Defensive effort by Hodgdon-Rogers helped spur Bedford girls lacrosse to win over Exeter

BEDFORD - Carly Hodgdon-Rogers is used to drawing the assignment of guarding the best offensive player from whichever opponent the Bedford High School girls lacrosse team happens to be playing.

So when the senior lined up across from Exeter's Riley Benevides during Wednesday afternoon's Division I matchup, it was no surprise.

The outcome? Well, maybe that was just a bit of one.

Benevides, a sophomore who had scored 34 goals in seven games going into the contest, helped the Blue Hawks take a 3-0 lead with a goal in the first quarter. It would be her only one of the day, as Hodgdon-Rogers helped the Bulldogs keep Benevides scoreless the rest of the way, and limit the Blue Hawks to just three goals in the final three quarters of an 11-6 win.

To Hodgdon-Rogers, it felt like just another day at the office.

“It’s pretty typical, I’ll take the strong (offensive) kid and I’ll take her out of the game a little bit,” she said. “I like taking care of a big threat on the field and being able to eliminate that threat for the team.”

As the game wore on, Hodgdon-Rogers followed Benevides everywhere she went on the field, including off to stand near the sideline during some of Exeter's possessions. Other times, when the Blue Hawks were moving the ball around on offense, they'd skip past where that one-on-one matchup was taking place.

“I think that she welcomes that challenge and she knows that is her role,” Bedford coach Christine Hodgdon said. “On the offensive end, she’ll do what she needs to do to get her teammates free or occasionally score, if she has those opportunities.

“But she is one of our strongest middies, whether it’s transitioning, the 50-50 balls on the draw, or if it’s matching up, she’s worked really hard to understand those different parts of the game.”

Hodgdon-Rogers got one of those offensive opportunities against Exeter, adding a goal of her own in the fourth quarter. But at the end of the day, she knows it's her defense that the Bulldogs (4-2, No. 9 in the New Hampshire Orthopaedic Center/NHHSSports Coaches Poll) need the most.

“We take our matchups pretty seriously,” Hodgdon-Rogers said of her and her teammates on defense. “My job going into it was to take her out of the equation a little bit.”

While the defense was able to tighten up after the first quarter, Bedford needed to get going on the offensive end, and that's where sophomore Mary Lenti and senior Eloise Montagano stepped in.

Lenti helped the Bulldogs win 16 of 21 draws throughout the game, including a stretch of six in a row in the second quarter. Those controls helped Bedford go on a 5-0 run to turn that three-goal deficit into a lead, with Montagano scored the first four goals, with Lenti adding the fifth.

Exeter started to faceguard Montagano after that, and she scored just one goal the rest of the way, but others stepped up on offense. Paige Gibson had three goals and three assists and Lenti added another goal, along with the score from Hodgdon-Rogers.

“You just have to rely and trust that your other teammates are going to step up,” Hodgdon said. “We were able to capitalize with some other threats when Eloise was faceguarded. We’re getting a lot out of Paige Gibson, we’re getting a lot out of Mary (Lenti), coming up with the draws. Everybody kind of stepped into their role and I think that’s what really paid off.”