Souhegan field hockey beats Portsmouth in OT to advance to D2 semis

AMHERST - The penalty corner didn't start out anywhere near the way the Souhegan High School field hockey team wanted, but it couldn't have ended any better.

Madi Angulas saved the Sabers' best chance in overtime by slapping home a goal a little more than three minutes into overtime to lift No. 4 Souhegan to a 2-1 win over No. 5 Portsmouth in the Division II quarterfinals. The win sends the Sabers to the semifinals for the first time since 2011, where they will face No. 1 Windham, a 6-0 winner over No. 8 Merrimack Valley.

"I don't want to say the corner went wrong, but it was supposed to go to Lauren McCormick," Angulas said. "I hit it and hoped for the best. It felt as good coming off (her stick) as it did going in."

Kylie Charbonneau also had a goal for Souhegan (12-3) and McCormick assisted on both, as the Sabers overcame a 1-0 deficit at halftime to avoid losing in the quarterfinals for the third year in a row.

Portsmouth (10-4-2) got its goal from Brielle Schafroth-Bach with 1:41 left in the first half, with Katie Lacondro getting the assist. The goal was enough to put some bad thoughts into the head of Souhegan coach Kelli Warecki.

"I was nervous at the end of the first half," Warecki said. "I said in my head that we needed to score in that half and that didn't happen, so at halftime, we made adjustments and figured out how to put it in.

"We definitely got off to a slow start, which was concerning. Once they settled in, we controlled a fair bit of the play. Portsmouth is a very strong team and they're very conditioned. Overall, it was a really strong and hard-fought game. I'm proud of how my girls found that next level and got it done."

Charbonneau scored off a corner with 21:09 left in regulation to tie the game at 1, and it looked like the Sabers might get another goal right away, as they got another corner. But Portsmouth's defense stepped up and kept Souhegan from getting on the scoreboard again.

"They have a very strong defender in there (Colleen Durkin), who manages to be everywhere at once it seems like," Warecki said. "It's tough to get past her. When you feel the momentum go your way, you keep on pushing and maybe get a little ahead of yourself and don't quite get that last finish."

The Clippers had chances late to put the game away, getting a couple of corners in the final minutes, but couldn't get a shot off. With about 80 seconds left, Portsmouth pushed the ball in deep and it looked like it might roll into the goal, but Souhegan's Jaimie Cates swept the ball away.

Souhegan got a corner early in the overtime and Warecki was glad to see the Sabers put the game away on their first opportunity.

"When we work on our overtime setup, that’s one thing we push," she said. "It's sudden death, so get the ball in the net and then your job is done. Making sure we can end that, because a long, drawn-out overtime becomes a slow, sluggish thing. It was nice to end it quick."

Next up is defending-champion Windham (14-0-1), which defeated Souhegan in the season-opener 5-0.

"We're completely different," Angulas said of Souhegan since that loss. "We have a brand new team (after graduating 16 seniors) and our first game was rough. We didn't quite click, everything was a little rough because we'd only had a few days of practice. We're different and come full circle. Windham is a really good team, but we're excited to see them again."

The semifinal will be held Tuesday, with No. 3 Kennett and No. 2 Lebanon playing at 5 p.m. at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter. Souhegan and Windham will follow at 7 p.m.