BRIDGEWATER — Down two goals entering the fourth quarter of Thursday’s Div. 4 state semifinal at Bridgewater-Raynham High School, most of what the Dennis-Yarmouth field hockey team talked about was that winning or losing didn’t matter much.
Just try.
The tight-knit group rode a last-ditch effort all the way to an extraordinary comeback, capped by senior Alaina Manuel’s game-winner in overtime to lift the No. 2 Dolphins (17-5) to a stunning 4-3 win over No. 3 Cohasset.
They advance to play No. 5 Frontier for the state title in their first final appearance since 2018, Saturday at Burlington High School at noon.
“We’re such a young team,” said Dennis-Yarmouth head coach Leslie LaFronz. “I’ve got one eighth-grader and five (freshmen) starting on varsity. The kids just work hard and they believe, and they trust each other. … I thought the third (goal) was going to do us in. We just chip away. Now it’s for pride, and they just stepped up. I’m so proud of them, it’s exciting.”
“It’s been so long since we made it this far,” Manuel added. “Everybody didn’t give up. … We’re just so happy to make it this far.”
After producing just one goal and three shots on goal across the first three quarters against a standout Skippers (15-4-1) defensive effort, D-Y flipped a switch in the fourth quarter to generate three more – scoring twice – for a 3-3 tie by the end of regulation.
LaFronz felt a corner in extra time would be enough to give the Dolphins the game-winning goal in 7-on-7 sudden-death overtime, and it nearly did if not for a tremendous stand from Alison Shultz (six saves) to save three shots.
But on another corner with 3:29 left in overtime, the Dolphins got that winner. Leah Woodward (two goals) cut to her right, sent a ball to Aurora Quenneville at the stroke line that she tipped after a defender slowed it down, and it bounced to Manuel toward the far post for the winner.
“All I had to do was get it in and we then we win,” Manuel said of what was going through her head. “I was just kind of over-thinking it, but in the end (it went in).”
Woodward played a major role, scoring twice in her first game back after missing two weeks with an injury.
“To have her back out there was just tremendous,” LaFronz said. “She’s a fantastic ballhandler.”
Cohasset took an early 1-0 lead on a corner off a drive from Grace Kiernan in the first four minutes. Woodward tied it up late in the frame, but Emily Regan’s goal with 21 seconds left regained a Skippers lead. Teams were sound on defense to limit shots over the next two periods, though a two-shot flurry from Liv Appel late in the third quarter gave Cohasset a 3-1 lead.
It took less than three minutes into the final period for D-Y to shake it off, though, as a funky tip in front gave Woodward her second goal to cut the deficit in half. Less than two minutes later, Jenna Richard evened the score at 3-3.
Richard was a major part of a defensive effort to just about shut down Cohasset’s attack, too, despite a few Skippers’ runs into the attacking 25.
“It’s starting to come together at the right time,” LaFronz said.
