Nashua, n.h.
Yet it wasn’t until the second half that Dzialo truly turned assertive, scoring three more to help the top-seeded Warriors clinch an 8-3 win over the No. 4 Marauders.
Sophomore Ali McNamara added a goal and four assists for Winnacunnet (18-1), which earned a date with Seacoast rival Portsmouth in Tuesday’s final at Southern New Hampshire University. The No. 2 Clippers — who in mid-May handed the Warriors their only defeat — took care of No. 6 Windham in Saturday’s early semi, 18-6.
Johanna Copeland scored twice and freshman standout Maddie McCorkle had a goal and an assist for Hanover (11-6), last year’s champion.
The Marauders were outshot just 17-15 and held a 7-6 edge in draw controls but couldn’t fully contain the Merrimack College-bound Dzialo, who became Winnacunnet’s all-time leading scorer during the Warriors’ quarterfinal win over Timberlane.
“It was nice that she got her 200th goal so early. We stopped the game and gave her the ball and it was a nice moment, but it took her a little while to get going after that,” said sixth-year Winnacunnet coach Michaela Hardy-Lemire, a former University of New Hampshire player. “In the second half, she showed that she’s a game-changer and can carry the team.”
Hanover led 6-0 in draw controls in the first half, yet still fell in a 3-0 hole. While the Warriors’ defense collapsed on McCorkle — she’d caught Hardy-Lemire’s attention last month with three goals during the Warriors’ 10-4 win in Hampton — Winnacunnet goalie Emily Larson was solid when challenged.
Larson turned away bids by Amelia Lubrano, Jessica Seibel and McCorkle, the latter off a restart at close range.
After Dzialo’s early goal, Hanover employed a stall-style offense, passing high in the offensive zone at one point for several minutes.
Winnacunnet didn’t bite, keeping its defense low and eventually forcing Hanover shots or turnovers.
“We knew we didn’t want to get in a track meet with them, not only because of their speed but because of their ability (to score),” said Marauders coach Chris Seibel. “You don’t usually see that strategy when it’s a one- or two-goal game in the first half, but we were trying to keep the ball away from them and make them challenge us.”
McNamara beat Hanover goalie Katelyn Hurd off a restart to make it 2-0, and Dana Sher added a shifty score to make it 3-0 with 4:15 left in the first half.
The Marauders got on the board 1:07 before halftime when freshman midfielder Hailey Fahey found Copeland across the middle, and Copeland was able to solve Larson with a low-angled shot.
“Down 3-1 at halftime, I still liked the position we were in, especially since we were doing so well with draw controls,” said Seibel. “We just had a hard time finding the back of the net.”
Any momentum Hanover built with its late first-half goal was reversed early in the second, when McNamara gathered a ground ball high in the defensive zone and zipped up the field, finding Sher for a bang-bang goal that beat Hurd high to make it 4-1.
“That was a turning point in the game for us,” said Hardy-Lemire.
“Hanover’s a good team with a lot of solid athletes, so you need to make big plays like that against them.”
That was the first of three goals in 2:55 for the Warriors, Dzialo and Kelly Arsenault adding the latter two strikes. Dzialo’s third made it 7-1 with 13:12 to play.
Hanover answered with two consective goals, McCorkle scoring with a bounding shot off a restart and Copeland adding her second on a feed from McCorkle.
Dzialo added her fourth, unassisted, with 8:33 to go and Larson turned away a number of strong Hanover bids in the final minutes.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.