Pinkerton ends Bishop Guertin’s run with win in D1 boys lacrosse semis (video)

MANCHESTER – The Pinkerton Academy boys lacrosse team held on Wednesday for an 11-9 win over Bishop Guertin in the Division I semifinals at Manchester Memorial High School and ended one of the more remarkable streaks in NHIAA history.

The No. 2 Astros (16-3) move on to Saturday’s D1 title game against No. 1 Bedford (16-3), a 9-8 winner over No. 5 Exeter in the other semifinal, and for the first time in 22 years, the third-seeded Cardinals (14-6) will not be in the final.

Matt Gormady and Cade Johnston each had four goals and an assist to lead Pinkerton, which never trailed and had an 8-3 lead early in the third quarter. Jackson Farrell added a goal and two assists while Levi Weaver and Ryson Michaud each scored.

Tyler Pinardi added two assists and teamed with Dylan Stingel to split faceoffs with Bishop Guertin’s Hugh Roark. Owen Perkins had 18 saves for the Astros, who are in the title game for the 24th time and third time in four years.

Sean McGarry had two goals and two assists for Bishop Guertin while Jack Redfern had two goals and an assist and Cam Hayden and Hudson Schmitt had a goal and an assist apiece. Roark, Drew Redfern and Jackson Warren added a goal apiece and Ryan Baker had an assist while Jonah Feliciano made six saves.

A manup goal by Gormady with 3:29 left in the first quarter gave Pinkerton a 3-2 lead going into the second and the Astros pushed the lead to 7-3 at halftime. Gormady scored again just 32 seconds into the third to make it a five-goal, but Pinkerton would go scoreless for more than 10 minutes after that.

But in that stretch, Bishop Guertin only managed to score once, on a goal by Jack Redfern with 8:16 to go in the third. Johnston eventually broke the Astros’ drought and McGarry answered, but it was still 9-5 Pinkerton after three.

Drew Redfern’s goal nine seconds into the fourth made it a three-goal game, but goals by Johnston and Gormady put Pinkerton back up five with 3:24 to play. The Cardinals scored two goal in 14 seconds to make it 11-9 with 1:04 remaining, but Perkins made a couple of saves in the final minute to help the Astros hang on for the win.

Pinkerton will take on Bedford at 5 p.m. Saturday at Stellos Stadium in Nashua in the D1 title game.

The last time Bishop Guertin failed to reach the final was in 2004, when Concord beat Souhegan, 6-5, to win the second of back-to-back titles. That is the only D1 title game in state history to not have Bishop Guertin or Pinkerton in it.