The last time the Merrimack Valley girls’ soccer team went to Pembroke Academy, the Pride played its worst game of the season and lost by a pair of goals. MV also lost when it hosted the talented Spartans in Penacook earlier this season.
So, when Merrimack Valley headed back to PA for Thursday’s Division II girls’ soccer semifinals, the Pride’s first semifinal appearance in more than 30 years, the MV players knew they were the underdogs. They also knew they could pull off the upset.
“We were a little nervous, but our mentality was like, ‘We lost to them before, so what do we have to lose now? Let’s get it back,’” MV senior Kaylee Magoon said. “And playing Pembroke, our rivals, we were just in it to win it.”
The Pride used that mentality, a few tactical adjustments and two goals from Magoon to claim a 2-1 win and a trip to the first championship game in program history. MV (7-5-2) get to make its finals debut at home when it hosts Milford (8-0-0) at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
“We never talked about making it to the finals, we were just happy to play for as long as we could this season,” Pride coach Nick D’Agostino said. “There were teams dropping out and we knew that could be us, so it was just, don’t take anything for granted. So every time we got an opportunity to play, we just went and played. As a coaching staff, we’re really proud of the them. They worked really hard this year, they’re a good group, they’re really happy to be here and we’re really happy for them.”
The feelings, of course, were the opposite on the Pembroke sideline.
“I have the worst feeling in my stomach,” PA coach Jess Kaufman said. “It’s hard to encapsulate how unfortunate it is when your season ends like this after you’ve had so many good days. … We were grateful to play for as many days as we did this season, but gosh, once you get here, you want it all.”
The Spartans (9-3-0) controlled the game early on by owning the midfield, like they usually do, through the work of twins Cierra and Britney Hill and seniors Hannah Brown and Nicole Nadeau. But Merrimack Valley countered that possession with two of the tactical changes it made from the regular-season games with Pembroke – attacking with long direct balls and working in the gaps left open by the forward-charging wing backs in PA’s 5-3-2 formation.
“We also just played more aggressive this time,” Magoon said. “Pembroke is an aggressive team, they’re really good ball winners out of the middle, those twins win everything. So, I think matching that and playing more direct definitely helped us.”
It helped create a free kick opportunity in the 27th minute and Magoon made the most of it. The senior captain launched a shot from about 30 yards out that PA keeper Brooke Davison (two saves) had in her hands before it slipped through for a 1-0 Pride lead.
“I wanted to put it on goal, but I wasn’t expecting that,” said Magoon, who has scored five goals in three playoff games. “(Davison) had it and the next thing I knew it was in the net.”
The goal seemed to energize the Pride, and three minutes later Magoon found another. Hayley Kenney – one of MV’s three senior captains along with Magoon and Rhiley Tanguay – started the play with an incredible piece of dribbling skill on the right wing and then a perfect pass to Magoon on the left flank. Davison came off her line to meet the play, but Magoon took a touch around her and then passed the ball into the open goal for a 2-0 lead with 9:11 left in the first half.
“Kaylee has been great for us. All three of our senior captains, really, have been great in the playoffs,” D’Agostino said. “Kaylee had the goals today, but Hayley Kenney is the workhorse out of the middle and Rhiley is the workhorse up top.”
Despite the deficit, Pembroke believed it could answer in the second half.
“We’ve found ourselves behind in a game or two this year, so at halftime we were fully confident that we were going to be able to come back from this,” Kaufman said. “MV played some stingy defense, and we had to really get back to basics in terms of getting around their defense and finding the gaps and holes.”
They found a gap nine minutes after halftime when Adrienne Dorr beat a diving Mackenzie McDonald (eight saves) with a shot from the left wing that wound up in the right side netting to make it 2-1. But that was the only time the Spartans beat McDonald or the MV defense. Pride center backs Elizabeth Philbrook, a sophomore, and Cali Gray, a freshman, played with poise beyond their years. Outside backs Katie Nudd and Hayley Meattey handled everything PA threw at them on the outside, which was a lot. And Kenney, Emily Koufos and Juliana Palhof provided plenty of support from the midfield.
“Hats off to MV,” Kaufman said. “They did it. They took advantage of their opportunities and they made the most of it.”
Milford 1, Bow 0
Bow (8-1-2) controlled the majority of play and had more scoring chances, but Milford’s senior captain Rachel Gizzonio was the one to find the back of the net in the 37th minute, lifting the Spartans (8-0-0) to a 1-0 victory over Bow in Thursday’s other D-II girls’ soccer semifinal.
After Gizzonio scored on her own rebound at the tail end of a relatively even first half, the Falcons did everything they could to even the score in the second half. Sophomore forward Lyndsey LaPerle hit the crossbar in the 45th minute and freshman forward Juliette Tarsa had a shot from point-blank range in the 61st that forced Milford keeper Caroline Tessier (seven saves) to make a diving stop. Senior defender Chloe Binder set up several opportunities with well-placed free kicks and corner kicks, but Bow couldn’t find the finishing touch in the box.
Sophomore Isabella LaPerle and senior Kristina Pizzi also created chances up front, while junior goalkeeper Cailyn Benson had five saves for the Falcons. Bow outshot Milford, 7-6, and had a 5-0 advantage in corner kicks.
“We told them we couldn’t leave (Gizzonio) alone,” Bow head coach Jay Vogt said. “That one little second and (she scored). We definitely played better in the second half. I thought we took it to ‘em. We had a lot of good opportunities, but we couldn’t quite knock it in. I’m proud of them. They stepped it up. They didn’t sit back, they went after it. Kudos to Milford, they kept us out.”
Milford advances to its second final in the last three years. The Spartans lost to Hanover on penalty kicks in the 2018 championship game.