Beating the Best: Clippers take down three-time defending NH champ and perennial power Bishop Guertin

Kyle Gaudette, The Daily News of Newburyport, Mass.
·4 min read

May 18—NEWBURYPORT — When the latest MIAA girls lacrosse power rankings came out last Friday, Newburyport stood proudly at No. 1 overall in Division 3.

A well-deserved spot for sure.

With the way the Clippers have completely controlled CAL opponents, and with the program's pedigree, they should be considered a team to be feared heading into the state tournament in a few weeks. The team's only loss this spring is to a Division 1 opponent in Central Catholic, but they've balanced it with nice non-league wins over Masconomet and Norwell.

But on Tuesday, the Clippers added a massive signature win to the résumé.

Facing New Hampshire powerhouse Bishop Guertin, Newburyport got five goals from sophomore Lilly Pons and a stellar defensive effort from the likes of Makenna Ward, Anna Affolter and Audrey Cooper — among others — to earn a hard-fought 12-7 victory. The Cardinals (12-1-1) are three-time defending N.H. state champions, and have three high-end Division 1 college commits on the roster in Rylee Bouvier (Stanford), Katie Campel (Virginia) and Nat Coutu (Oregon).

And their one tie heading into Tuesday's game? Central Catholic.

"We did have a lot of discussion about this game, and some people were a little nervous," said Clipper co-captain Emily Fuller. "But I feel like we knew we had to work our hardest and do our best, and hopefully good things would come of that. and it feels insane! (BG) is a phenomenal program and they have been forever. So it just feels really good, and I feel like it was a really good team win."

With a program as good as Bishop Guertin on the other sideline, Newburyport never truly felt comfortable until the final horn went off.

But for most of the game, the Clippers (13-1) maintained a 3-to-4 goal lead.

It was a 1-1 game eight minutes in before Affolter and Pons scored back-to-back goals. The Cardinals cut the deficit back to one shortly after, but goals from Pons, Affolter and freshman Reese Bromby helped the Clippers build a 6-3 halftime lead. Affolter and Izzy Rosa scored early after the break, but Bouvier scored twice and another goal from Coutu quickly made it an 8-6 game.

"They're just a powerhouse," said Newburyport coach Catherine Batchelder. "No. 1 is going to Stanford, No. 3 is going to Virginia and No. 16 is going to Oregon. We had certain matchups for our girls, and they just did an incredible job limiting their players. I'm so, so proud of how our girls played and responded."

Where the Clippers really responded was in the draw circle.

Affolter finished with nine draw controls on the day, Olivia McDonald had six and Rita Cahalane added three. Their efforts made sure the Clippers controlled possession, and two more goals from Pons, another from Bromby and one from Cahalane helped to clinch the win.

"I though Makenna (Ward) did a great job on No. 1, Bouvier," said Batchelder. "I think she still had four goals, but a couple were off penalties. and Anna (Affolter) shut down No. 3, Campel, she didn't even score. and No. 16 only had one goal for them."

Since their one loss to Central Catholic, Newburyport has beat opponents by a combined score of 142-36.

"We've come a long way since then," said Batchelder. "That was early in the season, and I think the way the girls played today hopefully gives them confidence. You know, we're the No. 1 seed in Division 3, and I'm glad that we were able to prove it today against a really good team and a really well-coached team."

Pons added a pair of assists with her five goals, and Fuller had two assists as well.

"We came in knowing that this would be a strong team," said Audrey Cooper, a fellow co-captain. "But we knew that if we played our best we could put this team away, and that's exactly what we did. I think it just proves to our team that if we continue to get better and grow over the next few practices, play our best, we can really put a good step forward in playoffs and go as far as we can."

Newburyport 12, Bishop Guertin 7

Goals: N — Lilly Pons 5, Anna Affolter 3, Reese Bromby 2, Izzy Rosa, Rita Cahalane; BG — Rylee Bouvier 4, Lauren Redfern, Stephanie Reap, Nat Coutu

Assists: N — Pons 2, Emily Fuller 2, Rosa, Olivia McDonald; BG — Reap

Saves: N — Kate Keller 4; BG — McKenna Reekie 10

Bishop Guertin (12-1-1): 3 4 — 7

Newburyport (13-1): 6 6 — 12