As Jill Bartlett walked off the field at Bow High School following her team’s inaugural girls lacrosse contest, one of the Bedford fans in attendance had a light-hearted message.

“Coach, you know the only place to go from here, right?” said the fan.

Bartlett smiled before answering, “Nowhere to go but up.”

Following a 20-3 drubbing at the hands of the Falcons on Monday, April 13, the Bulldogs hope to improve on both sides of the ball while maintaining optimism.

With her team trailing, 14-0, and 12:26 remaining in the contest, Kelsey Poremba scored the first goal in program history with a close-range shot before adding a second goal minutes later.

The Bedford coach said it took her team the first half of play to find any offensive flow.

“Getting used to the speed of the varsity game was a really big thing,” said Bartlett. “They finally got to see how to apply the little things we’ve worked on – like protecting their sticks when they have the ball.”

Demi Bennett and Molly Maznek performed well against Bow on the defensive end, despite the Falcons’ offensive outburst. They key the defense this season. Bartlett said perennial power Bow was a difficult opening opponent, but her team was able to see a program they hope to emulate.

“It was a great learning experience and a chance to see the caliber of play and where the bar is set, so that hopefully, eventually, we can raise that bar,” she said. “I tried to let them learn some things for themselves and put together the things we worked on in the preseason.”

Poremba, Colleen Murray and Morgan Karanasios are expected to lead the Bulldogs offensively. Murray was successful throughout the contest, weaving through defenders and notching two assists.

Bedford’s mentor said her team needs to work on its communication and aggressiveness in upcoming practices and games.

“This is a point for us to move from,” said Bartlett. “We just need to keep moving forward, and we can’t step back. We have goals that we’d like to accomplish, but we want to start with little things that are attainable.”