BEDFORD – It was a long, 46-year wait for Kearsarge High field hockey. The Cougars snatched their chance on Saturday and beat Gilford 3-2 in the Division III state championship at Bedford High School.
Behind two goals from senior defender Ava Nolan-Waddell, a game-winner with two minutes left from Saoirse Carmody and many saves from freshman goalie Noelle Swanson, the Cougars rallied to win it all.
“It was just an unbelievable, unreal experience, and I am so proud of this team and the amount of work we’ve been putting in,” said Nolan-Waddell.
No. 4 Kearsarge (16-2-0) squeaked by Mascenic, 1-0, in the semifinals to advance to its first field hockey state championship since 1980. The final test was the toughest of all.
Top-seeded Gilford (16-2-1) came in having scored 10 goals through two playoff games, including a 6-4 semifinal goalfest win over Hopkinton on Thursday. The Golden Eagles had shown they were susceptible to comebacks, however, by allowing Hopkinton to score three straight goals in their encounter.
Kearsarge knew it could get back in the game at any time.
The Cougars owned one of the best defensive records of any team in the state, highlighted by 10 shutouts. Swanson had stepped up big in the semis to earn the clean sheet over Mascenic in Exeter, and she stood tall again in Saturday’s championship with 13 saves.
The Cougars defended eight penalty corners in the first quarter. By the second, they may have realized that sometimes the best defense is better offense.
Nolan-Waddell opened the scoring from a corner within the first minute of the second quarter after weathering an onslaught in the first. The Golden Eagles’ Grace Southworth answered later in the second and scored one of her own to tie things up, 1-1.
The game remained deadlocked through the third quarter as neither team generated many chances.
Swanson had just made a falling stick-clear save to keep Kearsarge alive, but as Gilford rotated the ball outside the circle, it went back to its bread and butter. Senior Riley Coutts down the right side with a pass across the middle in front of goal to Avah Mason — with whom she’d combined on three goals in the semifinals — to go ahead, 2-1.
Kearsarge settled down in the midfield and continued playing deep passes out to keep the pressure on.
Enter Nolan-Waddell again. On a corner with nine minutes remaining, the Cougars plugged in a brand-new play design. Never the go-to shooter on corners during the season, Nolan-Waddell was in the final as she drove home a pass from senior Stella Syvertsen from the top of the circle tie the game.
“Obviously, I’m on the defensive line, so it’s a lot different on the offensive line. But I knew that I had a chance, so I wanted to really make it,” Nolan-Waddell said. “It went in.”
A bit of luck brought the celebration to the Cougars at the end. Junior midfielder Saoirse Carmody sent a shot into the circle that deflected into the air near the back post and somehow trickled into the goal with two minutes left in the game.
It was a long time coming for the program, but also for Kearsarge coach Chelsea Williams. She started a youth field hockey program in the area 10 years ago, and many of her varsity players grew up loving the sport.
To see it all come to fruition in such a big way was special.
“I let them know that they’re not a good team. They’re not a great team. They are an excellent team,” a bleary-eyed Williams said afterward. “So few people get the opportunity to be here and to have this opportunity. But then also to create that institutional memory for our program is going to serve this program for so long.”
The elation of going ahead late in the state championship didn’t faze the Cougars, either. Throughout the entire postseason run, they never celebrated hard until the final whistle blew. They had the composure to dribble and clear until the very end.
“I’m like over-the-moon happy, and I like literally can’t believe it,” Carmody said, cradling the state championship plaque.