Bishop Guertin's Jordan Delude looks for a call after hitting the ice with Windham's Liam Sullivan (20) during Wednesday night's game at Skate 3 Arena in Tyngsborough, Mass.

TYNGSBOROUGH, Mass. – What a difference a year makes for the Bishop Guertin High School boys hockey team.

This time last year, the Cardinals had so much experience in the lineup, they could almost coach themselves as BG mentor Gary Bishop could sit back and watch his 15 seniors execute the plan forward and backward en route to a state championship.

This year? Well, graduation can be a four-letter word. The Cards have just five collective varsty seasons on the roster, so it’s a hands-on approach from the bench. That being said, Guertin started out with two wins before running into a stingy Windham team, falling 2-0 in its home opener at Skate 3 Arena.

“You’ve got 15 kids who either played freshman or JV (last year),” Bishop said. “I’m happy with it. This (Windham) is allegedly the team to beat, they’ve got 12 seniors, and we’ve got 15 JVs. We’ve got what, 15 games to figure it all out.”

Guertin put 25 shots on Windham netminder Ben Breen, but in reality, very few were of high quality – one breakaway attempt by Ryan Lokken, and hardly any rebound chances. The Cards went 0 for 3 on the power play – didn’t get a shot on goal on the first and only one on the third – and every shot 5 on 5 was contested.

“As a team, the identity we have is just put pressure on the puck carrier,” said Windham coach Shawn Dunn, his team, like Guertin, now 2-1 in Division I. “And have good layers. The team did that tonight.”

Windham needed just one goal, that coming at 11:20 of the first period, when Seamus Ross found Nate Crowley alone in the slot and Crowley beat solid BG netminder Conor Hayes (27 stops) top shelf with a one-timer. Casey Cramer added an empty netter with 20 seconds left in the contest to account for the final.

“Getting separation early, getting that early goal allowed the kids to calm down and relax,” Dunn said. “Calm down and settle into their game.”

BG, on the other hand, started in sluggish fashion, and it cost the Cards.

“Nobody back checked,” Bishop said. “Again, you’ve got 15 new kids. They’re still learning what we want them to do on the back check. They’re still learning what we want them to do in the offensive zone. We’ve changed lines every game, trying to get something. Nobody’s played together.

“But we’ve got two wins (at Keene and Hanvor, tough spots) and (essentially) a 1-0 game here. We’ll get better. We’re going to learn a lot in the next 10 days.”

During which BG will face Billerica on the road on Saturday and then head to Woonsocket, R.I.next Wednesday through Friday for the annual Mount St. Charles tourney.

Still, that year makes a big difference.

“Oh, does it ever,” Bishop said.

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