St. Thomas keeps coming back to beat Gilford, capture D3 girls lacrosse title (video)

LACONIA - Megan Leahy lined up on the 8-meter arc, her St. Thomas Aquinas High School girls lacrosse team in a position it hadn't been in all season.

With time ticking away late in the third quarter of Thursday's Division III championship game, Leahy had a chance to give the Saints their first lead of the game on this free position.

Not only did the senior do it, she added two more goals for good measure.

Leahy scored three goals in the final 1:10 of the third quarter to give No. 1 St. Thomas the lead for good, and the Saints defense shutout No. 3 Gilford for the final 19-plus minutes to take a 13-8 win in the final at Bank of NH Stadium in Laconia.

It's the first title for St. Thomas in its third appearance in the D3 title game, including a 20-5 loss to Bow last season. The Saints also fell to Portsmouth in the final in 2008.

"It changed things completely," Leahy said of her run. "Our energy going into the fourth quarter was let’s just finish this off. I think we were going into the game completely frantic, but when we hit the fourth quarter, we were like this is our game. Going into it up, it sealed the deal for us."

Leahy finished with a game-high six goals for the Saints (17-0) while Charlotte de Tolla had four goals and an assist and Cat Vetter had a goal and five assists. Lizzy Holden scored both of her goals in the fourth quarter, off assists from Vetter, to put the win away and Brea Barker made 10 saves.

Barker and the defense around her - Juliana Grella, Ava Lyder, Maddie McMahon and Grace Talbot - overcame a tough start that saw Gilford (14-3) jump out to a 4-0 lead before St. Thomas was able to regroup.

In a season where the Saints weren't tested every game on that side of the ball, being able to bounce back was a big moment.

"They had a phenomenal game and have worked so hard," St. Thomas co-coach Jen Carroll said. "That four, I don’t think we subbed them at all. (Grella) took all of the draws, and then jumped back on defense. Their ability to work together and communicate, they came up huge so many times. They were very well prepared and they do a very good job of hyping each other up."

Olivia Keenan led Gilford with two goals and two assists and Lilly Winward came up with some key saves in goal. But after having a multiple-goal lead in each of the first three quarters, the Golden Eagles couldn't find the offense in the fourth.

"I never had doubt with these girls," Gilford coach Jen Watson said. "Some of them play field hockey, some of them play soccer, and they’ve been to championship games before. They are probably one of the most composed teams I’ve ever coached. When they settle and they play their game, they are unstoppable. They’ve impressed all of us this year with their worth ethic, their tenacity, their perseverance. That’s who these girls are."

After Gilford scored the first four goals, St. Thomas ended the first quarter on a 3-0 run, including a goal by Leahy with one second remaining, to make it 4-3 going into the second.

Goals by Keenan and Addison Normandin to open the second gave the Golden Eagles a 6-3 lead, but the Saints chipped away. De Tolla scored twice to make it 6-5 and Leahy tied it with 1:07 left in the half.

Gilford came out of the second half winning draws and got goals from Calia Blackey and Abigail Watson just 45 seconds apart to go up 8-6 with 7:33 left in the third quarter. The Golden Eagles had a chance for more, but a save by Barker kept it a two-goal game and led to a score by Vetter that made it 8-7.

The Saints won the draw and de Tolla tied it at 8 just 40 seconds after Vetter's goal.

"It was very tough, but I will say, our defense kept us in that game completely," Leahy said. "They were killing it on their fast breaks. We had a harder time trying to figure it out, because we’ve been blowing teams out."

With 1:13 left in the third, Leahy was knocked down inside the 8-meter by Caroline Guest and the Gilford senior received her second yellow card of the game, leaving the Golden Eagles without their top defender the rest of the way.

Leahy made the free position and added two more goals - both on assists from Vetter - in the final 40 seconds to give St. Thomas an 11-8 lead.

"That was huge," St. Thomas co-coach Jill Carroll said. "This group, they get nervous, and you can tell at the beginning of the game. Once they get the momentum going, they’re more relaxed and they’re more comfortable with each other, there is really no stopping them."