> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Souhegan field hockey opens season with win over Merrimack Valley - URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/souhegan-field-hockey-opens-season-with-win-over-merrimack-valley/ - Published: 2019-09-04T13:46:32.000Z - Updated: 2019-09-04T13:46:32.000Z - Description: AMHERST - For almost 18 minutes Tuesday, the Souhegan and Merrimack Valley high school field hockey teams moved the ball back and forth on each other with nothing to show for it. But when the Sabers started playing to their strength, the game began to turn in their favor. After making a defensive st - Author: Joe Marchilena - Tags: Division II, field hockey, Merrimack Valley, slider, Souhegan, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44 AMHERST - For almost 18 minutes Tuesday, the Souhegan and Merrimack Valley high school field hockey teams moved the ball back and forth on each other with nothing to show for it. But when the Sabers started playing to their strength, the game began to turn in their favor. After making a defensive stop, Souhegan used its speed and passing to get ball quickly down field, and turned the breakout into the game's first goal with under 12 minutes to play in the first half. The score seemed to create some momentum and the Sabers carried it to a 4-0 win over the Pride in the Division II opener for both teams. "Overall, I think we played our system pretty well," Souhegan coach Kelli Braley said. "I think it took us a little while to get started. We have speed and I think it took a little bit for our speed to find its stride." Nicole O'Rourke scored the opening goal for Souhegan (1-0) and Juliette Rafuse scored twice, including a goal early in the second half that gave the Sabers a comfortable 3-0 lead. Ava Van Ballegooyen also scored off a corner with no time left on the clock to end the game and goalie Ellie Byram made two saves. Souhegan had nine corners while Merrimack Valley had just one, which came in the final 10 minutes of the game. The Pride got 11 saves from Rosemary Ostrowski, a couple of which came early to keep it a scoreless game. "I couldn’t be more proud of her," Merrimack Valley coach Jen Colgan said of Ostrowski. "Our defense did a good job carrying the ball out but we had those breakdowns that allowed for open shots and rebounds. "They had pockets where they played really well and pockets where our defense and counterattack fell apart. Souhegan did a really good job on the little things like passing and receiving and moving to open space. We have the ability to, but we did not do that (Tuesday). We got beat to the ball and they executed when they got to the ball." That was the case leading up to the first goal of the game. The Pride (0-1) got the ball into Souhegan's end and Reilly Swislosky got a ball through the defense toward the goal. Sadie Barton had a chance to tap it into the far corner, but couldn't control the ball before it went out of bounds. Moments later, the Sabers went the other way, and O'Rourke beat her defender to put a shot by Ostrowski and into the far side of the goal. "We had three players touch the ball before it found the net. It went from Carrie (Mastergeorge) to Juliett (Rafuse) to my left wing (O'Rourke)," Braley said. "That was great. Anybody who gets the first one in the season opener, you get the monkey off your back. For us, it’s always been the case where it takes one and then the flood gates open." Rafuse made it 2-0 a little more than five minutes later, but the Pride nearly got a goal back in the final seconds of the half. Down 2-0 at the break, Merrimack Valley tried to make adjustments, but Rafuse's second goal just 7:43 into the half made it tougher for the Pride. "Second half we didn’t come out the way we would have liked to and that carried through the second half," Colgan said. "I wish we would have had a little more offensive pressure in the second half. It’s still early and we’re still learning and we’re hoping to move forward, take somethings from this game and improve on them." Both teams are schedule to return to action on Thursday, as Souhegan hosts Portsmouth at 4:30 p.m. and Merrimack Valley hosts Hollis Brookline at 4.