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# Souhegan beats Derryfield in shootout to advance to D2 field hockey final (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/souhegan-beats-derryfield-in-shootout-to-advance-to-d2-field-hockey-final-video/
- Published: 2019-11-02T16:32:58.000Z
- Updated: 2019-11-02T16:32:58.000Z
- Description: EXETER - The Souhegan High School field hockey team had been playing a lot of defense in Friday night's Division II semifinal against Derryfield. But with the game still scoreless after 80 minutes, the Sabers needed goalie Ellie Byram to play just a little bit longer. With a shootout needed to deter
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, Derryfield, field hockey, playoffs, slider, Souhegan, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

EXETER - The Souhegan High School field hockey team had been playing a lot of defense in Friday night's Division II semifinal against Derryfield.

But with the game still scoreless after 80 minutes, the Sabers needed goalie Ellie Byram to play just a little bit longer.

With a shootout needed to determine a winner, Byram kept all four of the Cougars' shooters out of goal, while Miya Chorney and Juliette Rafuse scored on their chances, and No. 4 Souhegan knocked off No. 1 Derryfield 2-0 in the shootout for a 1-0 win at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter. The Sabers advanced to the final for the first time since 2007, where they will face No. 2 Hanover on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Bedford.

Byram had eight saves through regulation and the two 10-minute overtime periods, including a couple of stops where the senior came out to challenge Derryfield when it looked the Cougars might get an uncontested shot at the goal.

"El came up huge for us on a few occasions," Souhegan coach Kelli Braley said. "They had an onslaught of corners and that’s how they beat us in the regular season. My focus coaching was making sure we got back to what we did well defensively on that and not give up the same goals we did in the regular season."

After each team had two penalty corners in the first half, Derryfield (14-1-1) had 11 in the second half and two overtimes, including a stretch of six straight late in the final 13 minutes of regulation. Byram had three saves during that stretch and the Sabers' defense was able to keep Derryfield's Lindsey Stagg in check.

When the team's played in the regular season - a 3-0 win for the Cougars on Oct. 8 - Derryfield had scored on three of its five corners, with Stagg collecting two goals and an assist. On Friday, Souhegan focused on fixing the way it defended corners.

"(Stagg's) drives are probably the fastest I’ve ever seen," Byram said. "I think they were trying to do something very different. Izzy (Aiello) was our flier, and we knew going in, that ball is going to go to Lindsey Stagg. Just cover her and make sure she doesn’t get that drive, and (Aiello) did her job. She was awesome."

Aiello, along with Cari Mastergeorge, Sarah Geary, Avery Karavas, Margot Manz and Eva Stine, helped Byram keep Derryfield off the board and didn't give Stagg much room to breath during regulation.

"When I was going out and flying, I was making sure I was in a good body position," Aiello said. "We knew what their ideas were for their corners, so if I could just get a stick in front, just do something to delay (Stagg's) shot, because it’s so amazing, you’ve just got to be in front of it.

"A lot of it was, too, we changed our mindset of focusing on the whole team. If one person gets beat, that’s fine, we have another behind. A lot of times, if the fly didn’t get it, we had a second girl back to stop the ball. I think a lot of it was just playing as a team."

The shootout was the first in New Hampshire high school field hockey, after it was added to replace penalty corners as a way to break a tie before this season. Each team picked five players to take a turn and each got eight seconds to try to score.

Kira Geddes went first, but Byram was able to keep the Derryfield freshman from scoring, and Chroney followed by beating Cougars' goalie Olivia Bollengier to put Souhegan up 1-0\. Stagg went next for Derryfield, and Byram challenged her shot enough to force it wide to the far side of the goal.

Annika Madeja missed for the Sabers to keep it 1-0 after two rounds and Bella Matarese was unable to score for the Cougars. Rafuse gave Souhegan 2-0 advantage with a shot that cruised past Bollengier, and Charlotte Rohlfs couldn't get one past Byram on Derryfield's next attempt, giving the Sabers the win.

"I was not worried about (Byram) at all," Braley said. "I knew she’d be able to handle it. I felt like we a strong advantage there, I think, but (Derryfield) has some top-end shooters. A little bit of luck falls our way, El takes half a little step on an angle away, and it falls well for us. Some scary stuff for sure."