D'Urso's fun day helped Bedford boys lacrosse get big win over Pinkerton (video)

DERRY - Bryce D'Urso laid on his back on the Memorial Field turf, looked up at the sky, and yelled.

The Bedford High School junior had just scored the fourth of his game-high five goals, getting taken down as he followed through on his shot.

It was the final goal the Bulldogs lacrosse team would score in the third quarter, as they outscored Pinkerton 5-1 in the frame to break open a tie game, and the emotions were bubbling up for Bedford.

D'Urso only had a moment to himself before his teammates gathered around him to celebrate after the goal, something all six offensive players did throughout what turned into a 14-11 win Thursday over the Astros.

“It’s just so fun,” D’Urso said. “Obviously in a game like that, the emotions are going to be high. After scoring a goal, sometimes you’ve got to let it out, especially when you’re falling down on the ground. I try to keep it fun. It’s a fun game at the end of the day, especially when you’re playing with a team like this.”

Bedford (13-3, No. 3 in the New Hampshire Orthopaedic Center/NHHSSports Coaches Poll) was already turning in a great season, but the Bulldogs got a boost on May 13, with the return of Brody Helton.

Since the senior, who is going to play lacrosse at Rutgers University next year, returned from a knee injury suffered during football season, Bedford's offense has gone to another level. Through the team's first dozen games, it averaged 14.2 goals per game.

In the four games since Helton's return, that number jumped to 17.

“Having Brody back, you can’ even describe how good it is for our offense,” D’Urso said. “It opens everything like 10 times more, for me, for Bennett (Matthews), for everyone on the team.

“There’s the saying, too many cooks in the kitchen, but I don’t think that applies to this team. I think we work great. We have great chemistry out there, great communication, and no one is upset about not getting shots. We’re all just trying to win out there.”

After a first half that was back and forth, the teams went into halftime tied 7-7, but Bedford opened the second half with more possession and nothing to show for it right away.

Midway through the quarter, the Bulldogs capitalized on a Pinkerton turnover, with Helton ending up with the ball near the top of the box. He barreled his way through the Astros defense and managed to get a shot off one-handed that found its way past Pinkerton goalie Owen Perkins to make it 8-7 Bedford with 6:54 left in the third.

D'Urso scored 49 seconds later to give the Bulldogs a two-goal lead, and the two of them combined for three more goals in the final 2:33 of the quarter - broken up only by a goal by Pinkerton's Matt Gormady - and Bedford took a 12-8 lead into the fourth.

“Everybody made plays in a high-level game against a really, really good team,” Bedford coach Steve Gaudreau said. “You need guys stepping up and making plays all over the field. I can point to so many different plays, little play, especially down the stretch that save possessions in a game like this, when a team like Pinkerton can score four goals before you blink.”

The Astros (14-3, No. 1) nearly did that after D'Urso scored with 6:59 to play to put Bedford up 13-8. Pinkerton scored just 10 seconds later, getting another goal from Gormady, and then added another only 11 seconds later, this time from Cade Johnston, to get back within three.

Jackson Farrell made it a two-goal game when he scored with 2:18 remaining, but Pinkerton couldn't get any closer and Matthews put the game away with 15.2 seconds remaining.

Bedford has two games remaining, both home games against Exeter on Tuesday and Keene-Monadnock on Wednesday. Win both, and the Bulldogs will be the top seed heading into the Division I playoffs.

“We truly have tried to focus on that one game in front us,” Gaudreau said. “We had the right mentality (all season) and we knew we were going to get better. We’re looking at Tuesday now and we know that it’s a really, really good Exeter team. It’s always a dog fight, but we’re excited.”