NASHUA, NH – Both on the field and in the batter’s box, the Bishop Guertin girls lacrosse team executed in the first round of the Division I playoffs Wednesday.
Competing at home against No. 10 Timberlane, the seventh-ranked Cardinals earned a 4-1 victory to advance to the D-I quarterfinals.
“We played clean defense, for the most part, we had some timely hitting, which helps, and yeah, we did what we had to do,” said BG coach Dakota Bilodeau.
After a scoreless start to the game, the Cardinals put three runs on the board in the third when Avery Zapanas (Zap) and Kailey Oleksak singled at the bottom of the order to get on-base in front of No. 2 hitter Bella Nutting, who brought all three home with one swing of the bat that landed over the left field fence.
The visiting Owls made it a game in the fifth inning, when Chaunda Poulin reached on an error and then came home on a double from Jayda Symes.
BG, however, got that run right back when Nutting singled in the bottom half of the inning, moved to second after Meara McDevitt earned a walk, reached third on a well-executed bunt from Gabby Gillette and then came home on a sacrifice fly ball from pitcher Jenny Davey who supported her own cause with the RBI.
Davey pitched a complete game, limiting the visitors to three hits in seven innings while striking out four.
“The bottom of our lineup really came together today and pieced it (together) whether it was creating chaos or doing their job, they’ve been stepping up,” said Bilodeau, “and that’s going to be important for the postseason.”
Next up for BG (14-5) is a road contest at second-ranked Windham (15-3) in the D-I quarterfinals. The game is currently scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s anybody’s game at this point,” said Bilodeau. “We had a great game against them in the regular season. The score may not have shown it was as good a game as it was, but we know who they are and we know who we are, so we’re ready.”
Indeed, Windham defeated the Cardinals, 7-2, on May 1, but Bilodeau said her team will be prepared for the challenge Saturday.
“We’ve just got to keep playing hard,” said Bilodeau. “I think it’s really anybody’s game, especially in our bottom half of the bracket, so we’re excited to go to Windham.”
