Fast start lifts Bishop Guertin boys lacrosse past Christian Brothers Academy

NASHUA – When the Bishop Guertin High School boys lacrosse team got off to a fast start Thursday in a win over Nashua South, coach Chris Cameron thought his team might be on a hot streak.

The Cardinals proved their coach right on Saturday.

Bishop Guertin scored three goals in the game’s first three minutes on the way to a 9-0 lead and cruised past Christian Brothers Academy (Albany, N.Y.) 15-7 at Stellos Stadium.

Dom St. Laurent led the way for the Cardinals (8-2), scoring seven goals, four of which came in the first quarter, when Bishop Guertin built a 7-0 lead. It was a nine-goal lead with 4:06 left in the first half, when the Brothers (7-4) finally got on the board.

“I sensed that we’re kind of peaking right now and I knew that we were playing really well,” Cameron said. “We came out (Saturday) with that same kind of intensity. We were just rolling. That’s a good team. They’ve played some of the top teams in the country very tough.

“Once again, we came out and shot very well. We got good shots and we shot well, which was huge for us.”

Connor Donahue added two goals and an assist for the Cardinals, who got five saves from Peter Callahan, including three big ones early in the game.

“At 4-0, I said we could put this game away if we get the next three (goals) and they gave me the next three,” Cameron said. “We kept answering. We had been going quarters with our goalies, but (Callahan) was so hot. We missed a few slides, it could have been 4-2, but he bailed us out. Instead, it’s 7-0. (The first quarter) couldn’t have gone any better,”

And it couldn’t have gone any worse for CBA.

“We never got off the bus,” CBA coach Tim Vivian said. “We have a difficulty playing against teams with the amount of stick skills that Guertin has. When we get down a couple of goals, all the air goes out of our balloon and we can’t sustain anything.

“When we got the ball, which wasn’t often enough, we were able to run our offense and did get some shots. We didn’t shoot very well, but we did get shots. (Callahan) did make some nice saves, but we had three shots on goal in the first quarter and all three were stick side.”

A goal by John Bassette got the Brothers on the board with 4:06 left in the second quarter, but Bishop Guertin continued to pour it on and led 12-2 at halftime. The Cardinals made it 13-2 just 40 seconds into the third, and with a divisional game against Pinkerton on Monday, Cameron was able to rest some players.

“We have a league game on Monday,” he said. “You play Thursday, you play Saturday and you play Monday, I was a little worried about that. I got to play a lot of guys because of that first quarter.”

The Cardinals will travel to Derry for a 5 p.m. start against Pinkerton on Monday.