Pinkerton holds off Exeter's 2nd-half run to get back to D1 boys lacrosse final (video)

EXETER - The way Marty Auger sees it, there's nothing wrong with a little fear.

Certainly not when its handled the way the Pinkerton Academy boys lacrosse team did in Wednesday's Division I semifinal against Exeter High School.

The Astros had led 6-0 at halftime and 7-2 going into the fourth quarter, but with just 6:24 remaining on the clock, the Pinkerton lead had dwindled down to two goals.

But two goals in a minute, and two more goals in the final minute, helped the No. 1 Astros ended the game on a 5-0 run, as they beat the No. 4 Blue Hawks 13-6 at Bill Ball Stadium to return to the D1 title game for the second time in three seasons.

Pinkerton will face No. 2 Bishop Guertin, which beat No. 3 Bedford in the other semifinal, at 7 p.m. Saturday at Bill Ball Stadium. It will be the 13th all-time meeting between the two teams in the title game.

Matt Gormady had four goals and Kyle Ushkevich had three goals and two assists while Levi Weaver and Jeff Gormady each had two goals and two assists to lead the offense for Pinkerton (16-4). Tyler Pinardi and Jackson Farrell added a goal apiece.

After the Astros led 1-0 at the end of the first quarter, they opened things up by putting up five goals on Exeter (13-7) in the second. But like they did in the quarterfinals Monday against Merrimack, the Blue Hawks came storming back in the second half.

"They put a little fear in us, but that’s good," Auger said. "We got battle tested and the guys showed they can stick with it. We watched the game two nights ago when they made that run (against Merrimack). At halftime, I said they were losing 7-2 in the third and they came back and won. They’re very capable and they showed it again."

The Blue Hawks got a gutsy performance from senior Jackson Greene, as he scored three goals despite playing with a separated shoulder. Tyler Bland, Griffin Gerard and Patrick Hathaway also had a goal apiece for Exeter.

"I couldn’t be more proud of our guys," Exeter Matt Brewster said. "For how we responded to adversity this year and the guys who stepped up to do different things for us is incredible.

"I tried to continue to push my guys to not to play the score and to play without emotion and just play the game. I think that’s how we were able to turn comebacks."

Exeter started the second half with a goal from Bland just 11 seconds in and Gerard added another in transition off an assist from Alex Scott to make it 6-2 just 2:57 into the half. Pinkerton one goal back, but the Blue Hawks held them scoreless for the rest of the quarter while cutting the lead to 7-5 going into the fourth.

Ushkevich scored in transition, off a feed from Ronan Connors, to give the Astros an 8-5 lead with 9:55 left to play, but Greene answered to make it a two-goal game again with 6:24 remaining.

Dylan Stingel won the ensuing faceoff for Pinkerton and Scott was called for a push with possession, giving the Astros a 30-second manup opportunity. Jeff Gormady cashed in, scoring with four seconds left on the manup to make it 9-6.

After another faceoff win, Matt Gormady made it 10-6 just 57 seconds later, and Pinkerton was able to do enough on both ends of the field after that to come away with the win.

Now the Astros will have a shot at getting their first win against Bishop Guertin since the 2019 championship game, which was also the program's last title. The Cardinals haven't lost to an in-state opponent since that game, a streak of 78 straight games.

"We have to (be better than Wednesday)," Auger said. "Let’s be honest, everybody knows we don’t have a chance unless we play our best ball. We can’t come out and throw the ball around and have turnovers and get a ton of penalties and stuff like that. I think we have a chance if we bring our best."