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# Portsmouth girls lacrosse comes back to beat Souhegan in OT (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/portsmouth-girls-lacrosse-comes-back-to-beat-souhegan-in-ot-video/
- Published: 2021-04-25T12:00:12.000Z
- Updated: 2021-04-25T12:00:12.000Z
- Description: AMHERST - There wasn't anyone in particular who was going to get the ball for the Portsmouth High School girls lacrosse team. So when Mia Smith saw a lane open up in overtime, she knew she had to take it. Smith's goal with 57.1 seconds left in the first extra session proved to be the difference and
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, Division I, girls lacrosse, Portsmouth, slider, Souhegan, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

AMHERST - There wasn't anyone in particular who was going to get the ball for the Portsmouth High School girls lacrosse team.

So when Mia Smith saw a lane open up in overtime, she knew she had to take it.

Smith's goal with 57.1 seconds left in the first extra session proved to be the difference and completed a comeback for the Clippers that saw them rally three times in the second half to beat Souhegan 11-10 on Saturday morning.

The Clippers started the overtime down a player, after Charlotte Marston picked up a yellow card in the final minute. After winning the draw, Portsmouth worked the ball around, trying to kill off the penalty.

"We were obviously down (a player), so we spent most of the three minutes killing the penalty," Smith said. "Once we were even, there wasn’t much time left, so we knew we had to make a play. We were passing it around, cutting off of each other, trying to get something open. A lane just opened up and I just took it."

Avery Ruhnke led Portsmouth (5-1) with four goals, including the final two in regulation to tie the game, while Smith and Sally Collins had two apiece. The Clippers trailed by three goals in the first half and by two twice in the second, including a 10-8 deficit with 6:30 remaining.

"When you’re down by two, you’re still in it," Portsmouth coach JoJo Curro said. "It was not that big of a lead to say the game is done. I told them we’re still in this. Dig in deep. You need to play the way we know you can play, and they really did. They took the challenge. We kept chipping in away."

Kellsie Flint, Sadie Alati and Maggie MacDonald also had a goal apiece and Arden Griffin made nine saves for Portsmouth.

Souhegan (3-3) got four goals from Abby Hawkes while Margot Manz added two goals and Cali Bishop, Kenzie Crestinger, Delaney Facques and Nicole O'Rourke had a goal apiece. Shannon Hargreaves made seven saves.

"I’m incredibly proud of their fight," Souhegan coach McKinley Sbordone said. "I think there are things early in the season that we need to fine-tune. We certainly have the tools, we just haven’t been able to jell and capitalize in the moments we need to. We are seeing the opportunities, we’re just not capitalizing."

The Sabers controlled possession for most of the first half, as they were 10 for 11 on draw controls and outshot Portsmouth 22-7\. All four of the Clippers' goals in the first half came off a free position.

Hawkes scored twice in less than a minute to give Souhegan a 6-3 lead with 2:29 left until halftime, but Ruhnke scored with 44.5 seconds remaining to make it a two-goal game at the break. Collins netted her second of the game just 11 seconds into the second half to cut the lead to one.

"Being able to get the score closer going into the second half and having that last goal of the first half, we kind of had the upper hand going into it," Smith said. "We knew we had to keep that momentum and build off it."

Souhegan went back up two on O'Rourke's goal, but Portsmouth scored twice in 1:03 to tie the game at 7 with 17:53 remaining. It looked like the Clippers might retake the lead when the Sabers' Sierra Kimball was assessed a yellow card.

But Souhegan killed off the penalty and Manz scored with 14:51 remaining to put the Sabers back in front. Alati drew Portsmouth even a little more than two minutes later, but Manz added her second goal to make it 9-8.

The teams traded chances after that before Hawkes scored with 6:30 remaining to give Souhegan 10-8 lead, but momentum shifted after that. Kimball picked up her second yellow card with 4:45 to play and it took just four seconds for Ruhnke to score, getting Portsmouth within one.

The Sabers got the ball back and tried to kill some time, but turned it over and the Clippers tied it on another goal by Ruhnke with a minute left in regulation. Souhegan won the draw, and after Marston went off on a yellow card with 44.7 seconds left, it looked like the Sabers would hold for a final shot.

Instead, Portsmouth forced a turnover, giving the Clippers a final chance, but Ruhnke's shot at the buzzer was off the mark.

"We wanted that last-shot opportunity and we wanted to draw them out and find that open person, since we had a manup advantage," Sbordone said. "But we played a little scared, we doubted our sticks and gave them that turnover, so we didn’t get the shot."

Portsmouth won the draw to open overtime, but with 1:16 left on the penalty, the Clippers worked the ball around, keeping it away from any Souhegan double teams. When the penalty finally ended, Portsmouth went to work.

"I think we came out with a smart tactic and it worked," Curro said. "Anyone that was in on that I trust fully. Anyone of them could have had that last shot."

Smith had it and took it.

"I knew we needed a goal," she said. "All my teammates were trusting me to take it. There was an open spot, so I just took it."