Bishop Guertin girls lacrosse able to hold off Pinkerton (video)

NASHUA - For more than 10 minutes Tuesday, the Bishop Guertin High School girls lacrosse team watched as Pinkerton Academy chipped away at the Cardinals' lead.

When the seven-goal advantage that Bishop Guertin had built in the first half and early in the second was all of a sudden whittled to one, it was time to turn things around.

Lindsay Hult and Rylee Bouvier scored back-to-back goals to give the Cardinals some breathing room before two late goals put the game away, as Bishop Guertin held on for a 16-12 win over Pinkerton in an early Division I showdown at Stellos Stadium.

Hult finished with seven goals and three assists to lead the Cardinals (4-0), while Bouvier had four goals and four assists and Natalie Coutu had two goals and three helpers.

"They played exactly how I wanted them to," Bishop Guertin coach Kerry Gobiel said. "We were a little slow to start, and then I think we got into our groove once the jitters were gone. Pinkerton started winning draws in the second half, but what I most respected about my girls was that they didn’t hang their heads. They knew what we needed to do, and with time and the little things, they’d be able to kick back."

Claire Donovan also had a goal and an assist for the Cardinals while Madison Keating and Emily Santom also scored. Defensively, Bishop Guertin held Pinkerton (3-1) to one goal over a span of almost 13 minutes that stretched over each half.

"We have an amazing defensive unit," Gobiel said. "Sydney Todd, Emma Anderson, Delaney Ramalho and Abby Hayhurst are phenomenal defenders. All the credit there, and with freshman Makenna Reekie making some big saves, they’re really working hard."

Pinkerton got three goals each from Kiley Davis and Lilly Auger while Lauren Lisauskas had two goals and two assists. Zoe Howe also had two goals while Hailey Peredna and Caroline Daziel also had a goal apiece.

Coutu started the scoring 4:20 into the game and Howe answered four minutes later to start a back-and-forth battle. The teams traded goals for the first 17 minutes, with a goal by Lisauskas getting Pinkerton to within 5-4 with 8:08 left in the half.

But the Cardinals answered with a 3-0 run over the next 2:17, getting goals from Santom, Bouvier and Coutu to go up 8-4. Auger got one back with 1:45 left in the half, but Hult scored twice in the final 90 seconds, including one with six seconds to go, to give Bishop Guertin a 10-5 lead at halftime.

"I got a little more confident and saw that they were overcommitting, so I could easily beat them around the top," Hult said of her offensive output. "I could just take a shot because I was wide open."

Donovan and Hult pushed the lead to seven goals in the first four minutes of the second half, but the Astros controlled the ensuing draw and Peredna scored 19 seconds later to make it 12-6. Pinkerton won the draw again and made it two goals in 27 seconds to get within five.

Bishop Guertin was able to run some time off the clock after that, but Davis scored with 16:28 left to make it 12-8, and after Santom drew a yellow card - the Cardinals' third of the game - Auger found the back of the net to make it 12-9. Reekie was able to come up with a stop after Pinkerton controlled another draw, but a turnover by Bishop Guertin led to Daziel's goal, and then Davis scored 41 seconds later to cut the Cardinals' lead to 12-11.

"I think we sat back a little, but then we realized they’re coming back quicker than we thought," Hult said. "We had to bring it together and we got the energy up and we had to keep pushing."

Keeping Pinkerton from tying the game was a big part of Bishop Guertin's ability to hang on and add to the lead.

"I think we knew that was going to come," Gobiel said. "The fact of the matter that they never got even or ahead, it really allowed us to stay mentally on the grind.

"That’s just a mindset. It’s a will to win and desire, and that’s something we talk about a lot."

Bishop Guertin returns to action Thursday at Londonderry while Pinkerton travels to face Portsmouth on Saturday.