When the Bishop Guertin High School boys lacrosse team plays North of the boarder, the Cardinals play like they’ve got an ‘S’ on their chests.

But when they travel South, something happens to the Cardinals, like it did Wednesday.

Bishop Guertin traveled to Lasell College to take on Duxbury, Mass., and fell to the Green Dragons, 8-6.

“We didn’t play well, that’s what’s so disappointing,” Bishop Guertin coach Chris Cameron said. “When we play in New Hampshire, we play so confident. We get down here, and it’s like a different mentality. The confidence that makes us so good is gone. As coaches, you’re disappointed because I thought we had them to the point where we were ready to beat Duxbury.”

Both teams are ranked No. 1 by LaxPower.com in their respective states, but in their eight meetings, Bishop Guertin has never beaten the Dragons.

The Cardinals (14-2) got two goals each from Gage Sevigny and Connor Donahue, while John Miller and Dom St. Laurent each added a score and goalie Jake Sonberg stopped eight shots.

But when Bishop Guertin had opportunities to take control of the game, it was unable to.

For the first three quarters, whenever Duxbury (15-3) went ahead, the Cardinals found a way to come back.

In the fourth, with the Dragons trying to kill the clock, the Cardinals forced three turnovers, but twice turned the ball back over right away, and on the third, rushed a shot that missed the cage.

“We talked to them about good possessions,” Cameron said. “We said we’ve got to value the ball. We had a man-up, we made one pass and we settled for a 15-yard shot. That was the stuff that was disappointing.”

Niall Dillon and Wes Quinzani had two goals each for Duxbury, while Brendan Duffy, Trevor O’Brien (assist), Tyler Powers and Brad Marcotte each had one. Nick Marrocco made eight saves, none bigger than one in the final minute that kept it a two-goal game.

A shot by St. Laurent hit the post and caromed back toward midfield. Miller was able to get the ball, and it went back to St. Laurent, but his shot was stopped by Marrocco and Duxbury was able to keep possession until time expired.

“He’s been doing that all season, especially in the big games,” Duxbury coach Chris Sweet said of Marrocco. “Our defense has been playing great, but Nick is there to back them up. He always steals a few goals.

“Earlier in the game, every time we scored, they had an answer, and luckily when we turned it over, we had an answer. Our defense has been good getting the ball on the ground and they did it again (Wednesday).”

The Cardinals don’t have long to dwell on the loss, as they return to action Thursday, hosting Exeter at Stellos Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

They follow that up with their regular-season finale on Tuesday at Hanover.

“I said ‘let’s not let this game beat us twice,’ ” Cameron said. “We have to come back (Thursday) and be a better team. We’ve got to win these two games to lock up the No. 1 seed.”