Division I

Any of top seeds could make a championship run in Division I girls lacrosse playoffs

Joe Marchilena

— 3 min read
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Any of top seeds could make a championship run in Division I girls lacrosse playoffs

When the dust settles after the Division I girls lacrosse tournament, it looks like one of the top four seeds will be celebrating another championship.

Question is, which one will it be?

The top four seeds – Pinkerton, Souhegan, Bedford and Bishop Guertin, respectively – all played each other once and the average margin of victory was two goals. In fact, Souhegan’s 13-6 win over Pinkerton was the only one decided by more than one goal, and two of the six games went into overtime.

As for the quarterfinals, the top four seeds were 5-0 against their first-round opponents, winning by an average of 10.8 goals. The quarterfinals get under way on Wednesday, and here’s a look at each matchup.

No. 8 Londonderry (7-11) at No. 1 Pinkerton (16-1), 5 p.m.

  • The Lancers and Astros will be meeting for a third time this season, with Pinkerton having won the first two meetings 14-2 on April 27 and 17-9 on May 4. Londonderry beefed up its schedule this season, getting two games each against the Astros, Souhegan, Bedford and Exeter, along with a game against Division II Hanover. The Lancers took their lumps in those games, dropping all nine of them. Pinkerton started the year 14-0 before its only loss to Souhegan, it’s eighth straight against the Sabers in the regular season. The Astros enter the game having averaged 13.9 goals per game, while Londonderry has allowed an average of 9.8 this season.
  • Pick: Pinkerton 15, Londonderry 3

No. 5 Merrimack (11-5) at No. 4 Bishop Guertin (12-5), 6 p.m. at Stellos Stadium

  • These two teams played back on May 8, with the Cardinals picking up a 15-4 victory over the Tomahawks. Bishop Guertin has won seven in a row against Merrimack, including last season’s quarterfinals, a stretch that dates back to 2012, when both teams were in Division II. When the Tomahawks have scored 10 or more goals in a game this season, they are 11-0. In their five losses, they’ve scored nine or fewer and lost by an average of 9.2. Four of the Cardinals’ five losses this season were by one goal.
  • Pick: Bishop Guertin 14, Merrimack 6.

No. 7 Nashua South (8-8) at No. 2 Souhegan (16-2), 4 p.m.

  • These two teams meet in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row, and it’s the second meeting this season, with the Sabers having won 17-2 on April 17. South is making its second postseason appearance in a row after missing the playoffs the previous six years. The Panthers opened the year 2-5 but finished 6-3 to get into the tournament. Souhegan’s only two losses this season came against teams from Massachusetts, and the Sabers have averaged 14.4 goals a game this season. The last time Souhegan lost to South was in the 2007 Division I championship game.
  • Pick: Souhegan 16, Nashua South 2.

No. 6 Exeter (11-7) at No. 3 Bedford (14-3), 5 p.m.

  • The Bulldogs won the lone meeting between the two teams, getting a 17-9 win over the Blue Hawks on April 26. That was part of a 12-game winning streak for Bedford, but the Bulldogs finished the season 2-2, with losses to Souhegan and Division II Winnacunnet, both by one goal. Bedford’s three losses were the only three times it was held to fewer than 11 goals all season. The eight-goal margin in Exeter’s loss to Bedford was it’s biggest loss of the season, as the Blue Hawks played many of the top teams close, including a one-goal loss of their own to Winnacunnet last week.
  • Pick: Bedford 13, Exeter 8.

Playoff Predictions

Preseason

  • Playoff teams: Bedford, Bishop Guertin, Exeter, Londonderry, Merrimack, Nashua South, Pinkerton, Souhegan.
  • Championship: Souhegan over Bishop Guertin.

Now

We hit on all the playoff teams in Division I before the start of the season, so why change things now?

  • Final four: Souhegan over Bedford; Bishop Guertin over Pinkerton.
  • Championship: Souhegan over Bishop Guertin.

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