Man Down: Bishop Guertin girls lacrosse hungry for more

The Bishop Guertin High School girls lacrosse team had put the finishing touches on a win over Hanover last week in what turned out to be quite a back-and-forth affair.

Although the Cardinals pulled away late for a win to remain undefeated in Division I, it was not what coach Kerry D'Ambroise had expected and she let her players know, keeping them in the locker room at Stellos Stadium for a lot longer than one might assume.

"We're going to start playing Bedford, Pinkerton and Souhegan," D'Ambroise said. "All those big games are coming, so we really need to make sure we can hang tight in those type of games. That was something we learned last year."

The Cardinals experienced a lot a season ago, when they entered the playoffs as the No. 3 seed on the way to winning the program's second championship, and first in D1.

While Bishop Guertin graduated seven seniors from that team - including goalie Lauren Trepaney and attack Kristin Cameron - the Cardinals had a large nucleus of players coming back. That's a big reason for why they've gotten of to a 10-0 start, outscoring the opposition by an averaged of 11.5 goals per game.

The tests D'Ambroise mentioned won't come until the season is almost over. The Cardinals play at Pinkerton (7-2) on May 11 but then don't face the other two teams - at Bedford (May 19) and Souhegan (May 26) - until the final games of the regular season.

"They've done really well," D'Ambroise said of how the team has handled being the defending champions. "I think all of (the seniors) played last year, and knew what it took, and knew what those leaders did and were just able to readjust. They know what's expected. Last year was my first year, so this is what's expected. They know what to do, which is nice."

The team has gotten some key contributions from younger players, like juniors Olivia Joutsos, Erika Dahl and Kate Bradford and sophomore Katie Lupo.

"The culture is still what we built last year," D'Ambroise said. "The newer kids jumped right in, they made their presence known. People trust them and everyone is really clicking. The freshmen on the field are doing their job and doing it well. I think that's helping with the chemistry and dynamic."

The Cardinals will find out how helpful starting next week.

Sticking around

Speaking of Pinkerton girls lacrosse, the Astros have done a nice job of bouncing back after a rough start to the season saw them go 2-2 in their first four games.

The Astros slow start could be attributed to a lot of newcomers to the lineup, as they replaced 10 seniors from a year ago, including Maggie McCarthy, the program's all-time leading scorer. But starting with an 11-10 win over Londonderry on April 23, Pinkerton has won five in a row, with the last four coming by an average of 13.5 goals.

Pinkerton has a handful of tough games remaining on the schedule, including road trips to D2 teams Winnacunnet and Hanover.

Streak snapped

The Derryfield girls lacrosse team fell to Kearsarge on Tuesday, 10-8, which snapped the Cougars' 38-game regular-season winning streak that dated back to the late in the 2013 season.

The Cougars had gone undefeated in each of the last two seasons, with the lone loss coming against Laconia in last year's D3 championship game. The only other loss during that run came in the playoffs in 2013.

Derryfield has beaten Kearsarge, 16-11, back on April 13. Both teams are now 5-1 and in a three-way tie with Pelham for second in the division.