Defense leads Bedford boys lacrosse past Concord, into D1 semifinals

GOFFSTOWN – A strong defensive effort led the Bedford High School boys lacrosse team past Concord, 6-4 on Saturday to advance to the Division I semifinals.

But even with just four goals allowed, Bulldogs coach Matthew Guerard wants to see more from his defense.

“The goals that they scored were defensive breakdowns,” Guerard said. “We had four defensive breakdowns and they scored four goals.”

Led by senior Cormac McCarthy, the Bulldogs (12-6) have one of the best defenses in the state. The Crimson Tide (11-7) had four different goal scorers, but it was Brendan Pearl that tied it up 4-4 in the fourth quarter.

Bedford sophomore Ryan Toscano scored the final two tallies for the Bulldogs to seal the win.

“For a sophomore he’s gained a lot of confidence,” Guerard said. “In the sport of lacrosse, to be successful you have to be confident in your skills. He works hard off the field and on the field it proves true when he scores two big goals.”

Devin LeFrance scored two goals in the first half as well, as four different scorers contributed to the victory, with Brendan Howe and Kyle Fink adding the other two.

“I think it’s important to get a lot of guys on the scoreboard because it proves we are not a one-man show,” Guerard said. “That’s going to prove big next round.”

The win for Bedford advances the Bulldogs to the semifinals on Tuesday in Exeter, where they will face No. 1 Pinkerton. The 18-1 Astros have been a powerhouse all season, but barely got past Bedford on May 15th, 9-8 in one of the closest games Pinkerton has played all season.

“We have to tighten up defensively,” Guerard said. “We’ll test ourselves over the course of the next few days and be ready for another chance to play Pinkerton.”

Concord made the postseason after a run of struggles in the past few seasons, but graduate a large group of seniors before next season.

Bedford, meanwhile, has another crack this season to head to the championship game.

“You only need one goal to win and we got a late one,” said head coach Matthew Guerard. “We were able to hold on to the lead.”