Bishop Guertin boys lacrosse got an early test from St. John's Prep (video)

ANDOVER, Mass. - Timing is an important aspect of all sports.

That's timing on the field, more often than not, but sometimes, it's about the timing off it.

John Pynchon knew that going into Thursday night's matchup between his St. John's Prep boys lacrosse team and Bishop Guertin High School.

With the MIAA allowing its spring sports schedules to begin earlier than usual this year, the Eagles had been practicing since March 16 and played their first game 10 days later. The game against the Cardinals was already their seventh of the regular season.

St. John's Prep (6-1) led 4-0 after one quarter and 8-1 in the second before Bishop Guertin (1-1) halved the lead before halftime, but the Eagles were able to come away with a 14-7 win at Merrimack College's Duane Stadium.

“I told our guys, you’ve been playing a little bit longer,” Pynchon said. “You’ve played some tough games already. I think that, yeah, that was a big part of it (Thursday), because they’ve got some guys who can really play. We’re maybe like a week or two ahead, but they’re outstanding. I’m glad we get to play them early.”

A year ago, when the teams met, the Cardinals were playing their first game of the regular season, and came out on the losing side of that. Still, Bishop Guertin went on to win its fifth-straight Division I title a year ago.

“I’ve been around BG lacrosse for 20-something years and I know when there’s teams that are going to be special,” Cardinals coach Brian Cameron said. “It’s early in the season, but we showed a lot of fight, especially in the last quarter, everyone was going hard.

“I thought we were getting good opportunities, riding hard, scoring goals, and so we’ve just got to build on that.”

Bishop Guertin started doing a lot of that at the end of the first half, after St. John's Prep had taken a seven-goal lead with just over three minutes remaining in the second quarter. The Cardinals started winning faceoffs and finding the back of the net, going on a 3-0 run to make it 8-4 at halftime.

But between the break and a goal by the Eagles just 16 seconds into the third quarter, any momentum Bishop Guertin had built up seemed to evaporate. The Cardinals were able to keep possession for longer stretches, but were held scoreless in the third as St. John's Prep took a 10-4 lead into the fourth.

“Mental breakdowns,” Pynchon said when asked what happened at the end of the first half. “We lost a couple of faceoffs, then they stuck a couple shots. They have great players.”

The Eagles got the lead up to 12-4 early in the fourth quarter before the Cardinals were able to respond.

“There’s not doubt that we can compete with any team, but it’s early in the season and we’ve got to work out some kinks,” Cameron said. “I think we played hard. We want to win these games, and I think that’s why it’s disappointing (Thursday). We felt like with the team that we have, we want to be winning these (out-of-state) games and we have five more to prove it. But it also prepares us.”

Bishop Guertin gets another test at 1 p.m. Saturday when St. Joseph's, from Trumbull, Conn., travels to Stellos Stadium. The Cadets won the Class L title in Connecticut last season and are off to a 3-3 start this year.