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Pinkerton won't relent, returns to finals for first time since 2000

Tuesday, October, 28 By Mike McMahon
Staff writer

BEDFORD, N.H. – It was the ultimate bend but don’t break for Pinkerton.

The Astros muscled their way into Sunday’s Class L final, downing Exeter 2-1, despite being outshot by a wide margin in the first half.

Shannon Murphy hammered a shot past Exeter goalie Taylor Teixeira 14:44 into the game to give the Astros a 1-0 on their only shot in the first 30 minutes.

After Murphy’s goal, Exeter started was mounting immense pressure, but Pinkerton goaltender Julie Medeiros stopped every shot she saw, including a kick save with her left leg from point-blank range.

“They had a lot of chances but I was happy with our team because of the way we handled it,” said Pinkerton head coach Denise Rioux. “We kept composed.”

The second half was a different story. Tori Welch doubled the Astros’ lead with a shot from the left side after a sharp feed from teammate Brittany Gentile.

According to Rioux, Pinkerton hasn’t lost a game in which it has scored at least one goal since 2004.
“Somewhere around 65 straight games,” she said. “We wanted to get on the board because it seems that if we score, we win.”

Exeter came back with one at the 16:55 mark of the second half, when Devon Herlihy blasted a shot past Medeiros. The Blue Hawks kept the momentum, mounting serious pressure on Medeiros again, but the Astros survived the three minutes of sheer heat to clear the ball downfield.

“It wasn’t a bad play on our end, more of a nice play on theirs,” said Rioux. “They had a lot of momentum and were getting a lot of shots on net. Right before that goal, Julie (Medeiros) made a nice kick save.”

After the Exeter goal, Pinkerton held strong on the defensive end, not allowing a lot of chances.

“We needed our defense to step up at that point and make plays, and we did,” said Rioux. “It didn’t make us get away from our game. We stuck with it, and just toughed it out.”

The Astros lost the regular season matchup with the Blue Hawks, but that was with Medeiros on the sideline recovering from knee injury. She made thedifference in the rematch.

“Just immense,” Rioux said of her goaltender. “Having her back there bails us out of a lot of mistakes if we make them. She is rarely out of position and seems to make save after save. She was huge for us against Concord and huge for us again. She’s a difference maker out there.”

The Astros will battle rival Londonderry in the Class L final on Sunday night at 5 p.m. in Bedford.