Bishop Guertin girls lacrosse headed to D1 final after beating Pinkerton on buzzer beater

PORTSMOUTH - Bryn Carroll scored just before the final buzzer Saturday to send the Bishop Guertin High School girls lacrosse team to the Division I championship game.

Carroll's goal gave the No. 3 Cardinals a 9-8 victory over No. 2 Pinkerton Academy in the division semifinals, their only lead of the game.

The goal was the third of the game for Carroll, and Kristin Cameron also had three goals for Bishop Guertin (16-3), as the Cardinals moved on to the D1 final in their first year in the division. Erica Chareth, Kyra Lowenberg and Olivia Koutsos also had a goal each.

Lauren Trepaney made just four saves, but three of the game in the second half with Bishop Guertin trailing and trying to regain possession.

"They were essential," Carroll said of the saves. "Lauren is our rock. She is always there and always on top of things. She marks open players and she sees everything for us."

Maggie McCarthy, Avery Drouin and Alison Davis each had two goals for Pinkerton (17-3), which had won the last two division championships.

The Astros had three two-goal leads in the first half and led 6-5 at halftime. A goal by Drouin early in the second half put Pinkerton back up two, but the Astros would scored just once in the game’s final 22 minutes and went scoreless over the final 8:41.

After Pinkerton was assessed a yellow card with 19 seconds left, the Cardinals worked the ball around to the back of net. With time winding down, Carroll came around to the front of the net and blasted a shot past Astros goalie Kyra Goucher just before the buzzer sounded.

"I knew we were short on time, but I had no idea how much was left. I thought it was five seconds, but it was apparently it was right at the buzzer," Carroll said. "I felt like I got the shot off before. I was nervous because Kyra, she's a friend and she's an amazing goalie, and if I had missed that shot, I don't know what I would have done."

The Cardinals will play in the championship game Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Portsmouth High School against Exeter.