Bedford girls lacrosse comes back to beat Bishop Guertin in overtime (video)

BEDFORD - Christine Hodgdon knew there wasn't time for the Bedford High School girls lacrosse team to wait.

Not against a Bishop Guertin team that averages better than 15 goals per game, and had already put up that many on the Bulldogs.

With just under five minutes to play in Thursday's game, the Bedford coach called for her defense to step up its pressure, and the move worked. The Bulldogs scored twice in the final four minutes to force overtime, where Kennedy Boyle scored with 1:12 left in the second OT to give Bedford a 16-15 win.

"We knew as soon as they were up, we had to play high-pressure defense down there," Hodgdon said. "A quality team like this, they're going to stall the ball and if we pressure earlier, they're not going to get set and wide and control the play of the ball. We needed to do something to step and stop them right away. We started throwing our defense at them early."

The pressure led to a Bishop Guertin turnover with a little more than four minutes remaining and a fastbreak goal by Graceann Rooney that made it 15-14 Cardinals with 3:52 to play.

After Bishop Guertin had a shot blocked, Bedford's Molly Biedermann raced down the field but lost the ball about 10 yards from the goal. The ball bounced right to Zoey Shapiro, who scored to tie the game with 38.9 seconds left in regulation.

Bedford won the ensuing draw, but its first shot attempt was stopped by Cardinals goalie Elise Albertini (11 saves). Boyle ended up with the ball, but her shot just before the buzzer sailed over the goal to send the game to overtime.

Bishop Guertin won the draw to start overtime, but couldn't capitalize, and the teams went to a second three-minute overtime. The Bulldogs missed on a pair of shots, but were able to get the ball back, and Boyle took on three defenders on her way to the goal, getting a shot off before they could react.

"We know a lot of attention is going to be spent on (Boyle), and two players are going to slide," Hodgdon said. "We know Sydney (Lynch) and Kennedy are kind of a two-man game up top and when they drive, they'll draw a lot of attention and one of the attackers (Hannah McCarthy and Shapiro) can finish. All of those options are good in my book."

Boyle finished with five goals and four assists for the Bulldogs (13-1) while McCarthy also had five goals and an assist. Shapiro added three goals and had an assist while goalie Emily Burton had nine saves.

"Bedford is a top team and they have a lot of energy and skill," Bishop Guertin coach Kerry D'Ambroise said. "They did a really nice job. It was two skilled teams playing like it was a championship game."

Bryn Carroll led the Cardinals (13-2) with four goals and two assists and Kate Bradford also had four goals and a helper. Emily Santom added three goals and Erica Chareth and Olivia Koutsos each scored twice.

Bedford took a 2-0 lead early, but Bishop Guertin came back to tie it before the game was five minutes old. The teams went back and forth throughout the first half, and the Cardinals took an 8-7 lead into halftime.

McCarthy tied the game for Bedford just 16 seconds into the second half, but Bishop Guertin answered with two goals in 49 seconds to go up 10-8. The Cardinals held the lead for most of the half despite the Bulldogs holding the edge on the draw.

Bedford was 12 of 16 on the draw in the second half and overtime, but strong defense play by Bishop Guertin kept the Cardinals in front until the Bulldogs scored two goals in 30 seconds to tie it at 12 with 16:04 to play.

"We know they have really talented players around the circle and with Bryn (Carroll) taking the draw, they're speedy," Hodgdon said. "We prepped for it and tried to mix it up as much as we could on the draw and keep it more of a 50-50 ball rather than have them get hot with the draw."

The Cardinals went back up two on goals by Santom and Bradford with 6:53 to play, and after Bishop Guertin was able to force a turnover after the draw, the Cardinals set up to run the clock.

But Bedford had other plans.

"This type of game, it's always emotionally charged and they look forward to it on both sides," Hodgdon said. "It's like playing a championship game, and with that said, you're know you’re getting the best athletes up and pumped for this game. It's exciting, too, at this time of the season, everyone is playing at their best."