Bishop Guertin field hockey looking to keep momentum after win over Londonderry

NASHUA – Steve Duprat has seen his Bishop Guertin High School field hockey team play well in its last few games, but come up with nothing to show for it.

That changed in the second half of Wednesday’s game against Londonderry.

The Cardinals scored three goals in the final 30 minutes and beat the Lancers 3-1 in a Division I game at Stellos Stadium.

Carly Caveny, Kate Bradford and Brooke Pearson each had a goal for Bishop Guertin (2-3), which made some changes at halftime to adjust to playing on a turf field.

“We’ve been playing well, we just hadn’t executed fully,” Duprat said. “We made some great adjustments in the second half to really open it up for the girls.

“Londonderry played a big-ball game, just trying to hit the ball up. It’s one thing on grass, but on turf, it’s just so fast and sometimes that doesn’t work. We got ourselves into that a little bit in the first half. We started passing and the possession game in the second half was a big thing.”

Kristin Cameron and Haley Mahan both recorded an assist for the Cardinals and goalie Kelly Mahoney made three saves, all of which came in the first half.

Two of Bishop Guertin’s three goals came off penalty corners, something the team had been struggling with in its previous games.

“Coming in, we were 0 for 30 on our corners, which is like the Bruins being 0 for 30 on their power play,” Duprat said. “Getting two of those goals on the corners was really helpful.”

The win also helps the Cardinals build a bit of confidence going into a tough stretch of the schedule. After Friday’s game at Manchester Memorial (0-5), Bishop Guertin will play at Timberlane (3-1), Winnacunnet (5-0), Salem (5-1) and at Merrimack (3-2).

“We needed that,” Bishop Guertin senior captain Caley Prunier said. “It’s no secret that last year we had a losing streak around this time of year. That was not a good feeling and we talked about it pregame. We did not want to have that feeling again and I think we came out with a little fire in us and we came out to win.”