Bedford field hockey puts it all together in win over Merrimack

BEDFORD - Anneke McStowe has been waiting to see the Bedford High School field hockey team bring the level the Bulldogs have been practicing at into a game.

The first-year Bedford coach finally got to on Monday.

The Bulldogs withstood a fierce Merrimack attack through the first 20 minutes of the game and took advantage of opportunities when they had them, holding off the Tomahawks for a 2-0 win in a Division I game.

Freshman Eliana Enners had both goals for Bedford (1-2-1) with Regan O'Brien and Chamberlain Bell recording an assist each on the goals. At the other end, Rachael Noble made 14 saves and got some help from defenders Anne Eby and Jessica Rioux to preserve the shutout.

"The girls played the way they know how to play, the way that we’ve been practicing," McStowe said. "We’ve had fantastic practices. They’re coming together as a team and really meshing well. In other games, they’ve kind of not brought it all at the same time and (Monday) they did."

It started on the back end, almost immediately, as Merrimack (1-3) got an early rush, and after an initial save by Noble, Eby dove across the front of the goal to knock away a rebound. After an overtime loss to Manchester Memorial the last time out, it was the kind of play the Bulldogs needed.

"I was focused on keeping the ball out," Noble said. "My defenders, Jessie (Rioux) and Annie (Eby), were working really hard with me. We had a lot of chemistry going. It proved how unified we were, coming off last game. It was a hard one for everyone because overtime is tough."

Merrimack had the edge in penalty corners, 8-1, but couldn't capitalize, as Noble was able to get a piece of shots or the Tomahawks would send the ball just wide of the cage.

"We played with a sweep (Monday)," McStowe said. "So we had three on the defensive line and then one sweeper, which was Jessie (Rioux). I think that was a solid move. It made them really aware of where they needed to be in the circle."

Enners scored the game's first goal with 9:16 left in the opening half, as Bedford was able to breakout after Merrimack had kept the Bulldogs pinned in their end for most of the game. The Tomahawks came back strong after the goal, but Bedford was able to take the 1-0 lead into halftime.

The Bulldogs started to get some pressure of their own on Merrimack goalie Heather Rohr (five saves) and some extra effort by Bell set up the second goal.

With the ball rolling toward the end line, Bell to a swing at it just before it rolled out. The ball took a funny bounce on the turf and landed right near Enners, who was able to get a shot off in front of a surprised Tomahawks' defense, making it 2-0 with 20:42 left in the game.

"It was really reassuring," Noble said. "Just having that (second goal) kind of cemented it."

After being shutout in the two previous games, scoring twice was a big confidence boost for the Bulldogs.

"We haven’t been able to score in the past few games, so that really just got us excited and motivated and ready to work hard to the last second to keep that lead," McStowe said.

Merrimack had four corners after that to try to cut the lead in half, but couldn't capitalize, and with about 12 minutes to play, Demetria Gonzalez sent a ball right through the circle, but no one could get a stick on it.

The Tomahawks will look to bounce back on Wednesday, when they host Nashua North at 4 p.m., while the Bulldogs are off until Saturday, when they host Bishop Guertin at 12:15 p.m.