EXETER – New year, new team, same result.

A championship result.

The Bishop Guertin High School girls lacrosse team was dynamic in 2021, blowing by most opponents and even winning the state title game last June by 17 goals.

This year? Things were a bit more competitive, but that didn’t stop the Cards from capturing their fourth straight Division I crown.

“We didn’t have as much experience,” Guertin coach Leslie Why said after BG’s 13-7 win at Bill Ball Stadium over rival Bedford in the finals this past Tuesday. “But the horsepower we had to replace that experience, the energy we had. That sophomore class, they’re so insane. An hour and a half they were screaming until they got on this field.”

And that energy produced a start of 4-0 and 8-1 after the first 15 minutes, and the Cards took an 11-4 lead into the half. They only scored two more goals thanks to Bedford’s ability to win the draw and apply tenacious defensive pressure, but that was enough.

Senior Rylee Bouvier and sophomore Lauren Redfern had four goals apiece to lead the way.

Redfern was part of a sophomore group that Why knew had to come through if the Cards were to be successful.

“They knocked it out of the park at Tomahawks (off season team), they knocked it out of the park all winter, and they showed up and they were so ready,” Why said of the younger players as well as the team in general. “They’re huge athletes.”

“I feel like those winter clinics, really getting to know the team, getting our chemistry up and stuff like that,” Bouvier said. “And throughout the season, knowing what worked and what didn’t, and the push and drive getting to this final game and this moment, focused us in practice, just to win this moment.”

The Cards had undergone a makeover, as a lot of high school teams do. They had a throng of seniors, led by Reekie and Bouvier, plus key defender Delaney Ramalho, Katie Campel, and Steph Reap, to name the core. But a lot of younger players, and the sophomore class that Why spoke of paced by Lauren Redfern, that came through as it forged an identity.

“It was a completely different team this year,” said Reekie. “It clicked really, really fast, and you could see it on the field, that everyone on the field works together. It feels really good.”

Can they survive a Drive for Five? Why expects the younger players to make even more strides this year.

“We have six (seniors) leaving that have a lot of experience, and can finish and can do a lot,” she said, “but we also have a lot of energy and athleticism and skill coming, too, that’s going to get refined. And our freshmen that all sat this year will all be on the field next year too.”

And they hope to be celebrating a title on the same field at Bill Ball Stadium that the Cards did earlier this week.