Winnacunnet hangs on to beat Hanover, capture 2nd straight D2 girls lacrosse title (video)

EXETER – The second-seeded Winnacunnet High School girls lacrosse team dominated the second quarter and Taylor Burness broke up No. 5 Hanover’s final play to preserve a 12-11 win Tuesday night for the Warriors in the Division II championship game.

Burness stepped in front of a pass from Maeve Bradley intended for Claire Higgins and then ran out the clock to give the Warriors (18-3) their second D2 title in a row.

Ari Rizzo led Winnacunnet with five goals while McKinley Fowler had three goals and two assists and Elle Emery had a goal and four assists, as the Warriors overcame a slow start. Hanover (12-7) got out to a 4-1 lead in the first quarter, but Winnacunnet answered with a 7-0 run in the second and took an 8-6 lead into halftime.

Emily Arlington scored what proved to be the game-winning goal and also had an assist while Addison McErlain and Hannah Curtain added a goal apiece. Reese Gandt had an assist and Benten Lyford made five saves.

The Bears got seven goals from Cassidy Loughman, while Bradley scored twice and Joia Collins and Higgins added a goal apiece. Rainey Fisher recorded four saves for Hanover.

Loughman had all five of Hanover’s goals in the second half, with the first two tying the game at 8 with 7:08 left in the third. But Winnacunnet answered with a 3-0, including a goal by Rizzo with 3.3 seconds left in the quarter to make it 11-8.

The Bears got the lead back down to one with 7:46 to play, but Arlington’s goal with 5:27 remaining made it 12-10. Loughman answered with 4:20 remaining to make it 12-11, but the Warriors were able to run time off the clock and keep Hanover from getting over midfield.

But with a little more than a minute to play, Winnacunnet turned the ball over and Hanover was able to clear, getting a chance to tie. Lyford came up with a save on a shot by Bradley, but the Bears got the groundball, and with 18.5 seconds left, Loughman was fouled at the 12-meter.

On the restart, the junior passed the ball off to Bradley, who saw Higgins cutting toward the goal and attempted the pass. Burness anticipated the play and knocked down the pass before scooping up the groundball and running down field until time ran out.