Bishop Guertin boys lacrosse gets first win against Duxbury (video)

NEWTON, Mass. - Chris Cameron was trying his best to stay in a conversation Wednesday after the Bishop Guertin High School boys lacrosse team beat Duxbury, but his cell phone was blowing up.

That's what happens when you throw a decade-old monkey off your back.

The Cardinals scored the game's first six goals, and led by as many as 10 in the second half at Lasell College, to beat the Dragons 13-4 and get their first win against Duxbury in 10 tries.

"With this game, we've been knocking on the door," Cameron said. "There was a big monkey on our shoulders. These kids needed to believe more than anything.

"They were a little bit nervous, I could see it, but once we settled down, we took over. We won faceoffs, we played great defense and made saves. Offensively, we can score against anybody. Championship teams have to make saves, play defense and win faceoffs and we did that (Wednesday), and with our offense, we're clicking right now."

Since the teams began playing in 2007, Duxbury had won the previous nine meetings by an average of 3.9 goals. Three of those wins had been by a single goal, including last year's 11-10 Duxbury win in which they had to rally late to get the victory.

This time around, there was no rally needed by either side, as Tim Hinrichs led Bishop Guertin (17-1) with four goals and an assist and Charlie O'Brien added three scores. Colin Casey made 13 saves and turned a handful of them into transition opportunities the Cardinals were able to score off.

"He wasn't just saving it, he was catching it and going the other way," Cameron said of Casey. "That's how on he's been. He's seeing everything and catching stuff. He was getting down on shots, he was catching things upstairs. He doesn't have a hole. He's good everywhere."

Nick Prunier also had two goals and an assist while Garret Bozek, Jack McNallen, Jordan Caito and John Bruno also scored for Bishop Guertin.

Duxbury (10-7) got a goal each from Bobby Maimaron, Nick LoConte, Riley Bergstrom and Jack Wood.

"Bishop Guertin played great," Duxbury coach Chris Sweet said. "We wish we could have given them a better game. We're certainly not the caliber team they are. We tried and we did our best.

"They're just very steady on offense and when they got an open look, they put it in the cage. We've struggled with our shooting percentage all year. They're goalie played outstanding. They're just a better team than we are this year."

The teams were scoreless for the first seven-plus minutes, as the Dragons were able to control possession and keep the ball away from the Cardinals. But Bishop Guertin was able to get out in transition and Hinrichs found Prunier for the game's first goal with 4:34 left in the opening quarter.

Duxbury won the faceoff and the Cardinals had to play defense again, but Brennan McInnis forced a turnover and started another breakout. This time it was Caito who scored to put Bishop Guertin up 2-0.

The Cardinals added the next four in the second quarter, going up 6-0 on Hinrichs' third goal of the quarter with 1:58 to go before halftime. Bergstrom got the Dragons on the board with 9.7 seconds left, but Bishop Guertin had time to answer.

"I told him at the end of the half, they scored their first goal with about nine seconds left, and I told him, I'm going to put Tim and Charlie behind you," Cameron said. "Just take it and go, and he's like a bull, he went and scored. That was big. You could see the wind come out of their sails."

McNallen's goal with 3.6 seconds left in the half made it 7-1, but Duxbury returned the favor in the third quarter, as a goal by Maimaron made it 7-2. On the ensuing faceoff, McNallen was hit hard and high by a Duxbury player and left the game moments later holding his left shoulder. He didn't return.

But the Cardinals continue to roll, scoring three more times before the end of the third, including a transition goal by O'Brien with 17.9 seconds to go. Duxbury won the faceoff, but Casey came up with a sprawling save as time expired to keep it a 10-2 game.

The Dragons got one back early in the third, but three goals in a span of 2:08 made it 13-3 Bishop Guertin with 7:23 remaining.

"Did I expect to be up (10 goals)? No, I didn't," Cameron said. "You've got to limit their chances and we did limit their quality shots. When we didn't, Colin was on top of it. I knew we could play with them."