EXETER — The Hopkinton Hawks nearly pulled off the comeback of the tournament in the field hockey semifinals to topple top-seeded Gilford. They erased a three-goal deficit with ease, but came up short.
In the end, Gilford showed why they’ve been nearly unstoppable.
No. 4 Hopkinton (13-3-0) fell to Gilford, 6-4, in the Division III final four after equalizing twice during the game and clawing back in the hunt for a win on Thursday night.
“I think we put a good effort in; we worked hard to get to that tie. We were down by three and to come back that strong was pretty good,” Hawks head coach Kate Hohenberger said.
These two teams had a little history coming into the game. Gilford (16-1-1) beat Hopkinton earlier in the season, 3-2, and the offensive firepower on both ends promised action from the get-go.
Hopkinton field hockey last reached the state championship in 2021, when it went undefeated and beat Bishop Brady for the title. Gilford, on the other hand, won three consecutive state championships from 2022 to 2024 but failed to four-peat after losing to Hopkinton in the quarterfinals of last year’s postseason.
The Hawks started behind early.
Gilford senior Grace Southworth scored from a penalty shot into the top left corner seven minutes into the contest to start the action. Hopkinton answered quickly, though, as sophomore Alyson Dolfing poked a pass from Autumn Meier into goal less than two minutes later.
The game tilted heavily in favor of the Golden Eagles as they soared down the sidelines with pace. Senior Riley Coutts gave the Hawks’ defense headaches with her cuts up the right, and she found teammate Avah Mason twice across the middle of the circle to build a 3-1 lead at half.
Coutts and Mason connected once more 30 seconds into the second half to make the game 4-1, and Hopkinton could have crumpled right then and there.
They had other plans. Senior Lauryn Vetter helped mount a furious comeback after scoring from a rebound and later assisted sophomore Carlie Leino on a breakaway to bring the game within a goal after the third quarter.
One of Hopkinton’s most prolific forwards, senior Autumn Meier, had taken a green card earlier but came back from it and scored the 4-4 equalizer with a strong run up the middle and a powerful hit into the back of the boards.
“They went out there, and they scrapped, and they worked hard, and they looked for each other,” Hohenberger said about the comeback.
The Golden Eagles regrouped after Meier’s goal with 10 minutes remaining. Taking the ball down the other way, they earned a pair of corners and converted on both of them through strong shots by sophomore Kierra Walker.
Not being able to prevent or defend those corners cost Hopkinton the game late.
The Golden Eagles will face No. 3 Kearsarge (15-2-0) in the Division III championship on Saturday in Bedford. Gilford’s head coach Joy Southworth said she wants her team to keep their foot on the gas against the Cougars.
“They don’t ever quit, and that’s how they’ve trained all season long,” Southworth said.
