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# Second-half goals lift John Stark field hockey to win over Goffstown (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/second-half-goals-lift-john-stark-field-hockey-to-win-over-goffstown-video/
- Published: 2021-09-01T16:40:11.000Z
- Updated: 2021-09-01T16:40:11.000Z
- Description: WEARE - Dennis Pelletier needed to have a serious talk with the John Stark Regional High School field hockey team. At halftime of Tuesday's season opener, the Generals coach marched the team to the neighboring baseball field and into the dugout, the only real shade in the area. Whatever Pelletier a
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, field hockey, Goffstown, John Stark, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

WEARE - Dennis Pelletier needed to have a serious talk with the John Stark Regional High School field hockey team.

At halftime of Tuesday's season opener, the Generals coach marched the team to the neighboring baseball field and into the dugout, the only real shade in the area.

Whatever Pelletier and his charges discussed seemed to work.

After weathering pressure from Goffstown for a long stretch of the third quarter, John Stark took advantage of a quick counter to take the lead and Aubrey Fischer added two insurance goals in the fourth as the Generals opened the Division II season with a 3-0 win over the Grizzlies.

"After the second quarter, we had a very good Herb Brooks conversation in the dugout," Pelletier said. "We had a little bit of talking and complaining, and I said that’s not us.

"We had a terrible first quarter and you could see the nerves and the jitters. We switched our formation in the second quarter to a stronger midfield formation and it turned the game around. From that point on, I think we started to dominate, and from the second half, I thought our conditioning and athleticism showed and we controlled the game."

Adie Bolduc gave the Generals (1-0) the only goal they'd need with 5:59 left in the third, taking a pass from Isabella Pelletier in the middle of the circle and beating Goffstown goalie Molly Braica to the post. Fischer added her two goals in the first 5:32 of the fourth quarter, with Hailey Brisson picking up an assist as well.

Helen Connor made her first varsity start in goal and made five saves, as John Stark successfully defended four penalty corners for Goffstown. The Generals finished with five corners.

Braica and Maddie Brown, freshmen goalies who were seeing their first varsity action, split time in net and each made two saves. Jaiden Lacerte played well defensively while Grace Murphy and Makayla Strickulis helped Goffstown move the ball down field.

But while the Grizzlies (0-1) were able to keep possession on the Generals' side of the field for stretches, they struggled to get good chances.

"Unfortunately, we just weren’t consistent," Goffstown coach Jess Brown said. "I think as the game continued, whether we were tired or just misplaying a sequence or a ball, we got caught. John Stark did a nice job finishing, they had three really nice goals.

"For us, it’s tough to keep up when we’re not generating the same amount of shots on the other side. I felt like, especially when we had momentum, we never really got that final touch or dangerous shot off."

Each team dictated play for a quarter in the first half, with Goffstown getting off to a good start and John Stark responding in the second quarter. The Generals picked it back up to start the second half with an early corner and a couple of scoring chances, but couldn't get the tip they needed to finish.

Goffstown responded by moving play back into the John Stark end, but still couldn't get a good chance. It took a quick counter by the Generals to swing momentum.

"The big point in that one was Hailey (Brisson) carried the ball upfield and she got it to Isabella (Pelletier) down low," Dennis Pelletier said. "Sometimes we forget there are people open behind you and Bella turned and hit Adie (Bolduc) with that pass. That’s what we’ve been trying to get is more and more back passes."

The Generals carried that momentum into the fourth and Fischer increased the lead when she rocketed a shot through the circle and into the bottom left corner of the goal with 11:41 to play. Her second goal came on a similar play and made it 3-0 with 9:28 remaining.

"Once we got to three, we realized we need to just play the game," Fischer said. "We don’t need to worry about scoring as much because we had already gotten to three and there were about nine minutes left. We needed to play more defensive and keep possession. We did pretty good."