EXETER – Before the 2022 season even started, John Stark field hockey expected to play in the D-II championship game. Now, after steamrolling opponents through a 14-game regular season and two decisive wins in the playoffs, that goal has become a reality.
The No. 1 Generals stifled No. 5 Hollis-Brookline in their 2-0 win in Wednesday’s semifinal matchup in Exeter to set up a date with No. 2 Souhegan on Sunday for the championship.
For most of the 60 minutes of gameplay at Bill Ball Stadium, John Stark (15-0-1) looked the better team. The game was locked in a scoreless tie until 11:17 in the second quarter when the Generals’ Lauryn Guevin rocketed a shot past Cavalier goalie Raegan Kline while Hollis-Brookline (12-4-1) had a player advantage because of a penalty.
Carrying a 1-0 lead into the second half, John Stark exerted maximum pressure on the Cavaliers, possessing the ball on offense for much of the third quarter. A little more than five minutes in, Jillian Fredette scored to double the lead, which became insurmountable for Hollis-Brookline to overcome.
The Generals have allowed more than one goal in a game just once this season, thanks to a fundamentally strong defense and great goaltending.
Although John Stark played most of the game on its terms, the flow of the action was a stark contrast to the first time these two teams played at the end of August, when the Generals won, 5-0.
Hollis-Brookline played aggressively, relentlessly pursuing the ball and trying to put pressure on John Stark. In the first half, it kept the Generals relatively at bay.
But in the second half, the Cavaliers’ attack just ran out of gas. John Stark head coach Dennis Pelletier knew his team would have to take advantage of its ability to space the field to have success, and that’s precisely what the Generals did.
“Our spacing is second to none,” he said. “We just have a very deep team. We don’t have superstars, but we’re that team that just has a good player at every position, and they know what their responsibilities are. We knew (the Cavaliers) were gonna chase the ball, so we had to move the ball around quickly. After a while, if you keep chasing the ball, you’re gonna get a little tired, and I think we took advantage of that in the second half.”
With John Stark field hockey experiencing unprecedented success the last couple years, games like Wednesday’s might induce some more anxiety than usual given the inexperience for the players in these pressure-packed moments. Pelletier said he definitely noticed some jitters in his players during pregame warmups and in the early going, but once they settled into the rhythm of the game, it was just business as usual.
“Every time we step on the field, I say, ‘Girls, believe you’re gonna win the game. That’s all it is,’ ” he said. “ ‘Don’t be cocky about it. Don’t be arrogant. Just be confident,’ and we’ve had that confidence all year long.”
Now, just one more win separates John Stark from becoming D-II field hockey champions. It’s something Pelletier and his assistant coach Gretchen Guevin have worked toward for seven years, when they started a youth field hockey program in Weare. But this last game will likely be more challenging than any the Generals have played all season.
They’ll face Souhegan (15-0-1) – a team they tied, 1-1, on Oct. 4 – for the title on Sunday at 11 a.m. at Bedford High School. Pelletier’s hoping his team can build off of its momentum from that first meeting, when Souhegan scored an early goal but the Generals bounced back to generate several scoring opportunities.
On Sunday, it’ll be a clean slate, as John Stark looks to put a bow on its historic 2022 season.
“I’m excited,” Pelletier said. “Two undefeated teams in a final – you haven’t probably seen that in a long time – so it should be a really good game. We’ll be ready to go.”