BEDFORD – They fell behind early, trailing by three just six minutes into Saturday’s semifinal. It was a start that could have paralyzed the Kearsarge girls’ lacrosse team. It could have reminded the Cougars of their slow start and loss to this same St. Thomas team just nine days earlier, or it could have reminded them of their three semifinal losses in the last three years.
Instead, it turned the Cougars tough.
“They went up three and we said, ‘okay, how can we respond, how can we come back and how can we fight?’ ” Kearsarge senior Anna Stowell said. “We said the team that wants it the most will win this game, and we decided we wanted it the most.”
The decision worked. The No. 3 Cougars tied things up by halftime, opened up a three-goal lead early in the second and held on for a 9-8 win against No. 2 St. Thomas (14-3). Finally, after three years of trying, Kearsarge (14-3) has broken through the semifinal round and will now face top-ranked Laconia in Wednesday’s Division III final.
“It’s an indescribable feeling,” Stowell said. “These seniors that I’ve been playing with the last four years, we’ve made it here every year but never won, never made it to the championship, and we’re going this year and I couldn’t be more happy.”
The Saints scored just 48 seconds into the game on a free position bounce shot from Reagan Williams (two goals). About two minutes later, they got a goal from Sarah Wade and with 19:08 left in the first half, Williams scored after carrying the ball for more than 70 yards.
The Cougars had chances to score between the second and third goal, but St. Thomas goalie Molly Glynn was stopping everything. Kearsarge finally broke through with 14:04 to go in the first when Jaclyn DeAngelis scored on a feed from Eleanor Angus (two goals, assist).
The Saints answered with a goal less than a minute later, but the Cougars countered with a three-goal run to tie things at four. The tallies came from Angus (12:46 left, assisted by Stowell), Stowell (11:16) and Leslie Angus (3:38). The teams traded goals in the final minutes of the half and went into the break deadlocked at 5-5.
“At halftime we said it’s a fresh start,” Stowell said. “They came out fired up in the first and now this is our half to come out fired up and control the game.”
Which is exactly what happened. Leslie Angus and Stowell both scored in the first two minutes of the second half after a series of dodges and jukes to the cage. And Stowell made it 8-5 with 20:13 left in the second off a smart assist from Maicy Hansen.
“The last time we saw (St. Thomas), they had the momentum for the majority of the game, and those three goals really set it rolling for us in the second half,” Kearsarge Coach Hilary Grimes said.
The Saints went a man-up on the ensuing faceoff and Kaylee Murray took advantage with a goal. The Cougars pushed the lead back to three when Kaileigh Davis scored a goal that would have made Bobby Orr smile – she swerved across the goal mouth and shot back in the direction she came as she leapt into the air, the ball landing in the back of the net as she landed on the ground.
The Saints scored off the next draw when Meredith Karsonovic batted in a rebound after a save by Anya Nowicki. It was a sign of things to come for Nowicki, who made several stops over the next 10 minutes to keep the lead at 9-7.
That’s where the score stayed until there was 2:13 left and Murray scored for St. Thomas. The Saints controlled the next draw and got off a quick shot, but Nowicki came up with another save.
St. Thomas was pressing in the closing moments, and the pressure only increased when Kearsarge went a man down after a yellow card. But, like they did when they trailed early, the Cougars responded under the pressure.
“We believe defense wins games and after that card, we said defense is going to win this game,” Stowell said, “and our defense showed it.”
That defense will be put to the test on Wednesday against a Laconia team that was on fire in its 18-11 semifinal win against No. 4 Derryfield and averaged 16.4 goals per game this year.
“I think we’ve got to have really strong, focused practices from here on out and we’ve got to show up with the same fire we had today,” Grimes said. “Maybe we need to connect with the ball a little bit more, but overall I think we looked great out there today.”
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341 or at tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20)