Pinkerton boys lacrosse able to rise to the occasion against stingy Bedford

The setting Monday night at Bedford High School had the feel of the postseason.

Tie game going into the fourth quarter, on a turf field and under the lights, it didn't matter if the Pinkerton Academy boys lacrosse team was supposed to beat the Bulldogs, Astros coach Brian O'Reilly let his team know that all that matter was that they did.

"At the start of the fourth quarter, it was 7-7, I told them that it doesn't matter what was said up to that point in the game, it doesn't matter if (Bedford) should be playing with you or not, they are," O'Reilly said. "It's like a playoff game, you've got to imagine it's like a playoff game and the season is over if you lose. Let's see how you respond."

Pinkerton (13-0) responded by winning the faceoff to start the fourth quarter.

After winning the ball back to Tom Sweeney, Nate Lalibertie got it right back in the offensive zone and scored just 12 seconds into the quarter. Before the Pinkerton sideline could stop celebrating, Lalibertie won the next faceoff, and 30 seconds later, Owen McCormack scored to make it a two-goal lead.

While Bedford would get a goal from Kyle Fink to make it a 9-8 game with 9:47 to play, the Astros where able to hang on to the ball, take enough shots to maintain possession and stepped up enough on defense to hold on for the win.

"We put two quick goals by and then we played some ball control, which is what you'd do to win the game," O'Reilly said. "There were some good things, but all in all, not one of our better performances. Credit to that goes to Bedford and they never let up."

That was the case right down to the final seconds, as Bedford (8-5) had a chance to tie the game after getting the ball back with 2:07 left on the clock. The Bulldogs took a timeout with 1:42 left and coach Matt Guerard set up the final possession for Bedford.

"We made the best of our possession at the end of the game," Guerard said. "We didn't want to cough the ball up, we didn't want to give it back to them at any point. We made the best of it and we put the ball in the hands of our best players."

Fink's final shot was headed for the top left corner of the goal and Pinkerton goalie Alex Sturgess was able to step up and make the save. The Astros were able to run out the clock after that.

The eight goals scored by Bedford was the second-most Pinkerton has allowed this season, and the highest total by an in-state opponent. While the Bulldogs played well, part of that was mistakes on the Astros' part, some of which could be attributed to youth.

"A little bit, especially picking up groundballs, I didn't think we did a good job on that," O'Reilly said about a little inexperience catching up to Pinkerton. "And I think our riding game just fell apart. Guys forgot how to ride. There was no system in our rides, which there needs to be. All the credit goes to Bedford for bringing the game to us."

Defense has been key to the Bulldogs' season, as they've allowed just 5.9 goals per game against in-state opponents, and they also held St. John's Prep (Danvers, Mass.) to just four goals in an overtime win on May 13, half the Eagles' season average.

"We tried to take away the pass to the crease and it bit us several times," Guerard said. "We didn't do that very well, but that was a focus of ours. I thought the defense held strong as the game went on, but we made too many mental errors inside."

Both teams face tough matchups on Thursday, as Bedford will host Bishop Guertin and Pinkerton travels to take on Andover, Mass.