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# Bishop Guertin boys lacrosse plays long game to beat Bedford in D1 semifinal (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/bishop-guertin-boys-lacrosse-plays-long-game-to-beat-bedford-in-d1-semifinal-video/
- Published: 2025-06-12T17:00:32.000Z
- Updated: 2025-06-12T17:00:32.000Z
- Description: EXETER - The lead may have only been one goal for the Bishop Guertin High School boys lacrosse team at halftime of Wednesday's Division I semifinal against Bedford. But the Cardinals liked what they'd laid out for an offensive game plan and knew they needed to stick with it in the second half. Tha
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, Bedford, Bishop Guertin, boys lacrosse, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

EXETER - The lead may have only been one goal for the Bishop Guertin High School boys lacrosse team at halftime of Wednesday's Division I semifinal against Bedford.

But the Cardinals liked what they'd laid out for an offensive game plan and knew they needed to stick with it in the second half.

That patience paid off for No. 2 Bishop Guertin in the form of a 7-0 run that stretched almost full two quarters, as the Cardinals rolled into another D1 championship game with a 12-8 win over No. 3 Bedford at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter.

The Cardinals will play in their 20th straight title game at 7 p.m. Saturday, seeking their fifth championship in a row, against No. 1 Pinkerton, which held off No. 4 Exeter in the other semifinal. The game will also be at Bill Ball Stadium.

Michael Ponto led Bishop Guertin (15-5) with five goals, including one with 2.1 seconds remaining in the first half to put the Cardinals up 6-5\. Beau Dubois added three goals and Hudson Schmitt and Cam Hayden had two apiece, as Bishop Guertin led by seven before Bedford tacked on three goals in the final minute.

"I think the first half, we weren’t shooting well at all," Ponto said. "We started to realize that we had to shoot low, so we started shooting low on (Bedford goalie Ethan Conn) and the goals started falling.

"We went in at halftime and from there we kind of took it to them a little bit. We came into this game with a really good game plan. Coach Brian (Cameron) had a really strong plan and it took everyone."

Jonah Feliciano came up with eight saves for the Cardinals, six in the second half, and Paulo Vazquez was 18 of 21 on faceoffs. They held the Bulldogs (14-6) scoreless for almost 26 minutes, not just with defense, but by maintaining possession for long stretches.

"I would say halfway though the third quarter we were mindful of our possessions knowing that we had a lead," Cameron said. "If they’re going to sit in a zone the whole game, and we’re up by four, we had to make them come out of it. If they sit in it, we’re going to win the game. Once they pressured we attacked."

Conn had 12 saves for Bedford, overcoming a rough start that saw Bishop Guertin score three goals in the game's first 3:32.

"Ethan stepped up," Bedford coach Steve Gaudreau said. "We knew with our defensive game plan that we’d be giving up some shots and he made a lot of saves. Hats off to him. He’s always willing to step up."

Brody Helton had three goals, two in the final minute, while Luke Purnell, John Purnell, Teddy LaPointe, Evan Capello and Dylan Riccio had a goal apiece for the Bulldogs.

"That’s been the story all year," Gaudreau said. "Teams have done so much to focus on Bennett (Matthews) and Brody and our supporting cast, they stepped up. I’m proud of them. We’ve made so much progress this season, unfortunately everything can’t be quantified in wins and losses, but I feel good about what we did."

Bedford answered Bishop Guertin's opening run with a 4-0 run of its own, taking the lead on a great individual effort by Helton to go up with 6:57 left in the first half. But the Cardinals answered quick, with Ponto tying the game at 4 with 5:22 to go until halftime.

Hayden put Bishop Guertin back in front with 3:14 left in the half, but Riccio won the ensuing faceoff and scored just eight seconds later to tie the game back up at 5-5.

From there, the Cardinals started to dominate possession, firing off seven shots over the rest of the second quarter. The final one from Ponto found the back of the net to make it a 6-5 game at the break.

Bishop Guertin continued its methodical approach against Bedford's zone in the third, keeping possession for most of the quarter while extending the lead to 9-5\. The Cardinals tacked on three more goals over the first 6:29 of the fourth quarter before the Bulldogs were able to get three back at the end of the game.