Winnacunnet girls lacrosse pulls off incredible comeback, hands Bedford first loss

BEDFORD - There were plenty of adjustments the Winnacunnet High School girls lacrosse team could make Monday, but there was really only one that would turn things around.

Down eight goals against Bedford with a little more than 20 minutes to play, the Warriors had to start controlling the draw if they were going to come back.

When they started doing that, everything else fell into place.

Winnacunnet won 11 of 13 draws in the second half, including the final nine, and outscored Bedford 10-0 over the final 20 minutes of the game to pull out a 14-12 victory in a non-division game.

Dana Sher scored with 2:35 left to give the Warriors (10-1) a 13-12 lead - their first of the game - and after Winnacunnet stopped Bedford's last chance with under 30 seconds to play, Meg Dzialo scored with 11.2 seconds left to put the game away.

And it was Sher and Dzialo who were able to win most of the draws in the second half that helped start the Warriors' comeback.

"That was a turning point in the second half, draw controls and groundballs," Winnacunnet coach Michaela Hardy-Lemire said. "Our defense was able to step up and play more man-to-man. We stepped up defensively, but mostly it came down to draw controls. That changed the momentum of that game and we were able to put balls in the back of the net."

Keelyn McNamara led Winnacunnet with four goals and two assists while Dzialo had three goals and two assists despite not playing in the first half. Sher added two goals while Ally Giacalone, Ali McNamara and Annie Rademacher had a goal apiece.

Emily Larson made 11 saves, nine of which came in the first half when Bedford (13-1) dominated possession. Each time it appeared Winnacunnet had made a stop, the Warriors would turn the ball over before getting out of their end, and the Bulldogs turned many of those miscues into goals.

"Turnovers were huge for us," Hardy-Lemire said. "I think we were nervous to play Bedford, they're very talented. I think the turnovers, we just got uneasy with it. We couldn't get the ball out of our defensive end and we kept turning it over in our end. We limited that."

Bedford got five goals from Hannah McCarthy while Kennedy Boyle and Brooke Burdon each had two goals and an assist. Mackenzie Chou also had two goals and Sydney Lynch had a goal and a helper, as the Bulldogs failed to score after taking a 12-4 lead with 20:38 left to play.

Emily Burton and Hanna Paradis combined to make five saves, as Winnacunnet's four first-half goals came on just four shots.

"The second half, we were off with the draws and they were definitely dominating," Bedford coach Christine Hodgdon said. "Everything that we tried to adjust, mixing up different people, just wasn't working.

"On their possessions, they're fast and well-coached and disciplined and they brought that down on our defense. We tried to switch it up a little bit, tried to take away their threats, but they were throwing some double cuts and it was hard for our defense to adjust."

Bedford jumped out to a 4-1 lead midway through the first half, but Winnacunnet answered with two goals to make it a one-goal game with 9:03 left until halftime.

The Bulldogs won the ensuing draw and kept possession until a goal by Boyle made it 5-3 with 6:24 left in the half. That opened the gates for Bedford, as they went on a 6-0 run over the next six minutes to lead 10-3.

Winnacunnet was able to get a little momentum going into the half, as Rademacher scored with 3.2 seconds left to make it 10-4. But Bedford got two goals to open the second half, with McCarthy putting the Bulldogs up by eight with just over 20 minutes to play.

Winnacunnet won the draw and Keelyn McNamara scored 38 seconds later to make it 12-5 and start the Warriors on their comeback.

"In the second half, we were able to stop them and pick those groundballs up and turn it over and push it up the field," Hardy-Lemire said. "Bedford is a great team and is very talented. Our team just turned it on in the second half."