EXETER, N.H. — The Hanover High girls lacrosse team’s bid for a state title came up just short on Tuesday night as the Bears fell to Winnacunnet 12-11 in the NHIAA Division II championship at William Ball Stadium.
Trailing by one goal with less than 20 seconds remaining, the No. 5 seed Bears had possession about 15 yards from the goal when a Warrior defender broke up a pass intended for cutting freshman Clare Higgins to take back possession and run out the clock, putting the game on ice.
“I’m so proud of this team,” said Bears head coach Sarah Martin after the loss, noting the youth of her seniorless squad.
“It took us a little while to gel, but they peaked at the right time. And what we were talking about in the huddle is we can’t wait for next year; everybody is coming back, everyone is determined to work hard,” she added.
Junior Cassidy Loughman was a star for the Bears in the loss, leading her squad in goals with seven. She also had 13 draw controls.
“She’s phenomenal,” Martin said. “She is truly our engine — she leads us in scoring, she leads us in ground balls, she gets all the draws, she sometimes has to mark up on the toughest attackers. … She’s going to make some collegiate program really good, and she’s only a junior.”
Junior Maeve Bradley, who scored twice, and junior Joia Collins and Higgins, who each had one goal, accounted for Hanover’s other tallies. Freshman goalie Rainey Fisher, who was battling an illness, had four saves on the night.
Things could not have started much better for Hanover as it marched out to a 4-1 lead by the end of the first quarter, especially considering the Bears scored just six goals against the Warriors in a 19-6 loss in the regular season two weeks ago.
The tide did change in the second quarter, though, as Winnacunnet fought back to the tune of a 7-0 scoring run to take an 8-4 lead with about three minutes remaining in the first half.
“We make a lot of silly errors sometimes — I had four freshmen at one point in that defensive end dealing with some of their really good attackers. And then I had a couple of freshmen cough the ball up; that’s what freshmen do,” Martin said.
The Bears did not crumble after the Warriors’ run, however, responding with a goal from Loughman and another from Bradley in the final 1:47 of the half to go into the break trailing 8-6.
Hanover carried its momentum into the third quarter and tied the game with 7:08 remaining on two goals from Loughman. But the Bears were unable to retake the lead for the remainder of the contest, ending their championship hopes.
Winnacunnet went on another scoring run, this time 3-0, to end the third quarter and entered the final 12 minutes of the contest leading 11-8.
The Bears cut their deficit to one twice in the final frame thanks to goals from Loughman but could not break through in the final moments to keep their season alive and force overtime.
“I think the girls feel so good about playing Winnacunnet to such a tight game — they’re an outstanding team,” Martin said. … “I’m over the moon — look out next year.”
