Nashua North's Nat McInerney (16) and Bedford's Grace Crowder follow the bouncing ball during the Bulldogs' 6-1 win at Stellos Stadium on Tuesday. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – It’s called the education of a soccer team.

And for the Nashua High School North girls soccer team, that includes some growing pains like Tuesday’s 6-1 loss at the hands of title contender Bedford at Stellos Stadium.

“I definitely think that we had moments that demonstrated that score didn’t depict the potential and the team that this group is,” Titans coach Jaqueline Thompson said. “We’re young. We’re fresh. We are starting over. But again, they’ve worked hard.”

When they’ve actually had to work – meaning play in a game. The Titans hadn’t played a game due to a quirk in the scheduling since Sept. 2, and the Bulldogs play up to their nickname with their relentless style – not the easiest thing to get hit with right away, and there were moments in the game when the Titans understandably looked gassed.

“We played, sat seven days, played, then sat for 13 days,” Thompson said. “These other teams had been in game mode. You could see where we put things together when we string those passes, so it shows we’re working hard in practice. But we die because we don’t have that game endurance.”

Bedford (5-0), was led by a hat trick by Abby Forrester survived an early North flurry to lead 3-0 at the half. The Titans broke through on a header by Aiyana Zubhuza about seven minutes into the second half to make it a 3-1 game. But Ava Dubois scored her second nine minutes later to make it a 4-1 game. The ‘Dogs later got two goals down the stretch to put it away, one by Forrester.

They actually had just survived an overtime game with Alvirne late last week. So they came in focused.

“They have to be focused every day and they know that,” Bedford coach Michelle Winning said. “The past couple of games we hadn’t played well, and that’s what I told them. I said we have to be better than we’ve been playing. You have to make the best out of every time out here, because you never know.”

Unlike last year’s veteran team, this year’s Titans are extremely young, as the majority are playing in their first varsity seasons. But there are some veterans, like junior goalie Grace Cardin, who was busy while under siege throughout, making 15 saves yesterday and also directed the Titan back line. She feels North will be a better team a month from now. The schedule also didn’t do North any favors in another way, with Windham, Exeter and Bedford starting out.

“Oh definitely,” Cardin said. “It was absolutely insane, playing the three best teams right off the bat. It’s going to make us stronger, against some other teams we’re definitely going to shine.”

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