Miscues haunt Bishop Guertin boys lacrosse in loss to Xaverian Brothers

WESTWOOD, MASS. - It was a battle between two of New England’s best high school boys lacrosse teams, and the Bay State came out on top.

Xaverian Brothers led wire to wire as the Bishop Guertin offense couldn’t find a way to distribute, and the Hawks pulled out a 9-4 victory.

“We held our own at the faceoff, but we hurt ourselves with turnovers that led to goals the other way,” Bishop Guertin coach Chris Cameron said. “We didn’t turn it over much, but when we did, they were in key spots and they made us pay in transition.”

The turnovers hurt early as the Hawks scored two goals in transition in the final minutes of the first quarter to open a 2-0 lead after 12 minutes. The Xaverian attack was led by Sam Jean and Andrew Perry.

Perry had three goals and an assist while  Jean had a hat trick himself, as the pair combined for all four Xaverian goals in the second quarter that extended the lead to 6-2 at halftime.

“They’re balanced,” Cameron said. “Defensively we were fine. We had them to four six-on-six goals. Five were in transition.”

Statistically it was almost an identical game. Both teams registered 31 shots while Xaverian won faceoffs 10-8 and ground balls 15-14. It was Xaverian’s ability to convert on manup and distribute the ball that made the difference.

The Hawks also scored goals in the final minute of the first three quarters that helped take the wind out of Bishop Guertin’s sails.

Sean Cameron had three goals for the Cardinals, but there was little positive from the Bishop Guertin attack over the course of the game. The Cardinals were held scoreless in the first and fourth quarters.

“We can’t rely on one player,” Chris Cameron said. “We had one player score three goals. We have to have balance.”

Both goalies were spectacular, as Xaverian’s Teagen Alexander and Bishop Guertin’s James Hetmiller each had a dozen saves. Alexander stopped all five shots on frame in the fourth quarter to squelch any attempt for a Bishop Guertin comeback.

“James was great,” Chris Cameron said. “They’re goalie was great. Our goalie was great. To hold them to nine goals with the amount of possession they had was great.”

The loss was Bishop Guertin’s second to a team from Massachusetts. The Cardinals lost to Needham 12-11 a little under a month ago. The Cardinals host Hanover Friday and play another out-of-state opponent, Reading, on Thursday.

“Last year we were up 14-2 on these guys at the half,” Chris Cameron said. “We buried teams last year, and they remember that. We’re going to learn from these mistakes and it’ll make us better.”