Souhegan's Elle Stevenson (23) goes on the attack while guarded by Bishop Guertin's Lindsay Hult as the Cards' Rylee Bouvier, who scored her 100th point, looks on during Saturday;s 14-8 BG win at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Nothing about Bishop Guertin’s girls lacrosse clash with Souhegan was business as usual for the Cardinals on Saturday.

First, the game was delayed because due to a scheduling snafu Stellos Stadium wasn’t open when the teams arrived.

Once that got straightened out, the Sabers went on to give the Cards their toughest first half of the season, as Guertin had to rally to take a 7-6 lead at the break en route to a 14-8 win to stay unbeaten (5-0).

“I think we needed to calm down,” Guertin coach Leslie Why said. “Today’s focus was spacing and quickness,”

The quickness came in how quickly Guertin bounced back. Trailing 6-5 with just over a minute to go in the first half, the Cards began a stretch of eight straight goals that stretched all the way into two-thirds of the second half as they led 13-6.

“I think we came into the game really frantic,” said Cards junior scorer Rylee Bouvier, who led the comeback with six goals, including one for her 100th career point with just over a minute to play. “We didn’t really know what to expect, we know Souhegan always gives us a good game. We wanted to keep our composure. For the first half of the first half, it definitely was not there. We just regrouped with all guns blazing. … From there I felt the momentum was on our side.”

“It is game of runs, so they heated up quite a bit and Bouvier turned it on,” Sabers coach McKinley Curro Sbordone said, her team now 4-4. “But what I’m so proud of for my team that we never gave up. … It was a good statement that we’re fighting.”

Oh they were fighting all right. The first half, physical at points, was entirely back and forth. The Sabers refused to fold, owning leads of 2-1, 3-2, 5-4 and 6-5 before the Cards got two Bouvier goals in the final 37.6 seconds of the half to take the lead at the break and begin their streak.

The streak didn’t end until Souhegan’s Abby Hawkes scored with 7:27 left to make it 13-7.

“I think we really took the mentality of being the underdog,” Sbordone said. “I was so proud of the team’s mindset the entire game. We did not let down, we did not hang our heads. We just continued to fight and chip away.”

Maddy Keating added three goals for the Cards, while Lindsay Hult (two goals, assist), Katie Campel, Stephanie Reap, Mimi Piercy (single goals each) and Natalie Coutu (assist) added to the scoring.

A lot of them had to play defense in the first half, as MaKenna Reekie had five saves. The Sabers got three goals each from Hawkes and Elle Stevenson, while Calli Bishop added a pair. Delaney Facques had two assists. And their goalie, Shannon Hargreaves, was way busier, with 17 stops.

“Once everybody realized if we do what we were practicing, we’d be fine,” Why said. “They (the Sabers) were collapsing on our middies up top, and that’s where we were trying to enter with the ball. …

“It was kind of a hot mess. It’s a rivalry, and we were a little nervous. It was a real game. But once we settled in, and once we started playing our game the way we know how to play, we were fine.”

It would be great postseason matchup if these two could get together again.

“Again, it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish,” Sbordone said. “I think we’re ripening at the right time. Obviously it didn’t end in our favor, but we do know we can get there.”