LACONIA – Soon after taking over the Hopkinton girls’ soccer program this year, new coach Mike Zahn began to believe the Hawks had what it took to reach the Division III championship.
“When I first met these girls over the summer, and we did summer league with a bunch of other schools, I knew we had the skill and the ability in this division,” Zahn said, “and then it was just putting the parts together over time.”
All the parts were working smoothly on Tuesday night in the D-III semifinals at Bank of NH Stadium at Laconia High. That’s where No. 4 Hopkinton claimed a 3-0 win against defending-champ Raymond to earn a spot in Sunday’s final and turn belief into reality.
Freshman forward Jessie Carney scored two goals for the Hawks (15-3-1), substitute Lillie Presti scored the other and senior leaders Grace Clark and Ellie Morrall added assists. Hopkinton dominated possession on the clean-playing turf field, which helped goalie Amelia Bassett and the back line of junior Ellie Owen and freshmen Annie Higginbotham and Kally Murdough keep their clean sheet.
“The more we possess, the better off we are because it puts players on our team in better position so that when we do need to go play defense we can pressure the ball, so that was the game plan,” Zahn said.
The No. 8 Rams (12-7-0) and the Hawks both had their chances in the first 10 minutes, but after that Hopkinton started to assert control. The pressure was rewarded with a goal in the 26th minute when Morrall’s shot from 20 yards out tipped off the fingertips of Raymond goalie Savanna Demsey and caromed off the crossbar. The rebound came to Carney, who converted a tricky volley into a 1-0 lead.
“I just had the instinct in my mind that she might have a rebound, and I went in and got it and I was thankful it went in,” Carney said.
Five minutes later, Hopkinton doubled its lead. Clark created the scoring chance as she held off Raymond defenders to win a ball and then carried it inside the box. The Rams eventually knocked it from Clark, but Presti was there to pounce on the loose ball and dumped it in for a 2-0 edge with 9:37 left in the first half.
Raymond forwards Megan Dumont and Kathryn LaCasse looked dangerous on the counter all game, but the Hawks never gave up a good chance. That kind of air-tight defense has been Hopkinton’s calling card for most of the season. After allowing 10 goals in their first six games, the Hawks have allowed just four goals in their last 13.
That defensive turnaround cemented Zahn’s belief that began in summer league. And Carney’s second goal on Tuesday, when she used her speed to run down a ball behind the Raymond defense and used her touch to finish it with 19:25 to play in the second half, cemented Hopkinton’s plans for Sunday’s final.
The Hawks will face No. 2 Stevens (15-3-0) in the 4 p.m. championship in Laconia. The two teams split during the regular season with the Cardinals claiming a 1-0 win in Hopkinton on Sept. 22 and the Hawks winning in Claremont, 3-1, on Oct. 8.
“When we played at their place, that was the best I’ve ever seen our girls play, much better than tonight even, so it was impressive,” Zahn said. “All I want to do is be able to recreate that. Recreate 50 percent of that and they’ll be okay.”
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341 or tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20)