Bedford, n.h.
It happened again. The only difference was the opponent.
Derryfield School junior Lindsey Sagg, a University of Michigan commit with a game-changing combination of stick skills and speed, scored the game’s only goal in a 1-0 victory over the No. 4 seeded Marauders in Sunday’s NHIAA Division II championship game at Bedford High. The title is Derryfield’s first in D-II, four years removed from moving up after three straight D-III titles from 2010-12. The Cougars lost to Windham in the 2016 D-II championship game in double overtime.
For Hanover, the loss felt like a recurring nightmare.
The Marauders fell, 1-0, to top-seeded Windham in last season’s final, in which a late goal by senior Hannah Curtis was waived off after the officials determined the shot traveled higher than the allowed 18 inches off the ground.
One year later, same situation. Hanover finally turned the tide of a second half that was largely played on its defensive side of midfield with back-to-back corners, one of them coming with the clock expired. Rules allow for corners to be played out, even with the clock at zero, so the Marauders faced an all-or-nothing scenario.
Senior Lois Schwarz took an inbounds pass and fired a shot toward goal. The ball bounced off of Derryfield’s Stagg and cleared. Hanover players and coaches argued the play called for another corner attempt. Officials seemed to conclude that the shot was too high off the ground to constitute another corner. Derryfield’s celebration ensued.
“I don’t really know,” Essex said. “I don’t know what they called. I think they called that it was too high off the initial shot, but I’m not really sure.”
Hanover finished the game with four shots on five corners but was unable to solve Derryfield goaltender Olivia Bollengier and the Cougars’ defense.
“I think Derryfield is a great team,” Essex said. “They took us out of our game, it took a while for us to find our rhythm. We certainly came on strong and woke up. It was a great game down to the end. That’s what you want.”
Stagg’s goal, her 35th of the year, came 10 minutes, 51 seconds into the first half, a turnover in front of the circle that Stagg directed to her backhand, then fired a missile into the right corner.
“Lindsey’s just an impact player,” Derryfield coach Lenny McCaigue said. “She’s a game-changer, a game-winner. … She’s a penalty-corner specialist because she can execute those so well.”
Derryfield finished its season 15-1-1 overall, winning its final eight games with seven shutouts.
“Obviously, we want to find the right balance between success and challenge,” McCaigue said of his team’s transition to D-II from D-III. “It took a year, we were maybe 8-7, something like that, in our first year. The biggest difference is you have to play for 60 minutes, completely 60 minutes, every game.”
Hanover goaltender Ella Edmonds made four saves, three in the second half with Derryfield buzzing. The Marauders finished their season 13-3-1 overall.
“I tell them all the time, anybody who coaches knows this: It’s hard to get to the state finals. It’s hard to get to the state finals two years in a row,” Essex said. “We had to rebuild. We had to regroup. We had some key returning players, but we had a lot of new players to the team.
“I’m very proud of what they did. They stayed focused. They took a couple of losses at the end of the season that could have done them in. They were mentally strong. They rallied. They went so deep against Plymouth (in the quarterfinals), and then they took out the No. 1, undefeated team (Kennett) in the state. It’s disappointing, but it’s nothing to not be proud of.”
The Marauders lose Lois and Diana Schwarz, Jasmine Lou, Ella Chapman, Aiden Stone and Kaylei Cardona to graduation. Hanover graduated six from last year’s squad. Goaltender Edmonds returns for her senior season, as does talented winger Macy Curtis. The Marauders are still looking for their first state title since 2009.
“We lost some key seniors last year,” Essex said. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. The journey starts right now.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.