Gilford caps undefeated season with win over Bishop Brady in D3 field hockey final

BEDFORD – As his Gilford High School field hockey team celebrated the Division III championship on Saturday afternoon at Bedford High School, veteran coach Dave Rogacki couldn’t help but think of the obstacles the girls had faced in their quest to get back to the top of the division.

There was the ‘non-call’ that played an integral role in the team’s demise when this year’s seniors were freshmen. Then there was the COVID year, which of course, speaks for itself. The next year there was the upset in the quarterfinals.

Fast forward to this year. The championship game was slated to be played on Sunday before Bishop Brady made a request to move the game to Saturday. Then, as the team left Gilford for Bedford, there was an accident on the Laconia bypass that forced the bus to take a bit of a detour.

After all of that, when the final whistle blew on Gilford’s 2-0 win over Bishop Brady, the feeling was that much sweeter.

“These eight seniors, they are such a great group of kids,” Rogacki said. “They’ve had so many distractions over the last few years.

“I told them, this was our revenge tour,” the veteran coach added. “You know you can play the game.”

“They had eight seniors, they had a little bit more there at the end,” said Brady coach Kelly Owen. “Our goal was in August to be in the finals and we did it again.

“Last year we lost in overtime in the finals and to get back here as the seventh seed, it was an amazing run,” Owen added.

It was the Giants that had the game’s first pressure, but the Gilford defense held tight. The Golden Eagles came back with Olivia Keenan and Aly Pichette connecting for a chance. Ellie Nicolas sent a ball in to Emily Watson and Keenan sent a good drive in just ahead of Nicolas. Brady had a chance as well, as Kimble Rose made a run, but the Gilford defense came through with a stop and a Margaret Sheehan bid went wide of the net.

Keenan had a good clear for the Golden Eagles and Taryn Wernig had a good defensive stop as the first quarter came to a close with no score on the board.

Gilford got the game’s first corner to start the second quarter, but Sheehan was able to clear the ball. Keenan made a good run in but was also turned away by the Bishop Brady defense. The Giants got a corner chance of their own, but Avery Totten was there with a solid defensive effort. Pichette made a run in that was also turned back.

The Golden Eagles got another corner chance and this time they made it count, as Pichette ripped a shot from the top of the circle and Keenan was there to redirect it into the goal with 8:11 left in the first half for the 1-0 lead.

Lexi Shute made a good run in for the Eagles that the Brady defense was able to stop and Brady came back with a couple of late corners, but they could not convert, as Gilford’s defense continued to put the clamps down and the game went to the half with the Golden Eagles up 1-0.

The Giants charged out of the gate quickly in the second half, only to see the Gilford defense continue to charge, with Addy Wernig and Pichette making good stops. Brady had a corner chance and sent another ball wide, but the pressure began turning the other way and never really looked back.

Addy Wernig had a drive into the zone and the Golden Eagles had a pair of corners, with Keenan just missing Nicolas on a cross on the first one and Shute getting her shot blocked on the second one. Addy Wernig sent a nice cross to Pichette, who fired a shot wide of the net and the Golden Eagles got a couple more corners, with Shute getting her shot blocked on one and sending the ball wide on the other as the game went to the fourth quarter with Gilford still hanging on to the 1-0 lead.

Keenan had an early shot in the fourth quarter, which was turned back by Brady keeper Ava Archambault, who had a terrific run in her freshmen postseason. Totten had another good defensive play for Gilford and Alexandra Fay had a shot blocked.

The Golden Eagles got their insurance policy with 8:24 to go in the game, as they scored on a corner, with Keenan inserting the ball to Pichette, who fired it into the net for the 2-0 lead. Fay and Pichette teamed up on another chance that was saved by Brady’s keeper. Lauryn Nash-Boucher had a nice clear for Gilford and the Giants had a late corner, with Keenan and Totten making the defensive stops.

Gilford had the last corner of the game, with Addy Wernig and Pichette teaming up for a chance that was denied and the clock ran out on Brady’s hopes of a comeback, with the Golden Eagles celebrating the 2-0 win.

“They deserve it so much,” Rogacki said, praising the character of his kids, noting that 14 of his 19 players are Honor Roll students. “I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Gilford finished the regular season unbeaten and untied and earned the first seed in the tournament, beating Mascoma and Mascenic to advance to the finals.

Brady finished the season at 8-6 to earn the seventh seed and beat Winnisquam in the opening round before getting upsets of second-seeded Newfound and third-seeded Newport to advance to the finals.

Joshua Spaulding can be reached at 279-4516, ext. 155 or josh@salmonpress.news.