Alvirne defenders Halle Miller (3) and Jaime O'Connor (12) are among the defenders trying to help out Broncos keeper Paige McKinley and preven BG's Alyson Guerrette, top left, from scoring as BG's Hannah Lord and Maddie Neily look on. Guerrette scored as the Cards won 6-0 Sunday at Stellos Stadium to advance to the Division I semis. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – The last two times the Bishop Guertin and Alvirne High School girls soccer teams have met, there were plenty of bumps and bruises to go with the drama of tight, well-played games, including an overtime quarterfinal.

But not Sunday, because the top seeded, 15-1-1 Cards were able to convert a few of those possible bruises into goals in a much easier than anticipated 6-0 Division I quarterfinal rematch win over the Broncos at Stellos Stadium.

As a result the Cards will take on the only team that beat them during the regular season, No. 5 Pinkerton, in Wednesday’s semifinals at 6:15 p.m. at Exeter’s Bill Ball Stadium. The Astros beat No. 13 Dover 2-1 on Sunday to advance.

Meanwhile, the Broncos’ season wraps up at 9-6-1. Alvirne’s strategy was clear – try to body BG off the ball whenever possible. But it in some ways seem to backfire as the Cards got early goals off a penalty kick and free kick, had six first-half corners, and dominated.

“They’re a very good team, they are physical in nature, it works well for them,” Guertin coach Winston Haughton said of Alvirne. “We made use of a lot of attacking opportunities we had. … I thought we were on top of our game in a lot of ways today, so the goals would come hopefully whichever way they come, and they came the way they came.”

Did the Broncos’ physical nature work against them?

“Yeah to some extent, I think there were a couple of generous calls there to say the least,” Alvirne coach Jerry Ruigrok said. “But you know, they scored six on us, so that’s no excuse.

“They’re (the Cards) such good finishers, and if you give them an opportunity, they’re going to finish. We gave them too many opportunities today.”

BG’s first opportunity came on a call in the box that gave Martha Lord a penalty kick 22 minutes into the game and she drilled it past Bronco keeper Paige McKinley. Four minutes later, Renee Leblanc then dribbled in from the left side and fed Madeline Maloney to willed it past McKinley for a 2-0 lead.

Hannah Lord scored off a free kick in the 32nd minute, and Alyson Guerrette scored off an assist from Leblanc, the play starting with a corner kick.

Guertin took that 4-0 lead into the break but then added two more in the second half, Brooke Paquette drilled home a goal nearly five minutes into the second half, and Martha Lord netted her second on a free kick from the side that went in untouched.

“We’ve had games where we’ve had similar opportunities and possessions and not convert,” Haughton said, “which gets us to the end of the game when we’re struggling to hold on to stuff.

“So it was good to have the girls take their opportunities early, get a good footing on the game, and close it out the way we did, which was also very good. We used a deep, deep bench.

“We expected it to be tight, and in a lot of respects it was tight. We just managed to put scores on the board when it mattered.”

“We had a really strong mindset from the start,” said Guertin’s Martha Lord, who scored the overtime quarters game winner over the Broncos exactly a year ago. “We had a really strong week of practice last week, and it really helped us to perform today.”

After a tough 1-0 battle won by the Cards a month ago in Hudson, the first half wasn’t what the Broncos expected.

“We just came out flat,” Ruigrok said. “We weren’t playing aggressive, we were giving them too much respect, too much time. … Wasn’t our day.”

The Broncos graduate six seniors but will have plenty returning.

“I really appreciate the work they put in,” Ruigrok said of his team. “We’ve been in the quarterfinals two years in a row, and that’s not a normal thing for Alvirne soccer. We’ll be back.”

Meanwhile, BG pushes ahead to Wednesday, against an Astros team that beat it here 1-0 back on Oct. 14 – just days after the Cards were voted among the top three teams in the country by a national coaches group.

“I’m sure Pinkerton is still in tournament mode, and they had a good game against us last time,” Haughton said. “We’re motivated against anyone, we need to keep going in the tournament. … It’ll be motivation enough to get through to the finals.”

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