Cavs, Sabers lead locals in to girls soccer tourneys

The Hollis/Brookline High School girls soccer team challenged itself by moving up to Division I this season, and at least for the regular season, the Cavaliers proved they belong.

H/B earned the No. 2 seed in the Division I playoffs by compiling a record of 14-1-1 and a bye into the quarterfinals, which will be played Saturday at 3 p.m. The Cavs, who haven’t allowed a goal in their last eight games, will face the winner of No. 7 Pinkerton and No. 10 Dover in that game. H/B defeated Dover 4-0 on Sept. 24 and knocked off Pinkerton 2-0 in the last game of the regular season.

Also on that side of the bracket, Alvirne (6-8-2) earned the 11th seed and will face No. 6 Londonderry (10-4-2) in the preliminary around at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. The Lancers won the regular-season meeting 2-0 in on Oct. 12. The winner of that game will face No. 3 Salem, which received a bye into the quarterfinals.

Bishop Guertin (8-7-1) is the No. 8 seed and the Cardinals will host No. 9 Concord (7-7-2) at 3 p.m. on Wednesday; the teams did not meet in the regular season. The winner will get to face No. 1 Exeter in the quarterfinals at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Merrimack (7-9) is the 12th and final seed and the Tomahawks will take on No. 5 Manchester Central (11-5), also at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, in Manchester. The Little Green won in the regular season, beating the Tomahawks 5-1 on Oct. 15. The winner will face No. 4 Winnacunnet in the quarterfinals.

Division II

Souhegan earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament by going 13-3 in the regular season. The Sabers started the year 8-0 but lost three of four before winning their final four games. They’ll take on No. 14 Merrimack Valley (7-9) at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Amherst; the teams didn’t play in the regular season. The winner will face either No. 6 St. Thomas or No. 11 Pembroke in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Bedford (12-3-1) ended up with the No. 7 seed and will host No. 10 John Stark (9-6-1) in the preliminary round at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The two teams didn’t meet during the regular season. The winner will advance to take on the winner of No. 2 Lebanon and No. 15 Bishop Brady in the quarterfinals.

Milford (10-6) enters the tournament at No. 9 and will travel to take on No. 8 Hanover (8-3-4) in the opening round at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. The Marauders won the regular-season meeting with the Spartans 3-1 on Sept. 20. The winner of that game will take on the winner of No. 1 Goffstown and No. 16 Trinity.

No. 4 Portsmouth will host No. 13 Laconia in the preliminary round, with the winner moving on to face either No. 5 Oyster River or No. 12 Sanborn in the quarterfinals.

Division III

The NHIAA is experimenting with open tournaments in several Division III sports, so any team that wished to participate was allowed to. Play-in games took place last Friday to determine the final eight teams for the preliminary round of playoff games. There were seven play-in games, fewer than the boys because there were less girls teams in Division III this year. The only lower seeds to win were No. 13 Kingswood, 3-0 over No. 12 Stevens, and No. 16 Raymond, 2-0 over No. 9 White Mountains.

The top four seeds in the tournament all received a bye into the quarterfinals, including Campbell (15-0), which earned the top seed. The Cougars will take on the winner of No. 8 Kearsarge and No. 16 Raymond in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Prospect Mountain is the No. 4 seed and will face the winner of No. 5 Somersworth and No. 13 Kingswood in the quarterfinals.

No. 2 Bow will take on either No. 7 Gilford or No. 10 Monadnock in the quarterfinals. Gilford defeated No. 18 Inter-Lakes, 9-0, in a play-in game, while Monadnock beat No. 15 Newfound, 3-1, in a play-in game.

Fall Mountain is the No. 3 seed and will take on the winner of No. 6 Hopkinton or No. 11 Belmont in the quarterfinals. Hopkinton, the defending Class M champion, defeated No. 19 Mascenic 8-0 in a play-in game, while Belmont knocked off No. 14 Hillsboro-Deering 2-0 in a play-in game.

All preliminary round games are scheduled for Tuesday, and all quarterfinal games are set for Friday.

Division IV

Wilton-Lyndeborough (11-5) will be the No. 7 seed when the tournament begins on Wednesday, and the Warriors will host No. 10 Nashua Christian at 3 p.m. in Wilton. The Warriors won both regular-season meetings with the Eagles, winning 3-1 and 4-2. The winner will face either No. 2 Gorham and No. 15 Epping in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Also on the bottom half of the bracket, No. 3 Derryfield will host No. 14 Groveton in the preliminary round, with the winner facing the winner of No. 6 Colebrook and No. 11 Woodsville in the quarterfinals.

Sunapee is the No. 1 seed and will open the tournament by hosting No. 16 Hinsdale. The winner of that game will take on either No. 8 Portsmouth Christian or No. 9 Pittsfield in the quarterfinals.

No. 4 Moultonborough hosts No. 13 Lin-Wood in the opening round, and No. 5 Littleton takes on No. 12 Lisbon to start the tournament. The winners of both games will meet in the quarterfinals.