MANCHESTER, N.H. – Despite strong start, the Manchester Memorial/Central High School Co-Operative “Green Crusaders” couldn’t withstand nine unanswered goals, falling 11-4 to Bedford on Thursday afternoon at JFK Coliseum.
That first goal came off the stick of Memorial/Central’s Lily Tague-Bleau just over a minute into the contest, with the hosts winning the game’s first five faceoffs before the tide changed.
Kendall Cassidy found an unassisted goal 3:39 into the first period to even things up and the flood gates opened from there.
Bedford finished the first period with a 4-1 lead with Cassidy finding another unassisted goal and Ashley Bergeron also finding two, including a score that came within the last second of the period. Cassidy completed her hat trick just 25 seconds into the second period and would find a fourth goal before the second intermission, with Bergeron also notching a goal as well as an assist on a Crystal Hall goal.
Heading into the third period with an 8-1 advantage, Bedford’s Lauren Thomas found the back of the net just over two minutes into the period. Hall would add another 9:49 into the third, only moments after Coriann Hoag scored a pair of goals 30 seconds apart from each other. Cassidy found her fifth goal for the Bulldogs at the 12:36 mark of the third quarter and Catherine Jones scored the game’s final goal with just 13 seconds left in regulation. Ultimately, both teams were willing to allow the clock to run out following Jones’ goal given the gap on the scoreboard.
For Memorial/Central, Tague-Bleau and Hoag also finished with one assist apiece and Bedford received assists from Thomas, Kendal Joyce and Cammie Grenier in addition to Bergeron’s assist in the second.
Bedford outshot Memorial/Central 36-16, with Danyela Poore recording 25 saves for the Green Crusaders.
The two teams are set to play again at St. Anselm College on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
