The Bishop Guertin High School girls soccer team celebrates its Division I championship win Sunday night, a 1-0 triumph over Bedford in Exeter. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

EXETER – The scene at Exeter High School’s Bill Ball Stadium last Sunday night was quite different than it was a year ago for the Bishop Guertin girls soccer team.

This time, parents, family members, teammates were gathering for photo opportunities, celebrating a state championship that perhaps may not have been won if some goals weren’t set after the unfavorable end a year ago.

Back then, as darkness was settling on Bill Ball Stadium, the Cardinals were fighting to try to force overtime, eventually falling in the Division I semifinals by the same score they won this year’s title over Bedford by, 1-0, this one at the hands of the host Exeter Blue Hawks.

A few days later, the Cardinals held their wrap up meeting,

“Our last practice of last year, we said that this (2021) was going to be a massive season for us, because we had to do it not just for ourselves but the seniors who were just leaving,” Guertin coach Winston Haughton said, his 17-1-1 team capturing the school’s first girls soccer title since 1992. “The girls looked at me funny, but I said, ‘No, we’re going to win it next year.’ Those seniors were still with us at the time, and I said ‘We’re going to dedicate the trophy to you guys.’

“I remember the look from everyone, but I said ‘No, I’m serious. These seniors, they came so close, and didn’t make it.’

Ever since then, it’s been in the back of my mind. This is a group that has to do it.”

“We knew we had to do it,” junior striker Brooke Paquette said. “He said it, play for our seniors.”

What was the difference between this year’s team and last year’s? Last season was Haughton’s first coaching the team, although he knew some of them from coaching at the youth and off-season program level. New system, but the expectations were the same after the Cards had come close in 2019 in those semis as well.

They just needed a little more seasoning.

“It was an extra year of growth, of understanding, years of growth for those still in the program,” Haughton said. “In fairness, I think with two years of a group you can kind of feed in from what you did the year before, that way we had fed in a lot of new things. Just the continuity.”

The way the Cardinals began the tournament may have been a sign of good things to come, not just because of how they played in a 6-0 quarterfinal win over Alvirne but who it was against. The Broncos had given them trouble in recent matchups, taking BG to overtime in last year’s quarterfinals (3-2) and then again in a 1-0 Cards win in late September. Immediately after that final whistle, Haughton sternly talked to the team about how it needed to stick to the game plan and principles it had been working on all season. The next game they beat Spaulding 10-2.

In the semis, the Cards avenged an Oct. 14 1-0 loss to Pinkerton, breaking out in the second half, snapping a 1-1 tie for a 4-1 win.

That loss had occurred just after the team was ranked one of three top girls soccer teams in the country, in a three way tie per voting by the United Soccer Coaches, which also had eventual champion Nashua South boys in the top 10.

But the only ranking the Cardinals cared about was to be No. 1 at the end of the Division I tournament.

After Alvirne and Pinkerton, the next and final hurdle was going to be the toughest. They had played 100 minutes of scoreless soccer against Bedford in the regular season’s final game, but they had a road game at Hanover the day before.

Fatigue was definitely an issue in that contest which was all about survival.

And in this one, Bedford coach Michelle Winning noticed the difference, but said the Cardinals had some trademark qualities that buoyed them all fall.

“Their energy, their power,” she said. “They’re just consistent. They have a lot of solid players, and they’ve just been consistent all year.”

Still, the two teams were still scoreless for 55 minutes when, in the 56th, senior Emily Neily did what scorers Paquette (goalie save) and Martha Lord (crossbar) were stymied from doing in the game: finding the back of the net.

It was her first and only goal of the season.

“I was so happy for her,” Paquette said. “Everybody plays a role on this team.”

“There’s always somebody in this group that shows up and makes plays for us,” Haughton said. “It’s really good.”

Depth was a key for the Cards, who lost a key piece in the middle of the field in junior Hailey Barker, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in a mid-season win over Londonderry. Barker, who had surgery, was able to take part in the game-ending celebration and title plaque presentation in a wheelchair.

Then on Sunday night, defender Alyson Guerrette slipped on the turf and left the game for good. However Alexa Psiridis, a sophomore, came in and manned the defense in front of senior goalie Erin Morris.

“I was like, ‘Oh my goodness’,” Haughton said. “But I knew I had the ace up my sleeve with Alexa. But she played even way beyond my expectations and hopes. She was a huge player for us as well.”

Especially in the final two minutes, when the Bulldogs made a huge push, Morris making a big save before having to leave the game briefly with an elbow injury, and the defense needing to support sophomore backup keeper Ashlyn Guerrette for a free kick (block) and a corner kick. Frantic. But BG survived.

“We definitely deserved to be here,” Paquette said. “We worked hard throughout the whole season. Tying them in the regular season definitely motivated us to beat them.”

Paquette and Martha Lord will be back for 2022, but this team loses nine seniors, all of whom played a key role not only this year but were the nucleus of the last couple.

Haughton knew this was a group that had a unique ingredient, and said he was reminding himself of that during the tournament.

“They’re a very special, strong-willed group of girls,” he said.

And now, a group of champions.