Big second quarter lifts Bedford boys lacrosse to win over Salem (video)

SALEM - Playing with patience and holding on to second-half leads have been two things the Bedford High School boys lacrosse team has struggled with at times this season.

Against Salem on Wednesday, the Bulldogs were able to do both and the result was what they'd been hoping to accomplish.

Bedford scored 11 straight goals over the second and third quarters against Salem, breaking open what was a close game at the end of the first quarter on the way to a 15-2 win over the Blue Devils in Division I action.

The Bulldogs (9-5) had possession for almost all of the second quarter, as they took advantage of a couple of man-up opportunities and worked the ball around the offense. Seven different players scored goals for Bedford, led by Dawson Clark, who had four, and Kyle Fink, who scored three goals.

"I emphasized patience on the offensive end with our guys (Wednesday)," Bedford coach Matt Guerard said. "We needed to take care of the ball and not have any unforced errors in the offensive end. In the second quarter, we probably had the ball nine out of 12 minutes on offense, so we did a great job of controlling possession."

And with Bedford holding a 7-1 lead at halftime, the Bulldogs stormed out of the gate in the third quarter, scoring four quick goals to take an 11-1 lead, and then adding two more before the fourth to get the game into running time.

"It definitely gives us a ton of confidence," Bedford junior Ryan Toscano said. "We’ve had leads at halftime and the second half doesn’t go the way we want it to. We needed to keep the foot on the gas, and not in a bad way. Keep the energy up, keep the offense going."

Toscano also had a goal for the Bulldogs, while Devin LaFrance and Jonathan Giroux had two apeice. Stewart Kirkpatrick and Ryan Bleakley also scored.

Nick Gore and Alex Weston each had a goal and Sebastian Farah made 14 saves for Salem (9-6), which has lost back-to-back games following a six-game win streak.

"I was proud of how hard they played from start to finish," Salem coach Brendan Megan said. "They kept moving the ball around and they’ve got some real good shooters from up top. They move the ball quickly and efficiently. Even when we tried to pressure out, they did a great job of still getting open and getting looks."

Gore scored his goal at the end of the first quarter to make it a 2-1 Bedford lead going into the second, and Salem was able to hold off the Bulldogs for the first few minutes of the quarter. But Clark scored 4:05 in to make it 3-1 and started Bedford on a 5-0 run to end the half.

When Farah was able to make a save or the Blue Devils' forced a turnover, they struggled to get the ball across midfield. Salem had just one shot in the second quarter and turned the ball over nine times.

Bedford carried that run into the third quarter, scoring four times in the opening 4:23 of the half, as Toscano's goal made it 11-1.

"I’ve tried to instill in these guys all year, when we get a lead like that, that we really need to close out the game," Guerard said. "In that third quarter, we had the opportunity to close out the game and put all the pressure on them. That was good for us."