Goffstown girls lacrosse scores late to get beat Kennett in D2 quarterfinal

GOFFSTOWN - For a moment, Mia Brissette didn't know what she was going to do with the ball.

The Goffstown High School senior spun away from a Kennett defender and found herself alone for a moment.

But with a line of defenders between her and the goal, there was no way for her to get a shot off. Just as the Eagles started to close in, Brissette saw Sydney Lavoie cut through the open space.

Brissette got the ball to Lavoie, who continued on for a few steps until she had an open look.

“Mia was coming in,” Lavoie said. “I was cutting the bottom left and then I just shot it. That (goal) was because of teamwork.”

The ball found the back of the net with 1:13 remaining in Thursday's Division II girls lacrosse quarterfinal and No. 3 Goffstown made it hold up in a 9-8 win over No. 6 Kennett.

“I started getting super fast-paced and then Sydney just popped open,” Brissette said. “She got the pass, finished. I didn’t know if she was going to make it or not, but she did. Such immense relief there.”

The goal capped what was a back-and-forth game from start to finish. The game was tied at the end of each quarter, with the Grizzlies (10-5) leading by two goals in the third quarter only to see the Eagles (10-7) come back to tie it 7-7 before the end of the frame.

“Each time they scored, I was like ‘aw, they’re back in it,’” Brissette said. “And then we would score, and I was like ‘oh we’re back in it.’ It kind of was just like whoever scored that next goal, they had a ton of confidence and they had momentum.”

Brissette had two goals and two assists and Paige Winters had a goal and three assists for Goffstown while Lavoie and Ella Coletti, who scored the game-tying goal with 3:37 remaining, had two goals and an assist apiece. Stella Enman also scored twice.

“They play a great zone,” Goffstown coach Marisa McLaughlin said. “I think zone (defenses) are the perfect opportunity to test your team. Is it just one talented player or a team? You have to be a team.”

When the teams played in North Conway on May 26, the Grizzlies struggled to figure out that zone until late in the game, and their comeback came up short in a 12-9 loss to Kennett.

“We wanted a rematch,” McLaughlin said. “(The coaches) basically said nothing. We just let them do the talking, let them talk to each other and lead each other.”

Goffstown moves on to the semifinals for the first time in program history, where the Grizzlies will face No. 2 Winnacunnet, the defending champs, at 6 p.m. Saturday at Manchester Memorial High School.

The teams played in Hampton in the first game of the regular season, with the Warriors getting a 20-7 win.

“We went into that first game of the season, we couldn’t tell who we were, like how good we were,” McLaughlin said. “I think they’ve started to see they’ve earned the right to feel good about themselves. I’m excited to see them again.”