Bishop Guertin boys lacrosse rallies again to beat Reading

NASHUA - It was a play that went from good to bad to great for the Bishop Guertin High School boys lacrosse team.

With the Cardinals tied with Reading (Mass.) late in regulation Thursday, Bishop Guertin's Jordan Caito got the ball and appeared to have a clear path to the goal.

But a Rockets defender came from nowhere to hit the Bishop Guertin senior as he attempted a shot, and the ball went straight into the ground, the force causing it to bounce straight up in the air. Reading goalie CJ Hart came out to try to get it, but Bishop Guertin's Drew Hailey got there first.

Hailey picked the ball out of the air, and once on the ground, fired it with one hand over his shoulder. This shot found its mark, giving the Cardinals a one-goal lead with 3:19 left and they'd hang on for an 11-10 win over Reading at Stellos Stadium.

"Caito got the ball, he got a contested shot," Hailey said of the play. "It hit the ground, I picked it out of the air and I just threw it behind my back. Luckily, the goalie was out of position and it felt like a good shot.

"Sometimes the game gets too intense and you build up too much adrenaline. I didn't even know the score was 10-10. I just didn't even think about it."

The goal capped a back-and-forth game that saw each team take a two-goal lead in the first half, while there were four lead changes and five ties in the second half. Reading (4-2) led 9-8 and 10-9 in the fourth quarter, but Brennan McInnis and Hailey scored 33 seconds apart to put Bishop Guertin (3-0) in front for good.

"It was a great team win," Bishop Guertin junior Brian Cameron said. "When they were sending doubles and triples and shutting me off, everybody stepped up. On the defensive end, for the amount of time they had the ball in the second and third quarter, we had countless stops. That was great for us."

Cameron finished with six goals and two assists while McInnins had two goals and Sean Cameron added a goal and two assists. Caito also scored while Anthony Priest and Cam Fagan each had an assist and Colin Casey made nine saves.

Unlike Tuesday's win over Needham, Brian Cameron got his goals early - four came in the first half, including one 50 seconds into the game - before Reading was able to slow him down. But when that happened, the rest of the Cardinals offense stepped up.

"They started shutting off Brian," Bishop Guertin coach Chris Cameron said. "They were zoning him but we had guys step up. That opened room for other guys and they made plays. We need more guys. We have guys who are capable."

Reading got five goals and three assists from Jack Geiger, while Kevin Tobin had three goals and Michael Tobin added two. Hart finished with seven saves.

After falling behind early, the Rockets scored three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead with 6:26 left in the first quarter, but the Cardinals retook the lead with three goals in the final 3:17 of the frame to go up up 4-3.

Caito scored 1:38 into the second to make it a 4-0 run and a 5-3 lead for Bishop Guertin, but Reading was able to hold onto the ball for nearly nine minutes of the quarter. Casey made eight saves in the second, as the Cardinals defense gave up just two goals despite playing in its own end for most of the frame.

"Defensively, I thought we were pretty good," Chris Cameron said. "The amount of defense, to hold them to 10 goals was really good."

The game stayed tied at 5 until Michael Tobin gave Reading a 6-5 lead with 7:37 left in the third quarter, bit Brian Cameron scored twice in a span of 47 seconds to put Bishop Guertin back up 7-6.

The teams continued to go back and forth and went into the fourth quarter tied at 8. Geiger gave the Rockets a 9-8 lead 1:22 into the quarter, but Brian Cameron tied it up less than two minutes later.

The Cardinals kept possession after the goal for a couple of minutes, but a turnover led to a Reading fastbreak and Geiger's transition goal made it 10-9 with 6:18 to play. But less than three minutes later, the Bishop Guertin rallied and took the lead for good.