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# Second-half run lifts Bedford girls lacrosse past Exeter in D1 quarterfinals
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/second-half-run-lifts-bedford-girls-lacrosse-past-exeter-in-d1-quarterfinals/
- Published: 2019-05-30T14:30:18.000Z
- Updated: 2019-05-30T14:30:18.000Z
- Description: BEDFORD - There aren't many teams, regardless of the sport, that can start flat in a playoff game and still come out on top. But not many teams have high-powered offensive ability and a stout defense like the Bedford High School girls lacrosse team. The No. 2 Bulldogs found themselves in a battle wi
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, Bedford, Exeter, girls lacrosse, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

BEDFORD - There aren't many teams, regardless of the sport, that can start flat in a playoff game and still come out on top.

But not many teams have high-powered offensive ability and a stout defense like the Bedford High School girls lacrosse team.

The No. 2 Bulldogs found themselves in a battle with No. 7 Exeter into the second half of Wednesday's Division I quarterfinal, but a few stops on defense and a quick flurry of goals helped Bedford put away the Blue Hawks in a 15-10 win. Bedford moves on to face No. 3 Bishop Guertin, which beat No. 6 Merrimack 19-6, in the semifinals Saturday.

Hannah McCarthy led Bedford (16-1) with six goals, including two during a 5-0 run by the Bulldogs that helped turn a two-goal lead into a 14-7 advantage. Chamberlain Bell added two goals and five assists while Sydney Lynch scored four goals and Mackenzie MacEachern also had two goals and an assist.

"The first half, we were a little flat," Bedford coach Christine Hodgdon said. "We were trying to find a rhythm on the draw and couldn’t really get any flow. (Exeter's Raye Neil) did an excellent job of tracking the ball and getting key possessions in the first half and that really put us on our heels."

Exeter (10-9) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game, a big change from when the two played in the regular season, which ended in an 18-5 win for the Bulldogs.

"We didn’t get the first 10 draws when we played them the last time (in the regular season), so this was definitely an improvement for us," Exeter coach Courtney Preneta said. "We played a lot better and obviously having played them already, and seeing some of their sets and plays, we tried to adjust to some of those.

"I thought that we played well. We played hard and we had some big saves in the first half that might have made a difference. We had some big draws. I think we played a good game."

Freshman Lily Strohecker led the Blue Hawks with three goals while Sydney Taylor had two. Allison Kelley had a goal and an assist and Neil, Maddie Davis, Casey More and Phoebe Tyler also had a goal apiece.

After Exeter took the early lead, Bedford responded with three straight goals, going up 3-2 on a goal by McCarthy with 11:52 left in the first half. But the Blue Hawks responded right away, with Neil tying the game just 32 seconds later.

Exeter won the ensuing draw and Davis scored to give the Blue Hawks a 4-3 lead with 9:17 remaining in the half.

"We dominated the draw and then we executed really well on offense," Hodgdon said of when the team's played in the regular season. "I think we got to build a lead off that. This time, it was kind of 50-50\. They’d go on a three-draw run and we’d get three draws, and it was evident in the score. It was just evenly matched off the draw, so possessions were key."

Bedford responded with back-to-back goals just 29 seconds apart from McCarthy and Lynch to go up 5-4, and the Bulldogs took a 6-5 lead into halftime.

Exeter won the draw to open the second half and held on to it for nearly four minutes. Raye almost tied the game when the ball popped out of her stick on the way to the goal, hit off Bedford goalie Hannah Paradis (five saves) and floated toward the net.

But the ball had just enough air under it to hit the crossbar and the Bulldogs came up with the ground ball. Lynch scored at the other end to make it 7-5, but Exeter came right back with a goal by More just 16 seconds later.

It was still a two-goal game when Strohecker scored with 15:19 left to play, but Bedford quickly took control, winning the draw and getting a goal from Lynch 12 seconds later. The Bulldogs controlled the ensuing draw, too, and McCarthy scored 23 seconds after that to make it 11-7.

Exeter took a timeout, but Bedford got possession again and McCarthy scored again to stretch the lead to five. MacEachern and Bell added a goal each less than a minute apart and the Bulldogs led 14-7 with 8:31 remaining.

"It’s the game, if you get the draw," Preneta said. "If you have the ball for long enough down there, you probably should score. But not to take anything away from them, Hannah McCarthy has been scoring for a number of years here. They’re hard working kids, they’re disciplined and have to give them credit."

Bedford will face Bishop Guertin in Saturday's semifinal at 5 p.m. at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter. It will be a rematch of last year's D1 championship game, and the second year in a row the Bulldogs will have a semifinal against the team that beat them in the final the year before.