Bishop Guertin boys lacrosse takes care of business against Xaverian Brothers (video)

NASHUA - There haven't been many times this year where Chris Cameron went into a game wondering how things would play out on faceoffs for the Bishop Guertin High School boys lacrosse team.

Against Xaverian Brothers on Thursday was one of those few times. It turned out to be the least of the Cardinals' concerns.

Paulo Vazquez more than held his own against Xaverian's Hunter Molway and it helped Bishop Guertin control possession for most of the night on the way to an 11-7 win for the Cardinals in an out-of-state game at Stellos Stadium.

Vazquez was 15 of 21 on faceoffs, including one in the final seconds of the first half that led to a buzzer-beating goal and a 7-3 lead for Bishop Guertin (9-2, No. 1 in the NHHSSports Coaches Poll) at halftime.

Molway, who will play at Rutgers University next year, also ended up getting called for four penalties and a conduct foul that negated a faceoff win.

"Their faceoff kid is a Big Ten kid, going to Rutgers," Cameron said. "Paulo showed why he is so important for us. He’s huge for us. The kid got four minutes of penalties. That’s how great Paulo is. When you beat a kid like that, and I didn’t know what the faceoff situation was going to be, it was huge."

Xaverian coach Tim Gardner acknowledged after the game that not winning faceoffs was something that the Hawks, from Westwood, Mass., weren't accustomed to have happen.

"We’re used to winning faceoffs and they did a really great job," Gardner said. "I think that, in the first half, was a key component. They were grittier than us in the middle. They composed themselves well and kept possession of the ball and we didn’t. A lot of that comes from them being gritty at the midfield and causing us to turn the ball over on clears a lot."

Turnovers ended up even for both sides, with Xaverian (14) having one more than Bishop Guertin, but a lot of times, through the first three quarters, the Hawks (8-7) were losing possession before they were able to establish anything offensively.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals were able to get into their offense and possess the ball, even though it didn't always lead to a goal. Through three quarters, Bishop Guertin outshot Xaverian, 28-19, although not all of those were good looks, according to Cameron.

"All game, I thought we were OK with turnovers, but not great," the Cardinals coach said. "Defensively, we were great all game. We took a lot of bad shots. Sometimes good teams that play good defensively will force you into bad shots, but we settled for bad shots."

Caleb Yeung and Owen King led a balanced scoring attack with two goals each, while Yeung also had an assist. Brady Dumont had a goal and two assists while Vazquez, Hudson Schmitt, Sean McGarry, Micah Dunsmoor, Carter Jozokos and Cam Hayden had a goal apiece.

Alex Dumont and Beau Dubois each had an assist and Will Murphy made nine saves, including a pair back-to-back in the second quarter with Bishop Guertin hanging on to a 3-2 lead.

The scored was tied 2-2 after one and Jozokos converted a feed from Dubois to put the Cardinals up with just under eight minutes left in the half. Xaverian goalie Michael Bulkin made a save and the Hawks were able to clear, setting up an open look for Sebastian Reyes.

Murphy got a piece of the shot, but it carried into the crossbar and bounced back out in front of the cage. By the time the Cardinals keeper located the ball, it was too far away to safely get and Xaverian's Charlie Brennan scooped up the groundball just outside the crease.

Brennan took a shot and Murphy was able to get enough of it to send it over the goal, where Alex Dumont was able to get the groundball and start a breakout.

King and Dunsmoor scored back-t0-back goals moments later to make it 5-2, but Dante Mariani (two goals) got one back for the Hawks with 1:10 remaining in the half.

After Vazquez won the faceoff, the Cardinals held for the final shot, but as Yeung was going to the cage, he lost the ball. It bounced right to Schmitt and he scooped it up and scored with 7.3 seconds left.

Vazquez won the ensuing faceoff, raced through the defense before Xaverian could get settled and scored just before the buzzer for a 7-3 halftime lead.

"I felt like we were playing really well, but we were letting them hang around," Cameron said. "It’s 5-3, but we got two goals in the last seven seconds (of the first half) and that was basically the game. Going into the fourth quarter, I told our guys, the only way they come back in this game is if we turn the ball over and we commit penalties. That’s exactly what we did."

Bishop Guertin took a 10-4 lead into the fourth quarter, but two manup goals by Xaverian made it a four-goal game with just under five minutes to play. But the Cardinals were able to do enough on either end to run out the clock and put the game away.