MANCHESTER, N.H. — As the final horn blew, the celebration was on for the Pinkerton boys lacrosse team.
It wasn’t a state title, not just yet. That will be decided on Saturday.
But as the Astros rushed the field, jumped into each other’s arms and even shedding a few tears — celebrating a feat that had not been accomplished in 22 years — it was clear what the moment truly meant.
Pinkerton had slayed Goliath — archrival Bishop Guertin — and did it before the state title game.
“This means everything!” said star defenseman Brendan Carney. “The whole state knows what B.G. has done over the years, so to come in and know that you have a chance to do something truly special, and to go out there make history as a program, it means everything to us. It’s had to wrap you head around. But this is truly incredible. We beat BG. Wow!”
The No. 2-seeded Astros delivered a dominant performance for three-plus quarters, then stood strong against a late rush to defeat No. 3-seeded, five-time defending state champion Bishop Guertin 11-9 in the Division I semifinals on Wednesday at Manchester Memorial High School.
With the win, the Astros snapped a run of 20 straight state title game appearances for Bishop Guertin, dating back to the 2005 season. Twelve of those title games came against Pinkerton, with the Cardinals winning eight — including last spring.
“This is so surreal!” said Matthew Gormady, who scored four goals. “We knew that we could do it. And we knew that we were prepared to do it. But this still feels surreal to beat B.G. Amazing. This is great. I almost started to cry at the end. It’s just so amazing and so incredible that we got it done. Now it’s onto the championship. We knew we can do it.”
This time around, the Astros will take on top-seeded Bedford High, which barely held off Exeter 8-7 in the other semifinal, on Saturday (5 p.m.) at Nashua’s Stellos Stadium.
“It’s great that we don’t have to play B.G. in the title game,” said Cade Johnston, who scored four more goals, with a laugh. “It’s awesome. This is the best team I’ve ever been a part of. This is awesome. It’s amazing. I don’t know how to describe this. We put in the work, and we earned this. We couldn’t be happier. We beat BG. This is great!”
The Astros — who also beat Bishop Guertin in the regular season a month ago, handing them their first loss since the 2019 title game — will play for their first championship since winning back-to-back titles in 2018-19, both over the Cardinals.
“Winning that first time gave us so much confidence, and today we came in ready to play,” said head coach Marty Auger. “We have watched this (B.G.) team so many times I think parents thought I had a kid on the team. This was so important to this team. We felt like this was the year for us to do something special, so we were not going to be out-worked. We were ready for this.”
Pinkerton set the tone from the opening faceoff, dominating the pace of play and holding the ball in the Cardinals’ zone.
The Astros took the lead 5:05 into the game, when Johnston’s stick was hit mid-shot, but the ball still had enough on it to bounce past the goalie and find the back of the net.
Pinkerton continued to hold firm control throughout the first half, taking a commanding 7-3 lead into the break on a pair of goals for Matthew Gormady, tallies for Levi Weaver, Jackson Farrell and Ryson Michaud and another goal for Johnston.
Just 32 seconds into the third quarter, the Astros added to the advantage on Gormady’s third goal of the game. Then with 1:23 to go in the third, Johnston rushed the net and scored to make it 9-4 after three quarters.
Johnston and Gormady each added one more goal to make it 11-4, but Bishop Guertin mustered one final flurry, cutting the lead to just two goals and finding a few strong looks at the net.
But goalie Owen Perkins turned in a few clutch saves, Carney and the defense cleared the ball, and the party was on.
“We knew we couldn’t get into our own heads and we knew they weren’t going to go down without a fight,” said Carney. “We just tried to prevent as many shots as possible and contain them. Owen was a force in net. We felt strong today. We knew anything was possible today, and we got the job done in the end.
“We have been to the title game. We’ve gotten to that point, and this year I truly, truly believe in this team. Practice is going to be intense. We’re going to dive in, and when we get to the championship, we want to win this!”
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