Souhegan players celebrate after a goal during their Division I quarterfinal win over Bishop Guertin Thursday night in Amherst. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

AMHERST – You can always tell good lacrosse when defense takes over, negating the shooting gallery effect.

Witness the No. 3 Souhegan High School girls’ 7-4 win over No. 6 Bishop Guertin in the Division I quarterfinals Thursday night at Calvetti Field.

“I do think we had great poise and great fight,” Sabers coach McKinley Curro-Sbordone said. “To hold any team, one of the best teams in the state to four goals, that is incredible. Our defense has taken a lot of risks and we’ve tried a lot of different things this season. But buy-in is a huge thing that shifted with us, they’re playing as a unit.”

Curro-Sbordone credited the defensive unit led by Sophie Jacobs for doing what the Sabers did. While Bishop Guertin’s Lola Dumont scored three goals, junior scoring threat Abby Lynn was held completely scoreless.That’s not easy to do. “She’s a game changer,” the Sabers’ coach said of Jacobs.

Guertin’s offense was completely out of sorts, getting just two goals in each half despite dominating possession. But they kept turning the ball over.

“Yeah,” BG coach Callie Santos said. “They came out with a lot of pressure. Souhegan’s a good team, and defensively they put a lot of pressure on our attackers. We struggled to get the ball moving. When you don’t get the ball moving against a zone you’re going to struggle.

“Our downfall was offensively, and we were trying to push it in that fourth quarter but it was too little, too late. That’s where we’re at right now.”

Where the Sabers are at is getting ready for the semifinals in Exeter on Saturday vs. No. 2 Pinkerton at 5:30 p.m. They lost to the Astros 9-8 earlier this season.

Last night the Sabers never trailed, but the game was tied at 1-1 and 2-2 before Lanai Hickman gave Souhegan the lead for good with just 33 seconds left in the first half. Libby Kennedy got a goal just over five minutes into the second half for a 4-2 lead and the closest BG got the rest of the way was when Dumont’s third goal made it 4-3. Hickman’s second goal made it 5-3 heading into the final quarter. Goals by Kennedy (she had three) and Izzy Stevenson made it 7-3 and that was that. Guertin’s Sarah Brunelle got the Cards fourth goal. Emmie Curran also scored for Souhegan.

Bishop Guertin’s Abby Lynn is harassed from behind by Souhegan’s Izzy Stevenson during Thursday’s Division I quarterfinal in Amherst. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

“I’m so happy for my girls,” Curro-Sbordone said. “It’s a game of possession, and we were not winning the draw. This game on paper, we probably wouldn’t win a game like that, but we kept getting caused turnovers.

“They did their job on the draw, but the fact we kept fighting to get the ball back and possess was amazing.”

Emma Crisman had five big saves in goal for the 13-3 Sabers. They later ran the clock down with precision, getting a win that was not unlike their 7-5 win over BG on May 21. Now the Cards (11-6) aren’t in the semis for one of the first times since moving up to Division I a decade or so ago.

“A lot of kids had to step into new roles this year,” Santos said. “As we move forward, chip away at our team, continue to work in the off-season to clean up those pieces that we’ve had.”

Meanwhile, the Saber pieces will all get together and head to Exeter Saturday.