Pinkerton girls lacrosse holds off Bishop Guertin to win D1 championship (video)

PORTSMOUTH - Rob Daziel saw his game plan work to perfection when his Pinkerton Academy girls lacrosse team played Bishop Guertin during the regular season.

Why not try it again in Tuesday's Division I championship game?

The No. 4 Astros won draws, dictated a slower pace and played well defensively to keep the No. 2 Cardinals in check and take a 9-5 win in the title game at Portsmouth High School. It's the third title for Pinkerton in four years and the Astros did it by holding Bishop Guertin well below its season average in goals per game.

The Cardinals scored 16 goals a game against everyone else on their schedule, but had just eight total in two games against Pinkerton.

"My goal was to get up far enough to take them out of their game plan, and they had to pull out," Daziel said. "It's what we did in the first game. They're fast, but out there, there's so much (space), we can take anybody on out there."

With Pinkerton (17-3) keeping possession for long stretches, the Astros scored just enough, getting four goals from Avery Drouin while Alison Davis had two goals and two assists, tying the school record for goals in a single season with 77.

Nola Wesche added a goal and two assists and Madison Peredna had a goal and a helper while Kyra Goucher made eight saves, including a handful in the second half on free positions by Bishop Guertin (17-3).

"Kyra came up big," Daziel said. "Her last game and she's been a great goalie for the last two years. (Megan Jarvis) has been our draw-control girl all season and it starts with her, and then the rest of the cast to carry."

The Astros also dominated the draw, winning 13 of 16, including nine of 10 in the first half, when they built a 6-3 lead.

"We played well, but it wasn't our best game," Bishop Guertin coach Kerry D'Ambroise said. "The draw, again, it's crucial and we didn't win most of them. And a lot of our shots ... we had all these free positions and shots and we didn't capitalize."

Bryn Carroll led Bishop Guertin with two goals and two assists and Kate Bradford also had two goals. Erica Chareth also scored and Elise Albertini made nine saves.

Pinkerton showed it's game plan off the first draw, as it won the opening faceoff and held the ball for nearly five minutes before getting goal from Drouin. The Cardinals won the ensuing draw – their only win of the first half – and scored just 1:33 later to tie the game, but the Astros were able to go up 3-1, running more than four minutes off the clock in the process.

"That's what happened in the regular season against them," D'Ambroise said. "They were able to stall the ball. They have great stick handlers and their goalie was on-point."

Bishop Guertin's defense was able to get a couple of stops and the offense went to work, getting two goals from Carroll to tie the game at 3 with 8:21 left in the half.

But Pinkerton shut the Cardinals off after that and ended the half with a 3-0, including a goal with 31 seconds left in the half and another at the final buzzer to lead 6-3 at the break.

"They called a timeout and we talked about what we were going to do and we executed both plays perfectly," Daziel said. "That gives us a lot of confidence, when you call something and it works, they just believe."

Davis scored 1:02 into the second half to put Pinkerton up 7-3 and the Astros were able to dictate the pace on offense and made stops when they needed them defensively, getting three saves from Goucher on free positions.

With 9:56 to play, Wesche received a yellow card, putting Pinkerton down a man, and a minute later, each team received a card, giving Bishop Guertin a little bit more room to work with on offense.

But the Cardinals could only get one goal on the advantage, and after a surge by Bishop Guertin, Pinkerton was able to run out the final five minutes of the game.

"It was all about business," Daziel said. "They were tired and they were working hard. We worked hard and prepared for it. Somehow it worked out."