Bishop Guertin takes care of business against Exeter to win D1 boys lacrosse title (video)

EXETER - There was one thing that Chris Cameron thought might trip up the Bishop Guertin High School boys lacrosse team in Sunday's Division I championship game.

Could the Cardinals keep their composure when things went sideways? A month ago, it might have been a different answer, but on this night, against Exeter, the answer was yes.

No. 2 Bishop Guertin got balanced scoring, dominated faceoffs and possession, and withstood a rough stretch in the third quarter with the game in the balance, to knock off No. 1 Exeter 11-6 in the title game at Bill Ball Stadium. It's the second championship in a row for Bishop Guertin and the 11th for the program overall.

Seven players scored for the Cardinals (19-2, No. 1 in the NHHSSports Coaches Poll) with Connor Guibord leading the way with three goals. JJ Murphy dominated the faceoff circle, winning 17 of 19 draws, including all 11 after the first quarter, and Zach Connerty had just six saves, but three came in succession in the third quarter to keep Bishop Guertin comfortably in front.

All that, combined with Nick Dahl and the defense shutting down Exeter's Aiden Drunsic and the offense's ability to keep possession late in the game, led to another championship.

"It feels awesome coming out here and winning," Murphy said. "All the boys have been working hard all season, and especially the past two years. Last year was awesome, but it definitely motivated us even more for this year. I’m super glad we came out with a win."

Brady Dumont added two goals and an assist and Connor Bouvier scored two goals while Quinn Cepiel and Tim Kiely had a goal and an assist each and Aiden Laurendeau and Xander Dunsmoor each added a goal.

Bishop Guertin took a 7-5 lead into halftime, but held Exeter (19-2, No. 2) scoreless for more 16 minutes to start the second half. A big part of that was the job the defense did on Drunsic, but also the key saves from Connerty, when Bishop the Cardinals struggled to clear the ball and the Blue Hawks had opportunities to close the gap.

"We had four failed clears, and usually when that happens, they jam it down your throat and score," Cameron said. "Zach bailed us out. He made three in a row and he had to go get those.

"The first half he wasn’t great, so we needed him to get going. With goalies you can’t say ‘come on.’ You’ve got to hope it happens. When they get that first one, it’s all of a sudden incredible how the next one and the next one comes."

Matt Denman led Exeter with three goals, his last one with 7:42 left in the game that got the Blue Hawks within five, but they were unable to keep possession for more than a few seconds until too late.

"He was huge, he was everywhere," Exeter coach Matt Brewster said of Denman. "He was making plays in the middle of the field, on offense and defense. He’d cause a turnover and go down and score. Those are plays where they’re stepping up to own the matchup."

Gavin Lechner added two goals and an assist and Brennan Bucklin had a goal and an assist. Drunsic and Marshall Lasewicz each finished with an assist and Ethan Bernich made 13 saves.

The Blue Hawks started this game like last year's title game, winning the opening faceoff, but Exeter's first couple of shots were off the mark and Bishop Guertin was able to get the ball back. Bouvier scored 2:06 into the game to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead, but neither team did much until Denman scored with 6:08 remaining in the quarter to tie the game.

It didn't take long for Bishop Guertin to respond, as Murphy won the faceoff and Kiely found Cepiel for goal less than a minute later. That started a 3-0 run for the Cardinals and they took a 5-2 lead into the second.

"We came out and played very, very well in that first quarter," Cameron said. "We could never get clear separation. For the amount of time that we had the ball, I just felt like we were letting them hang around."

It looked like Bishop Guertin was going to take a 7-4 lead into halftime, but the Cardinals took a shot late in the half and Exeter got possession back. Bouvier was called for a hold and Lechner took advantage, scoring on the manup opportunity with 3.7 seconds remaining until halftime.

"Right before the half, it’s tough giving up the goal," Murphy said. "We got in the locker room and it was silent for a little bit. When coach came in, we got fired up. We knew what we were capable of and we came out swinging."

Kiely scored off an assist from Cepiel to make it a three-goal game 2:57 into the half and Bishop Guertin looking like it might get more. A shot by the Cardinals hit the post and Bernich made three straight saves to keep it an 8-5 game.

But at the other end, Connerty was able to match, coming up with key stops after a couple of turnovers.

"Once you see a goalie making saves and they’re just pushing it up the field, it’s a complete momentum shift," Dahl said. "It could go from a one-goal game to a three-goal game when he makes a save like that. We’ve relied on Connerty a lot this year and he did a great job. When we needed him, he got it done."

Dumont scored with 1:51 left in the third and Guibord had another 1:06 into the fourth to put the Cardinals up 10-5. But after Denman's goal made it a four-score game again, Bishop Guertin was able to close it out.

After getting possession, Cameron used a timeout with 5:58 left and the Cardinals were able to run off the next 3:31 before Exeter was able to use a timeout.

"We were in control," Cameron said. "If it was a two-goal game, I wouldn’t have done it, because you know you’re going to cough it up eventually and then you’re gambling. When you have five and you’re winning faceoffs, you can be a lot more … it felt like they had one possession (the rest of the way). They were gassed."

The Blue Hawks pulled Bernich out of the crease to get extra pressure on the Cardinals, but Dunsmoor was able to score into the empty net to give his team a five-goal lead again with 2:20 to play.

"I think we gave up two mandown goals. We gave up one goal in the second half on a weird jailbreak goal. That was a dominant defensive performance, and a lot of that has to do with possession."