Bishp Guertin girls soccer players, shown here last week, have had a lot to smile about lately, including Saturday's win over Merrimack. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Three of the area’s best local high school girls sports teams were in action Saturday, and two picked up wins while another played tough in defeat.

The Bishop Guertin girls soccer team won its eighth straight, beating Merrimack, while Nashua North gave Exeter a tough battle. The Hollis Brookline field hockey team was wide awake for a 9 a.m.game at Laconia.

That plus the good local showings at the Coe-Brown Cross Country Invitational await your eyes, so scroll down:

GIRLS SOCCER

BISHOP GUERTIN 5, MERRIMACK 0

Emerson Brown, Madison Long and Carolne Goulet had single tallies while Ava Suech had a pair as the Cards improved to 8-1.

Guertin’s back line of Paige Gabriel, Ava Borecki, Hadley Comeau, and Meghan Hartshorn played well along with goalie Jess LaCroix.

Guertin will be at Pinkerton on Tuesday while Merrimack, rebuilding at 0-6-1, will be at Alvirne.

EXETER 3, NASHUA NORTH 1

The Titans gave the Blue Hawks a three goal first half cushion but recovered to play a very good second half, yet fell to 5-3-1.

Ari Dumaine had North’s lone goal, assisted by Sarah Frye. The Titans now have a week off until they host Goffstown next Saturday morning at Stellos Stadium.

FIELD HOCKEY

HOLLIS BROOKLINE 10, LACONIA 0

Sabrina Hill had three goals while Emily Tebbetts and Nyah Jernberg each had a pair. Addison Marchant, Anna McGurk and Megan Eckman all had single goals.

The Cavs, now 8-1, host unbeaten Oyster River in a Division II showdown on Monday at 4:30 p.m.

BOYS & GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

ALVIRNE BOYS THIRD, GIRLS FOURTH AT BLACK BEAR INVITE

The Broncos (94) were third,led by Brent Dunning’s fifth place finish in 17:10.8. Merrimack was fifth (182) while Hollis Brookline took sixth (212).

Jacob Plante was 16th for Alvirne in 17:51.8, while Sam Mattson (20, 17:57.3 ), Roarke Brandt (31, 18:24.2), Ryder Wannamaker (39,18:47.1) and Ethan Schultz (44, 18:54.1) all scored.

Merrimack was paced by Nathaniel Bergen (30, 18:22.9), while Tristan Plumb (43, 18:53.1), Brayden Miller (45, 18:59.1) and Colin Plumb (47, 19:12.5) ran well, and Aidan Koss also scored at 62.

The Cavs were led by William Scott (40, 18:48.3), Arjun Inakollu (42, 18:51.6), Jacob Hoesch (48, 19:59.9) and Thomas Howe (51, 19:21.9).

In the girls race, Alvirne was fourth with 134 points, well behind winner Phillips Academy (27). Hollis Brookline was seventh at 184 while Merrimack was eighth at 194.

Alvirne’s Anna Simpson took seventh in 20:17.0, while Ava Martin was 17th in 21:36.5.The Broncos’ Olivia Cartagena was 33rd n 22:26.8.

Merrimack’s Melanie Bedard was 11th in 20:50.0. The ‘Hawks’ Emily Doyle was 60th, Ella Taylor was 66th and Ava Swisher 68th.

HB’s top finisher was Mae Butler (29, 22:17.6). Quinn Hardy was 47th,and HB took spots 55 (Lucia Dunsmoor), 58 (Hannah LaPointe), 59 (Sarah Butler) and 61 (Kylee Sorrell)

BG BOYS EIGHTH AT WICKHAM INVITATIONAL

The Cardinal boys headed to Connecticut’s Wickham Park and took eighth with 286 points at the prestigious event, led by Carson and Ethan Fischer, who finished ninth and 10th overall, respectively, in 16:37 and 16:38. Sam Prescott was 18th for the Cards in