Bedford, Bishop Guertin girls soccer gearing up for postseason

BEDFORD – The postseason doesn’t begin for Division I girls soccer for almost a week, but when Bedford and Bishop Guertin high school met Tuesday night in Bedford, it felt like playoffs were in the air.

If the playoffs started that night, the Bulldogs and Cardinals would have been seeded second and third, respectively, for the tournament. Bedford got the win, 2-0, to remain undefeated and snap Biship Guertin’s 11-game winning streak, but both coaches came away feeling good about their standing.

“They played the way I had hoped we’d play,” Bedford coach Michelle Winning said. “I’d hoped we’d have a playoff feel and I think they saw the meaning behind the game. They knew this was a big one for us and they stepped up. They played how we want them to be getting ready for playoffs.”

The Bulldogs (13-0-2) were also able to overcome the emotions that come with any senior night, getting a goal from senior Christina Campbell with 5:52 left in the first half. Saylor Clark gave Bedford a little room to breath with a goal of her own 10 minutes into the second half.

“It felt great,” Campbell said. “Scoring goals is important, but obviously, it’s not about who scores it. It’s nice to be able to have that in the books for senior night. I think our team, once we get a goal in, we can settle down and start rolling.”

Playing from behind was something Bishop Guertin (12-3) hadn’t been used to during its winning streak, as the Cardinals had allowed just three during that 11-game stretch. The Cardinals had also scored 32 goals in those games and hadn’t been shut out since they lost back-to-back games in early September.

“I don’t think we played our best game, mainly because of Bedford,” Bishop Guertin coach Pat Mulcahy said. “We were very solid in the back and we rode the wave a little bit with momentum. We always pride ourselves with winning individual battles and we were winning games because of that. We didn’t do that (Tuesday).”

Both teams finish the regular season with challenging matchups.

Bishop Guertin was scheduled to host Manchester Central (12-3) on Thursday in a game that would give the winner the No. 3 seed, and potentially drop the loser out of the top four. The top four teams in the division receive a bye into the quarterfinals.

“We’re vying for those top four spots and the first-round bye,” Mulcahy said. “There are a lot of teams in that upper echelon and hopefully we can finish in the top four, but if we don’t, we don’t.”

Bedford finishes its regular season at Exeter (15-0) in a rematch of the last two division championship games. The Bulldogs won 1-0 last year, the only time the Blue Hawks have lost in four-plus seasons.

“There’s the potential for hype, but we want to keep cruising along to where we’re going and get ready for the playoffs,” Winning said. “We want to manage the emotions in all of this and focus more on us than our surroundings. It definitely does have a bit of a playoff feel and it’s kind of nice.”