LACONIA – After 12 months of wondering how the Division III championship slipped through their fingers, the Kearsarge girls’ lacrosse team is finally able to enjoy some form of redemption.
Even if it is for only one night.
“Win or lose, we can enjoy it until midnight. The next day, we’re back,” Kearsarge lacrosse Coach Hilary Grimes said, shortly after her No. 6 Cougars upset No. 3 Laconia, 7-6, in double overtime to advance to the semifinals.
The coach’s words serve as a reminder that although the Cougars (12-4) knocked out the two-time defending champions, the same team that beat Kearsarge with 5.3 seconds on the clock in the title game last spring, the main goal for the season remains incomplete.
Only a championship can satisfy the seniors who came so close a year ago.
“I’m still not over the championship game,” junior captain Leslie Angus said moments after netting the game-winning goal, her third of the day. “We’ve lost to (Laconia) since my freshman year, and we knew today – I was sick of losing.”
The first half favored Laconia (13-4), despite Kearsarge taking a 1-0 lead early on a goal by Emily Webster, her first of two. After Webster scored just 53 seconds into the game, the Sachems answered with four goals in a row for a 4-1 lead at halftime. Becca Howe, Skyler Tautkus, Sydney Stevens and Hannah Dow assembled the four-goal push for Laconia.
Kearsarge took control in the second half, twice cutting the Sachems’ lead down to one and then tied the score on another goal from Webster with 14:26 to play.
“We came right out in the second half and were able to get the game tied, and I think that was really key because it got the momentum shifted in our direction,” Grimes said. “We told them to get to those groundballs, get back to the basics and we can turn this back around in our favor.”
The tie on the scoreboard lasted only two minutes before Maicy Hansen (two goals) fought through the Sachems’ defense and gave the Cougars a 6-5 lead with 12:22 on the clock, their first lead since they led 1-0 just 53 seconds into the game.
But the advantage wasn’t for Kearsarge to keep, not at that moment. Laconia took a timeout, won the next draw and Skyler Tautkus netted her second goal to even the score, 6-6, just 24 seconds after Kearsarge took the lead.
Laconia nearly took the lead back with 3:30 remaining when Abby Crowell let loose a shot that ran into the feet of Kearsarge netminder Anya Nowicki (12 saves).
“She’s a fantastic goalie,” Laconia Coach Kerri Howe said of Nowicki. “Out of all the goalies, other than ours, she’s the one I don’t want to face. … I give her a lot of credit. She kept her team together today and stepped up.”
After the first overtime period, Kearsarge won the draw to open the second extra frame but lost the ball on a stick check followed by a whistle. The Cougars were given a free possession in the hands of Hansen.
Laconia’s defense was focused on Angus as the Cougars’ top scoring threat. Quick on her feet with strong stick skills, it’s never easy to get the ball away from Angus once she has it in her cradle.
“We knew they were going to try to shut Leslie off so we were actually trying to get the ball to Maicy,” Grimes said.
But Hansen was quickly met by a group of Laconia defenders upon entering the attacking end. She flipped the ball back to Angus, who took off through the gut of the defense and scored from the left side of the net.
“I just had to go to the net,” Angus said. “I didn’t have much of a choice left anymore.”
Kearsarge will face No. 2 Bow in a D-III semifinal at Laconia High School on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Bow (13-2) knocked out No. 7 ConVal, 18-8, on Thursday. The Falcons opened the season with a 12-9 win at Kearsarge on April 10.
The Cougars expect Bow to bring a challenging game, particularly from its star midfielder Taylor Darrell. For now, the players will enjoy this victory, as short as that celebration may be.
“We just totally went for it and knew we could do it,” Angus said. “We can beat anyone in this division so we’re going to put our hearts out there.”
(Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3339, nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)
No. 2 Bow 18, No. 7 ConVal 8
Key players: Bow – Taylor Darrell (9 goals, 3 assists), Olivia Krause (4 goals, 1 assist), Emma Gagne (3 goals)
Highlights/key moments: This was the second time Bow and ConVal had met in the last nine days, and the second time the Falcons came away with a win. This time, however, the victory advances Bow to Saturday’s semifinal, where the Falcons will meet No. 3 Kearsarge.
Records: Bow 13-2; ConVal 7-8
No. 5 Pelham 12, No. 4 Hopkinton 10
Highlights/key moments: The Hawks came into the tournament on a five-game win streak, but Pelham gave Hopkinton more than it could handle in this narrow quarterfinal match.
Records: Pelham 12-3; Hopkinton 11-4