Patience pays off for Bedford boys lacrosse in win over Goffstown

BEDFORD - There's no question that the Bedford High School boys lacrosse team can score goals.

The Bulldogs showed again on Wednesday that they can grind out a win when needed to as well.

Bedford was methodical on offense and stingy on defense to defeat Goffstown 11-4 in the Division II regular-season finale for both teams. It was the 58th win in a row for the Bulldogs, as they finish the season 18-0 and will be the top seed when the tournament starts on June 5.

The Bulldogs got four goals from Tyler Sullivan while Dan Colella added three goals and three assists and Patrick Simpson and Dakota Clark each scored twice. Sam Stanton added two assists for Bedford and Colby Gendron had one while Matt Howe stopped 12 shots.

"We ground out a really good win," Bedford coach Matt Guerard said. "Goffstown came out with a lot intensity, which we matched, which was good for us.

"The key for us was that we spread out our scoring. We weren't scoring in bunches, we didn't get five in a row, and I think we did a good job spacing out our goals, which allowed us to control most of the ball possession."

Guerard was also happy with the way Bedford played on defense, specifically the job junior defenseman Tommy O'Rourke did on Goffstown's Jack Carney, who had two goals, both in the first quarter.

"They have a lot of grinding guys and when you play a team like that, they're going to hang in there," Guerard said. "They did. Tommy O'Rourke played phenomenal defensively on Jack Carney. O'Rourke is a first-class defenseman and to shut him down was phenomenal."

For Goffstown (11-3), it was another step toward what the Grizzlies hope will be a competitive game in the division championship game.

"I told the kids (Tuesday), win or lose, we're still the third seed," Goffstown coach Josh Lewis said. "Go have fun and it doesn't matter. If beat them, awesome. If we lose, it's no big deal, we'll see them in the championship. We get so caught up with the hype of the team and who they are, it almost sets in a little psychological warfare against us a little bit. We showed up and said we don’t care who we're playing, we're going to have a good time, and we did."

Carney put the Grizzlies up 1-0 just 1:22 into the game, but the Bulldogs answered back and the teams were tied 2-2 going into the second quarter. That's where it stood for much of the quarter, until Bedford got back-to-back goals less than a minute a part to make it 4-2.

Goffstown answered with one, but the Bulldogs tacked on two more in the final minute of the half and led 6-3 at the break.

"We've had opportunities where we've been run-and-gun, and we've had others where we're slowing it down and running the offense," Guerard said. "We were in right places, and for the most part, shooting really well."

Lewis felt the half went well for Goffstown, but the Bulldogs' depth proved to be too much down the stretch.

"First half was excellent, we ran with them the whole time," he said. "They're a solid team, they have a lot of depth that they're able to throw out on the field and we just don't have those numbers. I think overall we played phenomenal. This was probably the best game we've played against them."

With the teams on opposite sides of the Division II brackets, there's a chance they could meet again in the championship game on June 10. Before that, they'll wait to play in the quarterfinals on June 5.

Bedford will host Dover, while Goffstown will likely draw Merrimack.