One goal enough for Hanover girls soccer to get past Bow, into D2 final

NASHUA - Things don't always go according to the game plan during the playoffs, and for the Hanover High School girls soccer team, that was quite all right Thursday night.

Pepper Joseph scored the only goal of the Division II semifinal after a scramble for the ball left her alone with it in front of the net, and the No. 5 Marauders made it stand to beat No. 1 Bow 1-0 at Stellos Stadium in Nashua.

The win sends Hanover (14-3-2) to the D2 championship game, where it will face No. 6 Milford at 12 p.m. on Sunday at Stellos.

"In a game like this, the plan doesn’t always come true," Hanover coach Doug Kennedy said. "It’s frantic sometimes. We don’t mark any particular person because we feel it takes us out of our game.

"We talked about how they play and what our assignments are, and where we think they’re weak points are and what we’re going to go after. Hopefully once in a while during the game, we get to go after something like that (goal)."

Joseph scored 6:08 into the second half after being in the right place at the right time.

"Charlotte (Johnson) went down and she passed the ball, and it was going to the goalie," Joseph said. "Riley (Craft) sprinted super hard to the ball and got there, looked up and crossed it. I was there and I was thinking ‘don’t sky it, don’t sky it.’ The goalie was out of the goal and it was crazy."

After the celebration ended, Joseph began waving her arms and yelling to her teammates.

"I was like ‘guys, guys, it’s not over,' " she said. "The game is not over. We can’t think that we’re winning this because Bow is such a good team. We had to stay in it, we had to stay smart, it’s not over until it’s over."

The Falcons (15-2-1), who had already had the majority of possession, increased their efforts after the goal, and despite getting a few good opportunities, couldn't capitalize, thanks to Hanover's backline and goalie Isabella Bardales.

"Bella has always been good and this year she’s been great," Kennedy said. "I thought we were on our heels a lot, but we stayed with and found away to do it, whether it was Bella making a save or a defender getting a last-second touch. We got there and we kept them away because they were, after we scored, on us the rest of the way."

Baradales finished with eight saves and Bow had a few other shots in the second half that sailed wide or over the net. With about nine minutes left, a Falcons' free kick got into the box and away from Baradales, but it was deflected wide.

"We gave it everything," Joseph said. "We played our hearts out and left everything on that field. It was frantic. People were trying to cover everybody. It was stressful and I knew we could do it."