MANCHESTER, N.H. — A year ago, the six-seed Pinkerton Academy girls’ soccer team shocked the Granite State by winning the Division I state championship title over No. 4 Winnacunnet.
On Saturday night, the script was reversed.
The two teams met again in the state final at Manchester Memorial High. This time it was the No. 8 seed Warriors, which shocked the Granite State with a 2-1 upset win over the No. 2 seed Astros, which entered the game unbeaten with their last loss coming October 29 of last year.
Throughout the post-season, the Warriors (14-3-3) knocked off the No. 1, 2 and 4 seeds.
“Winnacunnet played a great game,” said Pinkerton head coach Danielle Rappa. “They were well prepared. They were at their best in the post-season. We knew that they were going to play great against us. They really did. They played a great game. It was really physical so that may have gotten into our heads a little bit.”
The Warriors took a 1-0 lead with just under 14 minutes left in the first half as Mia Lantaigne got her foot on a loose ball and drove it to the top corner.
Pinkerton tied it up six minutes later. From 40 yards out, Camryn McNulty took an indirect kick which soared into the ‘6 yard box and out of a scrum, Audrey Earhart leaped over the crowd and perfectly headed the ball into the low left corner.
“We practice that exact play in practice, so it was a great ball by Camryn and Audrey is always good in the air for us so it was a great play,” said Rappa.
The score remained the same through the rest of the first half. Pinkerton controlled most of the play through most of the second half but couldn’t finish on a number of chances.
In the final 15 minutes, the physicality on both sides increased, and that eventually led to the Warriors’ Sophia Guimaraes awarded a penalty kick. She executed it for the game winning goal coming with 7:12 remaining in the game.
“They had us in the first half but we were able to come out in the second half and play a little bit better,” said Rappa. “It was typical for us playing in their third of the field, playing to our feet more and getting through balls to our wings. We definitely had some good (scoring) chances and controlled the game but (Winnacunnet) did a good job of holding us out.”
Pinkerton ends the season with a 15-1-3 overall record.
“I told the girls that it’s hard right now, but they have to look back and be proud of back-to-back state championship game appearances and our undefeated (regular) season especially when every team was trying to knock us off from being undefeated and the returning champions,” said the coach. “They should be proud of themselves because not too many teams get the opportunity to play in a championship game back-to-back years.”
Five seniors played their final game for the Astros including Bella Sippel, Nora Brayall, Cali Lockwood, Mia Cross and Nicole Blake.
“The five seniors were great. Four of them are forwards so we’re going to be needing to replace a lot of scoring,” said Rappa.