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# Bedford girls lacrosse returns to D1 final with shutout of Nashua South (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/bedford-girls-lacrosse-returns-to-d1-final-with-shutout-of-nashua-south-video/
- Published: 2023-06-04T23:51:33.000Z
- Updated: 2023-06-04T23:51:33.000Z
- Description: EXETER - When the Bedford High School girls lacrosse team faced Nashua South in the regular season a little more than two weeks ago, the Bulldogs got a firsthand look at how the Panthers would score on them. In Saturday's Division I semifinal, Bedford did everything it could to not have that happen
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, Bedford, girls lacrosse, Nashua South, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

EXETER - When the Bedford High School girls lacrosse team faced Nashua South in the regular season a little more than two weeks ago, the Bulldogs got a firsthand look at how the Panthers would score on them.

In Saturday's Division I semifinal, Bedford did everything it could to not have that happen again, and it worked better than the Bulldogs could have imagined.

Top-seeded Bedford got out to an early lead and played patient on both ends of the field, as No. 4 South tried to shorten the game with long possessions, but the Panthers were unable to find the back of the net in a 13-0 Bulldogs win at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter.

The win sends Bedford (17-1) back to the D1 final for the second year in a row, and fourth time in the last six seasons, where it will face No. 2 Portsmouth at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Exeter.

"Defense played amazing," Bedford coach Christine Hodgdon said. "We knew (South's Ella Benzekri) is a talented kid and we did a great job of playing her as a team, and then cutting off any potential threats with her feeding. I’m really proud of how the defense played. That was crucial. We came up with possessions on the draw and that was the difference in how many chances we had to score."

When the teams met on May 19, the Bulldogs came away with a 13-8 win, but they saw Benzekri have a hand in six of South's goals. Bedford was able to key on the Panthers' junior and leading scorer, and South (15-5) - which was shorthanded due to a couple of injuries, including to sophomore Maren Lowell - was unable to generate much offense.

"Our game plan was to keep possession, waste some time, keep the ball out of their sticks as much as possible," South coach Ciki McIntire said. "Their midfield is potent and their defense is strong, but I also thought, if we were patient, we could make some things happen. If we get a couple of more draws, keep possession more, anything can happen."

Instead, Bedford jumped out to an early lead, winning the first three draws of the game and taking a 3-0 lead just 4:29 into the game. The Panthers won the ensuing draw but turned it over - one of 16 on the day for South - and Sydney Grogan scored to make it 4-0 with 17:11 left in the half.

Olivia Matthews added a goal a little under five minutes later to make it 5-0 and forced South to take a timeout. The Panthers gave up one goal for the rest of the half, but trailed 6-0.

"We were fine at half," McIntire said. "We knew they are a potent offense, we knew their defense was unbelievable, so 6-0 at half, I just wanted them to keep fighting. I think they gave it all they had. We didn’t have any subs, so we used our timeouts to give them a break."

South got a big performance from goalie Keira Walsh, who finished with 14 saves.

Bedford got five goals from Matthews while Regan O'Brien had four goals and three assists. Ellie Enners added two goals and an assist and Maddie Kiely also scored while Abbie Weidner finished with three saves.

For South, it was the first time playing in the final four since 2007, which was the last time the program won a D1 championship. Before Thursday's quarterfinal win against Pinkerton, that was also the last time the Panthers had a postseason victory.

"We’ve been trying to (build to this)," McIntire said. "Hopefully, we have made people want to play for us. I think it’s pretty amazing that the last time Nashua South was here, they won a state championship. Obviously, the lacrosse landscape is different now.

"For a public school that is split between two schools, it’s amazing that we are here, and they deserved it. They had an amazing season. They played for each other. Hopefully the younger kids in Nashua Blast think ‘oh I want to wear purple one day.’ That’s all we can hope for."