Bishop Guertin boys lacrosse takes advantage of opportunities in win over Exeter

NASHUA - Some times the Bishop Guertin High School boys lacrosse team doesn't have an exact game plan until after it's already taken the first faceoff.

It all depends on how an opponent plans to defend the Cardinals' offense, and on Thursday against Exeter, Bishop Guertin was able to adjust on the fly.

The Cardinals grabbed the lead early and pulled away in the third quarter on the way to a 14-6 win over the Blue Hawks in a Division I game at Stellos Stadium.

Brian Cameron had three goals in a span of 3:26 in the first quarter to get Bishop Guertin (12-0) to a 4-0 lead, and when Exeter (8-3) tried to switch up its defense, the Cardinals senior started to distribute the ball to his teammates.

"Every team defends us a little differently, and Exeter certainly has different ways to defend us, whether it was a zone, a shutoff, or an early slide," Bishop Guertin coach Chris Cameron said. "They decided to play us straight up and that’s when Brian got three consecutive goals."

Sean Cameron also had three goals and Drew Hailey had two scores and two assists as nine different players scored for the Bishop Guertin. Brennan McInnis added a goal and two assists and Brian Cameron added three assists while Ben Abladian, Cam Fagan, Sam Prunier and Alex Koutsos also scored.

"You have to pick your poison with Brian of what you’re going to do on him and what you’re going to try to take away," Exeter coach Gerry Holly said. "Obviously, he gave us a lot of trouble early, and I thought we adjusted pretty well, but they just have so much dept and speed in the midfield, it’s tough for us to keep up."

The Blue Hawks got two goals and an assist from Mike Penna while Ben Baldasaro added two goals and Spencer Clark had a goal and an assist. Haeden Finerty also scored and Henry Vogt made 13 saves to keep Exeter within striking distance in the first half.

Still, the Blue Hawks trailed 4-1 at the end of the first quarter and 8-2 at halftime. As the Cardinals were able to win more faceoffs - behind Luke Romanek - as the game wore on, they were able to go on a run in the third quarter.

Koutsos made it a 10-3 game with 7:22 left in the frame and Fagan and Abladian scored less than a minute apart to put Bishop Guertin up 12-3. Hailey and Sean Cameron added two more goals in the final two minutes to make it a 14-3 game after three quarters.

"I thought the third quarter, that’s what we’re capable of," Chris Cameron said. "We rotated some faceoffs guys. I usually rotate two, but Romanek got so hot, I just stayed with him. We just want possession. When we have possession, you can see we score."