You knew it would be a classic.

“They beat us 1-0, and tonight we did the same,” Bishop Guertin coach Tyler Vandeventer said of his team’s Division I championship win over city rival Nashua South in chilly Manchester.

Oh wouldn’t it have been glorious for both teams and Nashua soccer fans had this been played at Stellos, much like the Nashua North-South semifinal of 2021 that drew a massive crowd. Saturday night’s title clash did, too, providing a great atmosphere for two quality teams.

Yes, a throwback to the 1980s and 1990s when the one Nashua High School team would do battle with BG. Soccer used to be the sport to play on Lund Road.

Those were the glory days. But what followed were a lot of gory days for well over a decade. That’s why Bishop Guertin principal Jason Strniste, one of the administrators who is omnipresent at the school’s athletic events, sent Vandeventer and his captains an email detailing the win totals in the last several years that he could find researching the school’s records. The numbers weren’t pretty.

“The past 20 years we’ve barely been a competitive program,” BG senior keeper Beau Boughter said. “Once our coach has come in, we’ve been shooting for the moon. And it’s been landing every time. … Once he came in, he totally switched the tone. We started to understand competing at this level.”

Vandeventer got buy-in. When one of his best players, Liam Ireland, was chosen as a co-captain, he told his club coach, Jared Barbosa, he couldn’t play for his team now because he needed to set an example by focusing on BG.

“I’ll say it again, we want to be competitive in every match we play,” Vandeventer said. “That’s the program goal. And go from there.”

It’s a good story. Eleven years ago, the Cards went winless after winning 14 five years earlier (unofficial numbers).

The flip side of all this is you hated to see a loser. This Nashua South team, which convinced head coach Tom Bellen in the preseason they could compete at a high level, is as likeable as it gets. Kids who this season had fun, loved to play, were great to talk to, were always respectful, etc. That’s why there were hugs, not just handshakes, between them and the Cards when the contest ended.

“Listen, we play 10 times, we go 5-5,” South coach Tom Bellen said. “That’s how I think it goes.”

Bishop Guertin junior Nick Chartier is all smiles after getting the game-winning goal in the Cards’ 1-0 title win over Nashua South Saturday night. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

The best part for both is, thanks to Nick Chartier’s goal, it didn’t have to go to penalty kicks. It was just about three or four minutes away from that. Tough way to decide a game, but in tournament soccer there’s usually not a ton of offense. Yours truly covered nearly 300 minutes of championship soccer over this weekend and you know how many goals were scored in the field of play? (non penalty kicks). Try two. Yes, two.

But not last night, thanks to Chartier’s dramatic rebound goal that ended a game for the ages. Afterward, Vandeventer had to keep a promise to his team and allow his players to shave his head.

“It was supposed to be if we made the finals,” he said, “but then they changed it.”

Yes, a close shave indeed.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on X @Telegraph _TomK.