Bishop Guertin boys lacrosse scores late to beat Xaverian Brothers (video)

NASHUA - Many of the Bishop Guertin High School boys lacrosse team's opponents are going to try to keep Tim Hinrichs and Charlie O'Brien from scoring.

Cardinals coach Chris Cameron knows that even if that does happen, the pair of seniors are still capable of finding the open teammate, who are also capable of scoring themselves.

Such was the case in the final 30 seconds of a tie game Saturday against Xaverian Brothers.

With Bishop Guertin a man-up, the Hawks keyed on Hinrichs and O'Brien, but the later was able to find Brennan McInnis in front of the net for the game-winning goal with 4.9 seconds remaining to give the Cardinals a 12-11 victory at Stellos Stadium.

"Every team is going to double pole them, and they still had big days," Cameron said. "They're so good no matter how much you key on them, we have enough complimentary players, Tim and Charlie are good enough to find the open guy."

Hinrichs finished with four goals to lead Bishop Guertin (10-0) while O'Brien had three goals and two assists. Jordan Caito also had two goals and McInnis finished with a goal and an assist, as the Cardinals overcame a slow start and a 4-0 deficit in the first half.

"The speed of the game, we had adjust to it and it took a quarter and a half for us to adjust," Cameron said. "I knew we could play at that level, but when you're playing the teams like we've been playing and scoring 15 or 20 goals in a half, it was going to be an adjustment. That's why we play these games, to get used to the speed. We just needed that first goal, and once we did, we went on a run."

Xaverian (6-4) got four goals from Nick Shaw while Drew Lee, Sam Jean and Peter Thorbahn added two each and goalie Michael Toomey came up with several big saves.

The Hawks scored the first four goals of the game in a four-minute stretch at the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second, going up 4-0 with 10:55 left before halftime. Bishop Guertin got on the board 29 seconds later, then scored five more goals in a span of 3:03 to lead 6-4 with 1:07 left in the half.

A goal by Shaw with 7 seconds left in the half made it a one-goal game heading into the break.

"We were playing good, patient team defense, which you have to do because Guertin has so many offensive weapons," Xaverian coach Tim Gardner said. "They can score in bunches and you could see that at the end of the half. We allowed them to go on a run just because they wore our defense down. They were doing better than us on faceoffs. They had more possessions over the (first) half."

The Cardinals won 7 of 9 faceoffs in the second quarter and finished game taking 73 percent of them.

"Possessions were key because you could see how well-coached they are and how they have a high IQ," Cameron said. "They didn't turn it over. We did a good job of not turning it over as well. It was a very high-level lacrosse game."

Hinrichs put Bishop Guertin back up by two just 47 seconds into the second half, but the Hawks came back to tie the game at 7, with both goals coming on unlucky bounces for the Cardinals.

Goals by Hinrichs and Caito again put Bishop Guertin up two, 9-7, with 5:42 left in the third, but Xaverian tied it back up going into the fourth quarter. And after the Hawks won the opening faceoff, they scored just 24 seconds into the quarter to take a 10-9 lead.

"I thought every time we had a chance to put them away, we didn't," Cameron said. "In the second half, they scored six goals and three were just (Bishop Guertin’s) mistakes. Not getting a rebound, not getting to loose balls and they scored, so if we clean that up, then we're holding them."

Back-to-back goals by Hinrichs and O'Brien just 58 seconds apart put the Cardinals back on top, but Xaverian answered with a goal by Thorbahn to tie the game at 11 with 7:48 to play.

Bishop Guertin won the faceoff and was able to run some of the clock, but a save by Toomey gave the Hawks the ball back with a little more than five minutes left. Moments later, the Cardinals were called for a slash, giving Xaverian a man-up situation, but the Hawks couldn't take advantage.

Xaverian had another chance with about two minutes to play, but the Hawks couldn't find an open shot and turned the ball over with 56.7 seconds left. A procedural penalty with 28.2 seconds to go gave the Cardinals the advantage, setting up McInnis' game-winner.

"We were looking for good shots knowing that the game would probably come down to one shot," Gardner said. "They had been so good on faceoffs, we didn't want to leave that much time on the clock. Guertin plays good team defense, so it's hard to find that.

"We had a bench error on that (penalty), where we had two kids coming on the field at the same time. That was the game."

The win means Bishop Guertin will enter Monday's matchup with Pinkerton (9-0) undefeated, with the winner taking possession of first place in Division I.