan Bean to retake the lead.
But Bedford put together three hits and a hit batter to take an 11-10 lead in the top of the seventh. Mike LaFlamme scored the winning run on a hit by Matt Woodmansee and the Bulldogs stranded the lead-off runner in the bottom of the inning.
Bedford will face No. 3 Lebanon in the other semifinal at 4 p.m. at Gill Stadium on Wednesday.
In Class M, No. 5 Campbell had its season ended by No. 4 Fall Mountain, 7-6 in the quarterfinals.
Softball
Nashua North gave up five runs in the first inning to fall to Londonderry 7-0 in the Class L quarterfinals. The No. 5 Titans’ starter Aimee Lalancette allowed all five runs in the first inning. The No. 4 Lancers will face No. 1 Concord in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Souhegan needed some late heroics to knock off St. Thomas 4-3 in the Class I quarterfinals. Samantha Jones hit a two-run home run with two outs in the fifth inning to give the No. 4 Sabers (13-5) the lead. Ashley Tighe added a two-run single in the second inning.
The Sabers will take on No. 1 Kennett in the semifinals at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Memorial Field in Concord. Kennett defeated No. 8 Milford 8-3 in the quarterfinals.
No. 11 Coe-Brown continued its run through the Class I playoffs, knocking off No. 3 Bedford 3-2, for its second upset of the tournament. The Bears have won 11 of their last 12 games and will face No. 2 Bishop Brady in the other semifinal.
In Class M, No. 2 Campbell advanced to the semifinals with a 6-1 win over No. 10 Somersworth. The Cougars will face No. 3 Sanborn at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at Plymouth State University, as they try to return to the final for the second-straight year.
Wilton-Lyndeborough will also head to PSU for the Class S semifinals after the undefeated Warriors knocked off No. 9 Gorham 6-1. Sam Broderick had a two-run single in the first inning and also got the win, striking out nine and allowing six hits.
The No. 1 Warriors will take on No. 4 Pittsfield on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at PSU.