A dejected Bishop Guertin girls soccer teams leaves the field after bowing 1-0 to Pinkerton in Tuesday's Division I semifinals in Manchester. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

MANCHESTER – They went 0 for 3.

That wasn’t really a stat line with soccer, just the plain outcome of three separate occurrences that didn’t go No. 3 Bishop Guertin’s way in the Cards’ Division I girls 1-0 semifinal defeat at the hands of No. 2 Pinkerton on Tuesday at Manchester Memorial’s Chabot McDonough Field.

They all took place in the second half. One, Kareena Sondhi’s rocket was saved in spectacular diving fashion early in the second half by Astros keeper Sydney Mlynarski.

Two, and most important, the Cards were called for obstruction on a play toward the corner of the BG end. When all expected a simple throw in, Pinkerton was awarded an indirect free kick and the Astros’ Cara Mahn converted Camryn Mcnulty’s perfect ball into the game’s only goal in the 65th minute.

And three, as the Cards applied desperate pressure, Zoe Horton-Sousa fired a hard shot that just missed the far corner of the net, rolling wide. That presented BG’s best chance to send the game to overtime.

And as a result, an otherwise productive season ends at 15-2-2.

“The Mahn girl is on one of the best players in the state,” Guertin coach Chris Millett said. “She’s probably going to be up for Player of the Year. Those types of girls these moments, they just step up and they do the right thing.”

And Horton-Sousa will be replaying her chance that just trickled wide with 7:06 remaining. “She had an opportunity on net, she did the best she could, the goalie was coming out so she was trying to put it a little wide. But we had other opportunities, too. Kareena Sondhi had a couple of crosses from the left side, she couldn’t find the back of the net.”

“It was a very defensive game, neither goalie had a lot to do,” said Pinkerton coach Danielle Rappa, her 16-0-3 team set to tangle with No. 8 Winnacunnet in a rematch of last year’s final Saturday final at 4:30 p.m. as the Warriors edged Bedford in double OT 1-0 in the other semi. “Which to expect in these last two games, you know the defenses are sharp, that’s how they got this far.”

The Cards did have control of the possession game for the most part in the second half after it was a little more even in the first. But the same thing that was the main factor in Pinkerton’s 2-1 win over BG in the regular season at Stellos Stadium reared its head again in this contest with much higher stakes.

“Pinkerton was big, they were strong, they were fast,” Millett said. “I think their physical attributes were the deciding factor today. … Their the defending state champions for a reason. They’re undefeated for a reason. But nevertheless very proud of the girls today.”

“We just have a lot of speed, and are tall, and have a lot of physical girls who aren’t afraid to get in the mix” Rappa said. “That definitely helps us.”

Pinkerton’s Cara Mahn watches her header go toward the net for the game-winning goal vs. Bishop Guertin’s Emerson Brown (10) and Paige Gabriel (23) in Tuesday’s Division I semifinals in Manchester. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Millett lauded the back line led by senior Hadley Comeau and included sophomore Paige Gabriel that kept Pinkerton from applying constant pressure.

“They have been dynamite the last couple of games,” Millett said. “We’ve talked a lot about defensive coverages and supporting each other.”

This was BG’s first appearance in the semis since they won the title back in 2021. They’ll say good-bye to seniors like Baker, Comeau, Kelsey Ackerman, etc. What do the Cards who are back need to do or have to return and perhaps advance?

“Same thing that we had this year,” Millett said. “A lot of grit, a lot of determination. Every single day they worked hard, they wanted to win the state title. I think this was a special group. … They were extremely focused, extremely determined to get to this moment and to get to Saturday (finals). Came up a little short but that doesn’t diminish the goals and the standards that we achieved during the season.”