Hollis Brookline girls lacrosse upsets top-seeded Winnacunnet to reach D2 title game

NASHUA - Olivia Valentine wanted to play her best game in Saturday's Division II semifinals for her Hollis Brookline High School girls lacrosse teammates.

The first time the No. 4 Cavaliers faced top-seeded Winnacunnet, things didn't go so well for Valentine or HB.

The Cavs more than made up for it this time around, getting out to an early lead and holding on long enough for an 11-9 win over the Warriors at Stellos Stadium. The win sends HB to the championship game, where it will face No. 2 Portsmouth on Tuesday.

It's the program's first title-game appearance since winning the second of back-to-back Division III championships in 2010, and the semifinal win came against a Winnacunnet team that beat HB 19-3 a little more than two weeks ago.

"We’ve put in a ton of time, a ton of effort, a ton of film work, and we know what we’re going against," HB coach Jim Maxwell said. "These girls did everything they could. It’s all heart and all emotion, and these guys didn’t get too low when (Winnacunnet) is coming back. We pushed forward."

Valentine was at the front of that, coming up with 10 saves, several from in close, including one on Winnacunnet's Ali McNamara in the final minutes to help preserve a one-goal lead for the Cavs (13-4).

"I never want to let my team down," Valentine said. "They put in all their effort, so it’s only fair that I put in just as much. I want to make my team proud. I do everything in my power to not let them down. I see that ball, save it and make the clear."

HB also got four goals from CeCe Fetter and two goals from Paisley Broadhurst, including one with 8:13 to play that gave the Cavs a 10-6 lead.

The Warriors (16-2) got two goals from Dana Sher in less than two minutes after that to cut the lead in half and a goal by Keeylan McNamara with 3:38 to play made it a 10-9 game.

"Especially at the end, the clock could not go slower," Fetter said. "You can’t ever get ahead of yourself. Lacrosse is such a fast-paced game, you could get four goals in two minutes and turn it right back around."

Valentine's big save helped set up a goal by Rachel Cerato with 6.7 seconds left that put the game away from HB. Abbey Magnuszewski added a goal and an assist for the Cavs while Brooke Allanach, Kelsey Sweeney and Tasha White also had a goal apiece.

"She saved us," Fetter said of Valentine. "All those free positions, she had so many (saves). She was a huge, huge part."

Winnacunnet got four goals from Ali McNamara while Sher finished with two and Keeylan McNamara, Sarah Taylor and Anne Rademacher had a goal apiece.

It was only the second time this season the Warriors were held to fewer than 11 goals and just the third time they allowed more than 10. And despite losing to Winnacunnet by 16 goals, the Cavs believed they could compete this time around, according to Maxwell.

"The effort that these kids have put in in the last few weeks," he said. "Back when we played them, we thought we’d see them again. The biggest thing was the nerves. Once we got the first couple of goals (that changed). When they were warming up, they were nervous, and once those first few goals went in, it was just a lacrosse game."

HB was able to get out to a 3-0 lead in the first half and never trailed. Winnacunnet cut the lead to 4-3, but the Cavs got two goals back to go up 6-3 with 5:07 left until halftime. Taylor scored to make it a two-goal game with 3:58 left in the half, but Allanach got the lead back to three, scoring with 5.9 seconds left in the half.

"The first goal sets the tone for the game, so the fact we got the first goal, the second goal, then the third goal, made it," Fetter said. "That was our momentum. It’s all about momentum. You’ve got to keep your spirits up, keep the morale up, and keep the goals going."

Valentine agreed that getting the first few goals was a big boost for the Cavs.

"If it was back-and-forth, (the confidence) wouldn’t have been there as much," she said. "It definitely motivated us way more and that was our advantage."

The Warriors got within two goals twice in the early part of the second half, but Fetter and Broadhurst got back-to-back goals to put the Cavs up four, 10-6. After Winnacunnet cut the lead to one, Maxwell took a timeout and stressed how important the ensuing draw was.

"The biggest thing was that that was the most important draw that we’d had all season," the coach said. "I thought we were going to come up with it and we didn’t."

Instead, the Warriors broke out the other way and Valentine came up with one more big save to keep HB in front.

"Our defense went down and locked it down, which is what we needed them to do," Maxwell said. "Our goalie was incredible (Saturday). She’s the person no one talks about, but she is the center of this team. She works hard, she works very hard."