BEDFORD, N.H. — Mascoma High field hockey created more scoring opportunities, took more shots on goal and had four penalty corner chances in the first four minutes of play.
However, it wasn’t enough.
The No. 5 seed Royals fell, 1-0, on Sunday morning to No. 3 Bishop Brady at Bedford High’s Bulldog Stadium in the NHIAA Division III championship game.
Playing in their third straight title game, Mascoma (14-4-0) dominated possession but couldn’t overcome a Bishop Brady penalty stroke with 25 minutes, 21 seconds to play.
“When they start to get frustrated with themselves, back on their heels instead of staying on the balls of their feet, they just started getting frustrated,” Mascoma coach Jenn Hammond said. “I think we were a little bit too late.”
In 60 minutes of play, Hammond’s Royals were without senior leader Amelia Wilson for nine minutes due to two cards. The first, a green card, lasted two minutes. The second was a yellow card for pushing, forcing her out of the second half for seven minutes.
Teammate Morgan Towne also received a penalty, taking her out for two minutes with under 20 minutes to play. For a stretch of time in the second half, the Royals were down two players.
“I don’t have a problem if I feel like we’re outplayed, but two of my girls got cards for pushing,” Hammond said. “They didn’t push. I’d be the first one to say, ‘Yes, they pushed.’ They played clean, jabbing the way we’ve been working on it all year long.
“I’m not gonna say it’s the officials’ fault. When we first came out, we were a little flat, didn’t move the ball and execute as we should. I’ll gladly take the fault on that.”
Bishop Brady also gave the Royals an opportunity when one of its players missed the last four minutes of the game due to a card.
Mascoma sophomore goalie Emilie Conrad trapped the ball between her feet on the previous penalty corner, setting up the stroke opportunity. Libbey Hicks stepped in to take the stroke and hit a lift shot to the left corner.
“She doesn’t second-guess herself in that situation,” Bishop Brady coach Kelly Owen said.
The win marked the first championship in program history for Brady.
The loss wasn’t due to a lack of experience for Mascoma. The Royals won last year’s state title, the program’s first since 1983. Mascoma will lose Michaela Dowd, Nikki Williams, Mackenzie Labrie, Kayleigh Thurston and Wilson to graduation.
After a three-game losing streak in September, the Royals bounced back to win 12 straight, including Wednesday’s 2-0 semifinal defeat of Hopkinton.
Now Hammond will have to regroup with athletes who have never known anything other than playing for championships.
“It’s been an honor to coach them all these years, and they’re definitely going to be missed,” Hammond said. “Those are big shoes for that underclassmen to fill. I think, with a lot of hard work, and how bad they really want to fill those positions, that they can.”
Notes: Headed into the matchup, Mascoma had outscored opponents, 63-14. Forty-six of those goals came from the senior class. … The Royals finished Sunday with 15 penalty corners and 16 shots on goal. … Conrad only had to make five saves in goal. … Hammond said that the Royals practiced at Dartmouth on Saturday and rehearsed all six of Bishop Brady’s corner plays. The Green Giants didn’t convert any of their nine corner chances.
Pete Nakos can be reached at pnakos@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.