PENACOOK – The Division II quarterfinal between the Merrimack Valley Pride and Oyster River-Newmarket was tied 7-7 at the end of the third quarter. Then, the offense found a flurry of opportunities to score and did not miss to secure MV’s first girls’ lacrosse final four appearance.

Under the hot sun and pressure to perform in the playoffs, No. 3 Merrimack Valley (11-4) needed a second-half comeback to keep their postseason hopes alive after allowing Oyster River to get a 7-4 lead. In the second half, the Pride turned it around and won, 14-9.

Two weeks ago, when the Pride faced the No. 6 Oyster River-Newmarket (9-7) team, they lost 11-9. Now, in the playoffs, they needed to apply the lessons learned from that game.

Head coach Kylee Yam said that this win was four years in the making, as that’s when she took over as head coach, but also because a bulk of the team are seniors and juniors. Those same student-athletes pulled through and are now moving on to the semifinals.

“I told them to relax and have fun as we were getting into our own heads a little bit, I told them, on defense, to move their feet, because we were standing still and swinging our sticks around, told the attack to cut and make sure we just worked together,” Yam said after the win.

In the second half, senior Alyssa Brodeur and junior Lauren Bailey scored two goals within the first five minutes to get closer. Three minutes later, senior Kaiya Mercier rounded the right side of the circle and scored a game-tying goal for the Pride. The energy shifted for the Pride, and the defense did its part by holding the opposition scoreless in the third. 

Brodeur and Mercier had four and three goals, respectively, which pushed the team ahead in the fourth quarter. Junior midfielder Ella Frink had three goals and sophomore attacker Lily Jones had one goal and three assists. 

“I feel, honestly, when we just play smooth, we play our game, we do a lot better than when we’re trying to be so structured. So I feel like I really take it upon myself to try to get my team back going,” Brodeur said. “When my team scores, I celebrate. When I score, I celebrate. Everything, every little thing, I celebrate.”

Oyster River-Newmarket started the game with two early penalty shots and started attacking early. They generated turnovers on defense and transitioned quickly. Before the end of the first, Oyster River scored three goals in quick succession with only two minutes left and took a 3-1 lead.

The Pride’s defense, which had held up easily, suddenly allowed opposing attackers to weave through gaps up the middle and get close to the goal. The rest of the half stayed close, but every time MV scored and got within a goal, Oyster River found a way to pull away. Junior Grace Royal scored five goals in total, and three goals in the first half, to build her team a 7-4 lead over the Pride.

In the second half, however, MV’s defense completely shut down the tired and over-heating Oyster River front line. Senior defenders Caroline Wheeler, Grace Corliss, Lenna Quiter and junior Isabelle Tucker closed up the gaps in the circle and only allowed two goals in the second half. Goalie Taylor Gionet had 11 saves and regained her focus after allowing seven goals in the first half.

“We were talking also about defense and how we have to mark our cutters more, we have to have our six going different ways during a double, so then they can’t really go by you,” Wheeler said about the defense’s game plan at halftime. “We talked about what to do to block them off.”

Next, the Pride will play No. 2 Merrimack (14-1), who they lost to 16-6 early on in the season, at Stellos Stadium in Nashua at noon on Saturday.

In the semifinal, communication will be key for the team’s success according to coach Yam, and maintaining composure like the team did in the second half will yield positive results. “Specifically winning the draw control is going to be huge, but then just mentality-wise sticking together. If they score goals, which I’m sure they’ll do, it’s not putting our heads down and not being silent,” she said.

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com