Gilford was 'relentless' in its quest for a 3rd-straight D3 field hockey title

BEDFORD - Going into Saturday's Division III championship game, the Gilford High School field hockey team had allowed just five goals in the previous 16 games.

One of those came against the Golden Eagles title-game opponent, Bishop Brady, back in their second meeting of the regular season.

That game on Sept. 19 ended in a 3-1 win for Gilford, and just moments into the third quarter of the final, it looked like the Giants got another one on a penalty corner. It was eventually waved off by the officials, who correctly determined Bishop Brady's Mady Savary was outside the circle when she took the shot and no one touched it on the way into the goal.

It was the closest the Giants would come to scoring on Gilford in the final, and in fact, the Golden Eagles scored the only goal of the second half to secure a 2-0 win and their third straight D3 title.

But Bishop Brady's inability score certainly wasn't from a lack of trying or a lack of opportunities.

After Gilford had a 7-0 edge on corners in the first half, the Giants flipped the tables and had 12 corners in the second half; the Golden Eagles had none.

"It was pretty tough, but our defense is pretty strong," Gilford senior Lilly Winward said. "Go as hard as I can, keep pushing (on the corners). Get the ball or get a touch so that way Liv (Keenan) can come in and take it."

Winward and Keenan teamed up to help keep Bishop Brady from taking advantage of all those corners.

"We go all out," Keenan, also a senior, said. "We say to each other ‘let’s go.’ Lilly is so strong on flying. I’m behind her, so I have her back. No matter how tired you are, you just have to keep going. I’m a senior, this is my last game, my last time playing, so I just wanted to leave it all out there."

That attitude was something Gilford found a way to bring to the table in every game this season, regardless of what was going on or off the field.

"These girls are relentless," Gilford coach Joy Southworth said. "They have that no-quit in them. If they’re going to have corner after corner on them in the defensive end, they’re not going to give up. They do not settle, they just keep fighting. That’s what they do."

Keenan had the game-winning goal midway through the first quarter on a corner the Golden Eagles installed before the championship game. The second goal was a good example of the team's relentlessness, as Gilford got the ball out of its own end and Grace Kelly followed the play to score off a rebound early in the fourth quarter.

"We had some momentum and some quick restarts that were able to get us that last goal," Southworth said. "Only the two best teams make it to this night and only one goes home with a title.

"I hope they remember that hard work and nothing worth having comes easy. This championship, getting to play in it and the ability to win it, that certainly did not come easy. Each day was a grind and they knew if they keep grinding they could get to the top."