RallyNorth.net

BEDFORD, N.H. — Pinkerton coach Denise Rioux described her team’s overtime loss to Winnacunnet in the Division 1 field hockey title game yesterday as a “knife in the heart.” Pinkerton blew two two-goal leads, including one with 14:25 remaining in the contest. “We had a great chance today,” Rioux said. “We had two two-goal leads and it was up to us to win it and we didn’t. So it’s tough. Disappointing. ... To lose two years in a row in overtime, too, is just a knife in the heart.” Winnacunnet senior Sarah Carter was right there in front of the net to smash a rebound past Pinkerton goalie Gina Rosinski in sudden-victory overtime. And just like that, the Astros lost for the third consecutive year in the state championship game. No. 1 Winnacunnet won 4-3 over No. 2 Pinkerton here at Bedford High School. “I had saved it (the first shot),” Rosinski said. “I went down and saved it and actually had it but they must have gotten it and I got back up and we just didn’t have someone there (to defend).” Rioux added: “We have nobody to blame but ourselves for this one. We had the lead. We had the momentum. We just didn’t make the stops. ... I’m kind of speechless at the moment.”

EXETER — Defending champion Timberlane lost 3-0 to No. 1 Winnacunnet. “I think we did a good job just in getting here,” Owls coach Mim Ryan said. “We just didn’t match their effort level tonight. They were definitely the better team tonight. The better team won. They were quicker to the ball. They made the most of their offensive opportunities. We had limited opportunities and pretty much all of their players were unmarked in front of the goal. Kati (Orban) kept us in it. She had quite a number of saves.”