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# Hanover girls soccer beats Milford on penalty kicks to take D2 crown
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/hanover-girls-soccer-beats-milford-on-penalty-kicks-to-take-d2-crown/
- Published: 2018-11-05T12:00:11.000Z
- Updated: 2018-11-05T12:00:11.000Z
- Description: NASHUA - Bella Bardales has enough experience with penalty kicks to know that she didn't want to have to deal with them again. But as time continued to tick away in Sunday's Division II girls soccer championship, and the scoreboard at Stellos Stadium still had a pair of zeros on it, that's exactly w
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, championship, girls soccer, Hanover, Milford, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

NASHUA - Bella Bardales has enough experience with penalty kicks to know that she didn't want to have to deal with them again.

But as time continued to tick away in Sunday's Division II girls soccer championship, and the scoreboard at Stellos Stadium still had a pair of zeros on it, that's exactly where Bardales and the No. 5 Hanover High School team was headed.

After the first three shooters for the Marauders found the back of the net, and two of Milford's first three hit pipe, Hanover had the advantage. The Spartans got another to keep the shootout going, but on their fifth attempt, Bardales made a diving grab off the foot of Milford's Mikayla Thompson.

It took a moment for the Marauders to realize what happened, but they mobbed Bardales in front of the net, celebrating a 3-2 final on penalty kicks that gave Hanover a 1-0 win over Milford. The title is the third in five years for Hanover.

It was also the third time in their last five playoff games that the Marauders (15-3-2) have had to go to penalty kicks. They lost in last year's semifinal to Bow, but got win in the quarterfinals over Oyster River this season.

"I didn’t want to go to PKs," Bardales said. "It’s nerve wracking, but it all worked out. We work on PKs every practice. It helped me a lot (having done it before). The fans, I blocked it out. Everyone is screaming and I can just focus on the shooter."

The Hanover goalie was a big reason the game remained in a deadlock for so long, as the sophomore and the rest of the defense withstood an onslaught by Milford (12-4-4) throughout the game. The Spartans had six corners, while Bardales registered just seven saves, Milford had a couple of shots hit the crossbar, or go just wide of the goal.

"Early in the game, I thought we started off well, but we were tired, honestly," Doug Kennedy said. "We got a little bit on our heels, but we held them off. It means you’re under constant pressure, you’re working extremely hard and there’s never a break. Credit to them. It’s a big day, and they managed to keep it out of the goal."

Milford coach Russ Matthews thought his team had its opportunities and did everything it wanted to, except score.

"That’s the game," he said. "You play like that and still come away with a loss, that’s the torturous part of the game. We played exactly how we wanted to. We put some shots on. We did everything but put the ball in the back of the net."

Hanover had a chance to score early in the game, but Milford goalie Katie Lorden tipped a shot by Charlotte Johnson over the net. But from there, it was the Spartans who had the best opportunities in the first half, including two for Syd Thibault in the final minutes of the half.

Lorden made two plays coming out of the net to take the ball away from Hanover and end a scoring threat, and at the other end, Thibault beat two Hanover defenders and saw her shot stopped by Bardales.

"She has been under the radar until this year," Kennedy said of his goalie. "She was good and athletic last year, but she added elements to her game last year, but has clearly been a major factor for us this year. And in a year you’re not scoring as many goals as you want, you need to have a good goaltender."

Casey McGuire, Bryn Kable and Johnson each scored on the penalty kicks for Hanover, while Milford's Emmy Sullivan and Ashleigh Matsis each scored.