The Pinkerton Academy girls’ lacrosse squad claimed probably its biggest win of the 2016 campaign by besting the only undefeated team in Division I in Derry Wednesday, May 11.
The Bishop Guertin lacrosse crew from Nashua entered that match with a 11-0 record, and it was facing a Pinkerton contingent that sat at 7-2 and had won six consecutive matches.
PA veteran coach Rob Daziel showed off his significant smarts by utilizing the “if they don’t have the ball they can’t score” philosophy in helping his team bag a 10-3 defeat of the visiting Lady Cardinals.
Holding the ball for several minutes – at least – during each possession, the Lady Astros led by a modest 3-1 tally at halftime. But BG had to feel as though it had barely possessed the ball during those first two stanzas.
And the Pinkerton side went on to outscore its talented guest by a 7-2 margin in the second half en route to a noteworthy success.
“BG was averaging 16 goals per game coming into the contest, but our defense and patience on offense held them to just three goals and kept them scoreless for over 20 minutes of the game,” said Daziel. “Megan Jarvis controlled the majority of the draws with self-draws or pushing it to Ali Davis, which was key to first possession. The defense was led by Kyra Goucher, Carly Young, Emily Sharretts, and Kristina Santuccio. Britney Johnson provided some late relief at defensive midfield with some key plays.”
Davis led the potent Pinkerton offense with five goals and one assist for six points, and Nola Wesche and Avery Drouin each bagged two goals and two helpers in the winning effort. Dani Tompkins contributed a goal and an assist, and Ariel Vaillancourt and Madison Peredna each dealt out one assist. PA goalie Kyra Goucher was good for three saves in her net.
“We got on the board first at 18:32, maintaining possession for the majority of the first seven minutes and being very patient on offense,” said Daziel. “We notched the next two goals at 13:07 and 11:05, again keeping possession for most of the first half. BG scored at 7:34, and we closed the half up 3-1.”
And the Pinkerton coach had every reason to be proud of the work of his charges in the second half as well.
“The second half started with us scoring first, and BG answered 18 seconds later. The teams then traded goals again, but that would be the last time BG would score. We held BG scoreless for the final 20:23 seconds of the game.”
The Lady Astros were able to savor that big success until this Tuesday, May 17, when they returned to action at home against the Hollis-Brookline Lady Cavaliers after Nutfield News press time.
Caption: Nola Wesche continued to be a force for the PA girls’ lax squad against BG. Photo by Chris Pantazis
