HOPKINTON – To make the playoffs in an inaugural season is an accomplishment for any team in any sport. You’d think that winning that playoff game, especially against the defending champions, would be a stretch. But that is exactly what the Concord Christian Academy girls’ lacrosse team did.

The No. 5 Kingsmen (12-4) and No. 4 Hopkinton Hawks (11-4) were locked in a tight battle throughout Thursday’s Division III quarterfinal, a game that saw 15 lead changes and eight ties, but Concord Christian scored four consecutive goals late in the second half to secure a 17-13 victory.

The Kingsmen will play No. 1 Bow (16-1) in Saturday’s semifinal at Bank of New Hampshire Stadium in Laconia.

No team led by more than two goals until late in the game. The score was tied, 6-6, at halftime, and again at 10-10 with 12:59 left in the game.

CCA scored a pair of goals to lead 12-10, its first two-goal lead of the game. The Hawks and Kingsmen traded some more goals to make 13-12 before sophomore Lilli Carlile, freshman Sarah Muir, junior Megan Muir and sophomore Lylah Shumway found the back of the net in the final six minutes of the game to make it 17-12.

Led by senior Rose Finlayson (three goals, three assists, two ground balls, draw control, two draw possessions), sophomore Sydney Westover (four goals, assist, ground ball, seven draw controls, 15 draw possessions), juniors Katie Brown (three goals, ground ball, two caused turnovers, four draw controls) and Sarah Chodosh (goal, two assists, ground ball, 4 draw controls), and freshmen Ava Burns (goal, four ground balls, two draw controls) and Maeve Owens (goal, caused turnover), Hopkinton was in command of possession early, taking a 3-1 lead over the first nine minutes of action.

Junior Izzy Afflerbach and freshman Helen Yeaton led the Hawk defense, while freshman goalie Hallee Schoch made eight saves.

With very little lacrosse experience to fall back on, Concord Christian has to rely on team chemistry, strong on-field communication, and endurance to be competitive. It’s a similar strategy to the one that led the seven-player CCA girls’ varsity basketball team to a championship this past winter. So far it’s also working on the lacrosse field.

“It’s fantastic to be here in our first season,” head coach Janine Muir said. “It’s such a pleasant surprise. It’s a testament to the girls’ selflessness. They play like a team. All 12 positions are a threat. That’s why we’ve been successful. They don’t have a lot of years of experience behind them. I only have two players who (played lacrosse) before we began this program. We’ve made players out of athletes. They’ve come together and jelled. … We run a lot of endurance in our practices. We knew we’d be a (strong second-half) team. We knew that if we could even end the first half even, it would be our second half.”

The Kingsmen also learned a lot from their first game against the Hawks, an 18-10 win for Hopkinton on May 16. Thursday’s quarterfinal started in a similar way, with Finlayson – a First Team All-State attack – making strong runs with the ball up the field. 

“(Finlayson) is a very strong runner,” coach Muir said. “We had to figure out how to shut her down. We started (marking) her further up the field to slow down the run and give our middies a chance to fill in.”

Concord Christian was able to figure that out early against Hopkinton, and the Kingsmen hope to do the same against Bow on Saturday. The top-ranked Falcons won their May 12 meeting, 16-6.

“We’re going to try to very quickly assess where their strengths are and where we need to make some quick adjustments,” coach Muir said. “Our defense is so good about regrouping and talking. As you see, as the ball moves to the other side (of the field), they convene. And they figure it out.”

As for the Hawks, this season marks the first time Hopkinton will be absent from the D-III title game since 2017. The Hawks played in four straight finals from 2018-22, with championship victories in 2019 and 2022.

“Concord Christian came to play. They beat us on ground balls, they beat us on draw control. It was a good game. Hat’s off to them,” said Hopkinton co-head coach Gus Madden, who took over the program with co-coach Bob Brown this season. “As coaches, we’re going to look at our performance, see what we can do to improve. After our first year, we’ll be ready to hit the ground running. I’m really proud of all our players and all the hard work they put in this year. They’re a really fun team, they had great team spirit and attitude, and they played some beautiful lacrosse this year.”

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