April 28, 2010
HS notebook: BG on the move in N.H.
by Roger Brown/
The Bishop Guertin boys have risen to the top of the class in New Hampshire's Division I.
Before the season began New Hampshire high school lacrosse coaches identified Exeter, Hanover, Londonderry and Pinkerton Academy as teams that could contend for this year’s Division I championship. So where does that leave Bishop Guertin?
BG, which is located in Nashua, is 4-0 in Division I (6-1 overall) and has beaten Exeter (13-2), Hanover (17-6), Londonderry (13-5) and Pinkerton Academy (15-6) in convincing fashion. The Cardinals are 18th in the latest MaxPreps national rankings.
“It’s clearly BG at the top,’ Exeter coach Gerry Holly said. “Then there’s a second tier with Londonderry, Pinkerton, Hanover and I’d like to think us.”
BG, which lost to Hanover in last year’s Division I championship game, has also faced some top out-of-state competition. The Cardinals have non-league wins against Needham, Mass., and St. Joseph of Metuchen, N.J. Their only loss came against Fairfield (Conn.) Prep in overtime. Fairfield Prep has won Connecticut’s last three Class L (Large schools) state titles.
Londonderry was 5-0 entering Tuesday’s game with BG. The Cardinals are now the only unbeaten team in Division I.
“We’ve played the top three teams in the league and are 4-0,” BG coach Chris Cameron said following his team’s victory over Londonderry. I think Londonderryis definitely a Final Four contender, at the very least in the top five teams, so this was a good win for us.
“We’ve taken a big step toward earning that No. 1 seed.”
Maine threats
The Brunswick (Maine) girls posted a 16-0 record last season and won Maine’s Class A state championship for the second time in as many seasons. The Dragons are among the favorites to win this year’s Class A title as well, primarily because Leila Mills, the team’s leading scorer in 2009, is now a senior.
Mills collected 54 goals last season, including five during a 13-9 triumph over Kennebunk in the Class A state championship game. Mills has scored a team-high eight goals in Brunswick’s two games this season, victories over Oxford Hills (16-3) and Cony (15-7).
Mills led the state in scoring last spring, when she had 111 points. The Dragons also have another scoring threat opponents must be aware of: junior Maggie Caputi has seven goals in those two contests.
Perfect through 10
Deerfield (Mass.) Academy raised its record to 10-0 with a 15-3 victory over Northfield-Mount Hermon on Tuesday. Deerfield, which is ranked No. 1 in the nation by InsideLacrosse.com, is averaging 15.5 goals per game and allowing an average of 3.5 goals per contest.
Of note
►La Salle (Providence, R.I.) junior Ryan Poirier scored five goals and assisted on four others to help the Rams improve their Interscholastic League Division I record to 6-0 with victories over North Kingstown and Portsmouth last week. Three of Poirier's goals came during LaSalle’s 11-6 victory over previously undefeated Portsmouth.
►The Hall (West Hartford, Conn.) boys lacrosse program has had six head coaches and no winning seasons in the past five years, but there may be reason for optimism. Phil Orzech, who coached Hall’s freshman boys lacrosse team for the past four years, was elevated to varsity head coach this year and guided Hall to victories in each of its first three games.
►Sophomore Meghan Olsen scored eight goals − including the game-winning goal with 1:12to play − in Matignon’s 9-8 victory over Cambridge (Mass.). Olsen, who finished the 2009 season with 54 goals, has scored 20 times in six games this season.
►Micheala Smith collected her sixth goal with seven seconds remaining in overtime as Spaulding (Barre, Vt.) defeated BFA-St. Albans 16-15 on Saturday.
►BFA held a 15-12 advantage in overtime, but Spaulding scored the game’s final four goals. Spaulding also received five goals from Anna Johnson and 17 saves from Nikki Demers.
