Souhegan's Lanai Hickman tries to get around Bishop Guertin defender Ayla Kempesty (20) during Thursday's key Division I clash at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – It was the kind of game that left you wanting more, especially if you were a Bishop Guertin High School girls lacrosse player, coach or fan.

The Souhegan Sabers got what they wanted – a hard-fought 8-7 win, and a great example of what the postseason that begins in two weeks will be like.

Guertin? The Cards just want one more possession. But they were denied any opportunity to send the game to overtime because Souhegan amazingly held the ball for the final 2:42 after a game-tying attempt by BG’s Charlotte Accomando hit the post and was quickly recovered by Sabers goalie Molly Benson (seven saves).

“I think we had a lot of opportunities,” BG coach Callie Santos said, her team now 9-5. “Their goalie made a couple of really great saves as well. We put everything we had out there, it’s just one or two plays have to go in the back of the net differently.

“You watch film, you figure it out and go from there.”

Souhegan (12-1), which eliminated the Cards in last year’s quarterfinals on the way to the finals, are hoping to get there again and games like this will help.

“It’s a great test for us,” Souhegan coach McKinley Curro Sbordone said. “They (BG) did a great job with their game plan. I do think the calls were not in our favor, but what I just said to these girls I’m so proud of their perseverance. There’s definitely not things going our way, we had a lot of opportunities, we didn’t get some finishes that we needed, we continued to fight …

“I think it’s been really good. I think we had some time when we haven’t been really contested, and to play a team like this as we go into the playoffs, we need that.”

Guertin never led in the game. Thanks to the Libby Kennedy-led attack,Souhegan was up 3-2 after one quarter and then 6-3 midway through the third before the Cards rallied to tie it going into the half with two goals in the last minute by Charlotte Accomando and Lola Dumont.

It was on.

“It was a great game,” Santos said. “I think it was just the all-out effort from our kids, we’ve got a lot kids who want to compete and are super gritty, and they did a great job of stepping into what they were doing and making sure they were working hard the entire time.

“You’re never down and out in the game of lacrosse as long as you keep fighting.”

The fight continued into the third quarter, the score tied at 7 when, with Dumont out on a penalty, the Sabers and Kennedy took advantage to get the go-ahead goal with 1:28 left in the period. But no one thought it would be the game winner.

Accomando led BG with three goals, while Dumont and Cruikshank had two each. Emma Smith had seven saves in goal.

For the Sabers, Kennedy and Averie Curran had three each while Emmie Curran and Lanai Hickman had one each.

Santos knew once the Sabers got the ball with under three minutes to play and the lead, it would be tough to get it back.

“Yes, that’s why we were pressuring out, extending our pressure and we were trying to push the double (team) and everything like that,” Santos said. “We definitely saw that and had to put the pressure on as much as we can.”

And the Sabers knew it, showing great composure to just run the clock out instead of trying to score.

“When you’re pressured out, and you have those lanes, it is so enticing to go to goal,” Curro Sbordone said. “But that showed maturity in our attack where they were realizing that possession is everything in the game of lacrosse….Those last two minutes and 30 seconds were huge for us to not give them a chance.”

Bishop Guertin’s Charlotte Accomando (14) battles Souhegan’s Libby Kennedy on the draw during Thursday’s key Division I clash at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Guertin has two tough games to finish the season, home at Stellos Tuesday vs. Exeter and at Portsmouth next Thursday.

Souhegan has Londonderry at home today, Bedford at home next Wednesday and finish at Salem next Thursday. The Sabers if they can win out should be a No. 2 seed and the Cards could be a No. 4 if they beat the Blue Hawks Tuesday.

“We have to keep competing as hard as we can the entire time,” Santos said.

“A lot,” Curro Sbordone said, “to learn from a game like that.”

And a lot for a fan to want to see again.