CONTOOCOOK - It was one lucky bounce, one unlucky bounce, heaps of defense and, when those ingredients had marinated for 80 minutes, a 1-0 win for No. 6 Belmont over No. 3 Hopkinton yesterday in the Class M girls' soccer quarterfinals.

"That game was indicative of how we've been all year," Belmont Coach Jim White said. "Hard-working, start-with-defense, dig-down-deep kind of team."

The Red Raiders (14-4) will now face No. 2 Campbell (14-3) on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Merrimack Valley High School in the semifinals. It's the first time the Raiders have reached the final four since 2005, when they won the title. And their 2-1 victory over White Mountains on Tuesday in the preliminary round marked the first time they had won a playoff game since that '05 title run.

Because of the tournament losing streak, White didn't mind playing in the preliminary round while Hopkinton (12-4-1) had a bye.

"We preferred having a first-round game so we could get that experience and get that confidence, and it paid off today," White said.

Maybe the week off hurt the Hawks' momentum, but Coach Curt Martin didn't think so. And his team was fighting injury and illness, so the bye was in fact helpful. Unfortunately it wasn't helpful enough to get Kaley Cook healthy enough to play. The senior forward had to sit out with illness and the Hawks felt her absence on the offensive end.

"Our attack wasn't there today. It was not as strong as it has been in the past and we struggled a little there," Martin admitted. "But I thought we dominated the second half like we did, peppering them with shots and creating opportunities, but we just didn't finish them."

The game's only finishing touch came from Belmont's Kayli Ennis in the 29th minute. Senior defender Sam Phelps (more on her later) started the play with a well-placed clearing ball that landed at the feet of Lauren Prescott, who one-touched the ball toward Ennis a few yards in front of her. Ennis managed to stay onsides, beat Hopkinton keeper Emma Brown to the ball and then chipped it into the open net.

"I just dived at it and just got my foot under it and it went in," Ennis said. "I think it was definitely luck."

The Raiders found more luck late in the second half. The Hawks, led by Gabby Forrester, applied serious pressure in search of the equalizer from the 60th minute on. It looked like they would it when Jenny White passed into the box to Forrester, who beat Belmont keeper Courtney Clary to the ball and seemed to have put the tying shot in motion. But at the last possible second, Phelps swooped in and directed the ball wide of the goal, preserving the Raider lead.

"When Sam saved the ball from going in it looked like, from my point of view, like it already had gone in and I was already getting really worried," Ennis said. "But then we saw her dribbling out and it was just like phew, relief."

That play was certainly the defensive highlight, but it wasn't the only play from Belmont's back line. Phelps, Kim Allen, Davita Elliott and Lauren Harrison played with smarts, hustle and poise, exactly the way you'd want your defense to perform in the tournament.

"(The defense) absorbed everything they threw at us," White said. "And they threw a lot at us those last 10-15 minutes."

It was a disappointing end for Hopkinton, but it was hardly a disappointing season.

"We achieved more than I though we would. To go 12-3-1 in the regular season, I would have said that was a dream at the beginning of the season," Martin said. "But we had 10 seniors on the squad, they just pulled everybody together."

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