With two games remaining in the season, the Bedford boys lacrosse team remained in the hunt for a postseason berth. After dropping those contests and ending their inaugural season at 4-9, the firstyear Bulldogs must wait a year to track that playoff prey.

On Friday, May 22, Bedford needed a victory against Oyster River, but lost a 9-8 decision. Then on Tuesday, May 26, BHS dropped the season finale, a 17-5 road loss against Goffstown.

Bedford quickly fell behind, 5-1, in the matchup with Goffstown, but the locals cut the deficit to 5-3 when Trevor Morrissette and Connor Sullivan tallied a minute apart.

The 7-6 Grizzlies were too potent offensively, pulling away in the second frame to build a 10-4 halftime advantage. Oyster River secured the final seed in the Division II tournament. Goffstown earned a spot in the postseason as well.

Bedford’s head coach, Matt Guerard, said his team, after a full year of facing battle-tested D-II foes, is well prepared for next season.

“We took a lot of experience out of this year,” said Guerard. “We came into the season not knowing what to expect, but if we gained anything, it’s big-time varsity experience and what it takes to play at the varsity level.”

Four of Bedford’s losses came by a combined nine goals to Portsmouth, Winnacunnet, Dover and Oyster River – all playoff teams.

Critical to the development of the Bulldogs has been the play of a group of freshmen, including Nate Larrivee, Tyler Wise and Jordan Garron.

Guerard said Larrivee established himself as a main offensive threat, Wise became a key component in winning faceoffs and Garron made important contributions on the defensive end.

And team chemistry, said the Bedford mentor, has changed markedly since the team’s opening game.

“We had a lot of individual guys at the beginning of the year doing a lot of individual things,” said Guerard.

“Towards the end of the year we began to gel, and it started to show by the end of the year.”