Bedford, n.h.
Then, pandemonium. As if Mascoma was going to let a crowd like that go home empty-handed.
Royals junior forward MacKenzie Labrie redirected a long-range shot from sophomore Natalie Poitras past McCluskey and into the back of the net with 7 minutes, 8 seconds remaining in the second half, lifting top-ranked Mascoma to a 1-0 victory over No. 2 Hopkinton at Bedford High School’s Bulldog Stadium. The goal came on Mascoma’s 15th shot of the game; it finished with 16 shots on goal and 10 corners.
“I saw Natalie hit it, and I just stuck my stick out,” Labrie said on her game-winning, title-clinching goal. “I was like, ‘I hope this goes in.’ And it did.”
And just like that, a field hockey title drought lasting 3½ decades was over.
It had been 35 years — going back to 1983 — since the Royals last celebrated a state championship-winning season. Mascoma’s Class A opponent in the ’83 championship game: Hopkinton. The score: 1-0, on a Gina Katavolos goal 27 seconds into the second half at Concord’s Memorial Field.
It was the first state crown for a school only in its 20s, one that now owns 11 crowns across field hockey, softball and boys and girls basketball.
“It’s super sweet for me, because I played on a championship at Mascoma way back,” Mascoma head coach Jenn Hammond said. “To be the coach of a championship team, and a player, it makes it even more special.”
Added Mascoma senior defender Bella Kondi on the title drought: “It’s remarkable. I think it’ll push all the other sports to do that, because it’s been so long. If you want it, you can do it. I think it sets a pace for the other teams.”
It was Mascoma’s second straight appearance in the D-III final, one year after falling, 2-0, to Newfound. Last year’s Cinderella story — the Royals as a 10th seed making a run to the championship game — turned the Royals into a forced to be reckoned with. They finished the season 16-1 overall, losing only to D-II neighbor Hanover.
“It was a lump in my throat, but also it was like there was a candle under my butt – something like that,” Kondi said. “A push to get here, to do what we did here today and win.”
The Royals peppered McCluskey with 11 shots and pressured the Hopkinton defense with four corners in the first half but went into halftime empty-handed in a scoreless tie.
Frustration, Labrie said, was hard to ignore at half.
“A lot (of it), not just during halftime,” Labrie said. “We definitely were getting frustrated. I know (the Hawks) were getting frustrated. It happens all the time. We get in our heads. They were getting in their heads. It was a fight.”
Added Hammond: “We missed a lot of passes on the post, so that was a little bit of frustration. It seemed, at first, we were a step behind. At halftime, we talked about what we had to do to get that step ahead of them. … We were able to move some people around, get some fresh legs and go from there.”
Mascoma fired six more shots on McCluskey before finally breaking through with Labrie’s 12th goal of the season, her third in as many postseason games. Hopkinton (13-4-0) finished the game with one shot and three corners. Royals goaltender Abby Duhaime fended off the only shot she faced.
Mascoma graduates four from its 15-player varsity roster, including Kondi, Duhaime, forward Katie Pushee and forward Morgan Prentiss. Kondi said she is looking at continuing her playing career at Framingham State University in Massachusetts.
The Royals, she said, are in good hands.
“I definitely think they’ll still be a strong team next year,” Kondi said. “With Sophia Guziewicz, Paige Jette, Lilly Bennett and Michaela Dowd, the whole crew minus the four of us, I think they’ll still be a kick-butt team.
“I honestly feel so refreshed right now, because of last year and losing. Today, it was just a do-over. It feels absolutely amazing.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.