Turns out being an underdog suits the Merrimack Valley field hockey team.
The No. 6 Pride traveled to North Conway and pulled off a 1-0 upset in the Division II quarterfinals against No. 3 Kennett, a team that had beaten MV by five goals earlier in the season.
“They were surprisingly very loose on the way up there,” Pride coach Jen Colgan said of her players. “They were playing music, singing, they felt very comfortable.
“In the first playoff game they were a little nervous, I was a little nervous being the higher seed and expecting to win. But they kind of went into this game like, ‘Hey, if we’re going to be here, let’s be here and do what we need to do to come out of here with the win.’ ”
The Pride (11-5) got the goal it needed to win with 16:10 left in the second half after earning a penalty corner. MV executed the play, Reilly Swislosky put the shot on net and Lauren McLaughlin stuffed home the rebound.
“We got the shot off and they made the save, and then just in the hustle of the circle play it wound up in front of Lauren and she put it in the back of the net and that was all we needed,” Colgan said. “But it was a long 16 minutes, that’s for sure.”
Merrimack Valley had to play a man down for five of those minutes, starting at the 15:08 mark, and Kennett (12-3) held a 6-3 edge in corners in the second half (7-4 for the game). But like they did in MV’s 2-0 quarterfinal win against Kingswood, goalie Rosemary Ostrowski (seven saves) and the Pride defense didn’t break.
“They had plenty of opportunities, but our defense and our goalie kept us in the game for the second game in a row,” Colgan said.
When these two teams met on Sept. 12, the Eagles handed MV a 5-0 thrashing. But the Pride wasn’t putting too much stock in that result.
“We knew when we played them before we were missing two of our starters, two of our senior captains, and with them in the midfield we’re a different team,” Colgan said. “I think it’s also we’ve just been playing better recently. Swislosky has been creating opportunities for herself and other people, Taylor Bailey on the front line, and Caitlyn Fortier, and just as a team we’re starting to build some more confidence.”
MV will now face No. 2 Hanover (12-1-1) in Thursday’s D-II semifinals at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter. The Marauders advanced by beating No. 7 Goffstown in overtime, 3-2. Hanover visited Penacook on Sept. 21 and came away with a 3-1 win.
“They’re a good team and they’re a really good team on turf, so that’s going to be a challenge for us moving forward,” Colgan said of Hanover. “They’ve got a couple of very talented players that we’re going to mark very tightly, but it’s the final four, anything can happen. We’re excited. It’s going to be a fun couple days of practice and we’ll go out on Thursday and work hard.”