Pinkerton hangs on in final seconds to beat Bedford in D1 boys lacrosse final (video)

NASHUA – After more than 47 minutes of lacrosse Saturday, the Division I boys final between Pinkerton Academy and Bedford High School came down to one shot.

With Owen Perkins in goal for the Astros, coach Marty Auger felt pretty good about his team’s chances.

When Bedford’s Bryce D’Urso scooped up a groundball off the Stellos Stadium turf and moved in on Perkins with the clock racing toward zero, Auger’s faith in his goalie was rewarded.

Perkins made the save just before time expired to give No. 2 Pinkerton a 17-16 win over No. 1 Bedford and the program’s first championship since 2019.

“Thank God we have an unbelievable goalie,” Auger said. “We almost rely on it. We almost assume it’s going to happen.”

On a day when those stops were a lot harder to come by, Perkins (nine saves) kept it together to make the save in the biggest moment.

“I’m just like ‘someone pick it up and chuck it,’” Perkins said of seeing the ball on the turf. “Someone pick it up and get it out, and then I saw someone on Bedford pick it up. You just try to keep your composure and do what you can. If I don’t make that save, it’s an overtime game and possibly a different outcome.”

Every outcome seemed possible throughout the fourth quarter. Pinkerton (18-3) never trailed through the first three quarters, getting out to an early 4-0 lead in the first quarter before Bedford (17-4) got going. The Bulldogs tied it three times in the second, but the Astros were back in front for all of the third.

The Astros took a 13-11 lead into the final 12 minutes, but three goals in 30 seconds, with the final one from Bennett Matthews (six goals, two assists), gave the Bulldogs their first lead, 14-13, with 7:07 remaining.

Matt Gormady (four goals, two assists) tied the game less than two minutes later, and after a faceoff win, it looked like Pinkerton might go back in front. Instead, Bedford goalie Ethan Conn (10 saves) made a save, and eventually, freshman defender Noah Lawless forced a turnover that led to a goal by Brody Helton (one goal, two assists) and a 15-14 Bulldogs lead with 2:38 remaining.

It took the Astros all of eight seconds to tie it up, as Dylan Stingel won the faceoff and found Gormady for another goal.

The Bulldogs need a little more time to respond after Dylan Riccio got the next faceoff, and 40 seconds after Gormady tied it, Matthews found John Purnell (two goals) for a score that made it 16-15 with 1:50 remaining.

Stingel won the faceoff and Pinkerton’s Levi Weaver (two goals, two assists) got a shot on goal, but Conn fought it off and the ball rolled toward the back corner. Bedford’s Will Frongillo got to it first, but with his momentum taking him out of bounds, he threw the ball back across the field, too high for anyone to get, to give the Astros possession.

The turnover proved costly, as Jackson Farrell (four goals) scored with 46.6 seconds remaining to tie the game at 16.

On the faceoff, Stingel got the ball free and Tyler Pinardi (five goals, one assist) picked it up, and after carrying the ball behind the goal, found Farrell, who scored again with 20.5 seconds to go to give Pinkerton a 17-16 lead.

“On both of those, I saw a (short-stick midfielder) on me,” Farrell said. “I’ve been poled most of the year, so I knew that I could beat him. I knew my team believed in me. It was just a great feeling. I just loved every moment of this game.”

Riccio controlled the ensuing faceoff long enough for Bedford coach Steve Gaudreau to call a timeout with 13.7 seconds left. A shot by Helton missed the net with 7.3 seconds left, but the Bulldogs had the backup there to retain possession.

Matthews tried to run the ball up from the end line on the restart, but as he turned the corner, it came free and D’Urso scooped it up, setting up the final save by Perkins.

“I would be lying if I told you I didn’t get a little nervous,” Auger said. “But it’s a game of runs and we had guys that did what they were supposed to at the end.”

The title is the 13^th for Pinkerton and the first since long-time coach Brian O’Reilly, who is still the school’s athletic director and football coach, retired following the 2019 season.

The game tied the record for highest-scoring championship game in NHIAA history, matching the first D2 final in 1998, which was also had a final score of 17-16, as Oyster River beat Bishop Brady.