Bishop Guertin's Jordan Gaebel, left, tries to check Portsmouth;s Morgan Ruhnke during Tuesday night's Division I early season showdown at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – There’s a new sherriff in the town of Division I girls lacrosse, and she left no doubt who is now in charge.

That would be collectively the Clippers from Portsmouth High School, who have dominated Division II the last few years but correctly moved up to Division I this season. With Tuesday night’s 16-11 win over four-time defending champion Bishop Guertin at Stellos Stadium, a game in which the two teams have combined for nine state titles over the last five years, the Clippers have made an immediate impression.

“We’re coming to compete,” Portsmouth coach JoJo Curro said, her team having pasted Pinkerton 18-5 last week in its only other game. “We’re here to show we’re the real deal, and we’re just going to put our best out there.”

The only negative for the Clippers was their senior scorer Avery Ruhnke didn’t get her 100th career goal, just one shy after she scored early in the game. But her sophomore sister, Morgan, made up for that with four goals, as did teammate Annie Parker, who also won 19 draw controls.

It was Guertin’s first in-state loss since 2019.

“They’re a great team,” Guertin coach Leslie Why said. “I’ve coached most of those kids (in the off-season). They’re the competition. They’ve displaced all other competition. That is it, right there (nodding toward the Portsmouth bench).”

And it’s no secret as to why the Cardinals, who got four goals from Maddy Hartsock, just couldn’t make this a closer game.

“It’s all about possession,” Why said. “If it’s not the draw, it’s ground balls. And if you lose all those, you don’t do too well.”

And that’s why the Cardinals found themselves down 9-3 with just over five minutes left in the first half. It looked great at the start, as the Cardinals scored the game’s first goal on a nice give and go between Hartsock (goal) and Tess Prunier (assist).

But in part of their 19-10 draw domination, the Clippers scored five straight goals and simply took control of the game. They led 9-5 at the half, and despite the fact Guertin cut the deficit in half to close to within 9-6 early in the second half, Portsmouth went on a four-goal run to lead 13-6 with 12:53 to go.

“It was making sure we get the jitters out, and emphasizing the point of attack, how we want to do that and where we want to do that on the field,” Curro said. “We were trying to attack the same seam and it wasn’t there, so we kind of just had to move it around.”

Portsmouth freshman goalie Sage Bussierre had five saves, but a couple were at key moments to keep the Cards from closing in. Sophomore goalie Madalynn Eder-Linell had six stops for BG.

Portsmouth also got a hat trick from Charlotte Marston, plus two scored by Ginger Vinciguerra and Sally Collins.

Guertin tried to make one more run, a Hartsock goal bringing the Cards to within 14-10 with 5:57 left. Certainly within range, but Bussierre made a big stop with 4:15 to go, and the clippers got goals from Parker and Marston to lead 16-10 with 2:27 left.

Lauren Redfern had a hat trick for BG, while Prunier had two goals, and Anna Campel and Kamryn Schmitt each had a goal for the locals, now 2-1 on the season and hosting out of state opponent Westwood (Mass.) on Thursday.

Why said the Cards could’ve closed the gap with better play in certain areas.

“I can find five goals no problem,” Why said. “I can find five turnovers. We created turnovers, but we didn’t pick up the ball. Clearly we have a lot of draw work to do and and ground ball work to do. And a little bit more shooting work, too.

“We know what we have to do.”

And now the Cardinals will have time to try to map that all out which is what other teams had to do regarding them – how to close the gap.

“And win the draw,” Why said.

That’s what they always had to do vs. the new sherriff in the Wild West, right?