EXETER – Every time the top-seeded Hollis-Brookline Cavaliers have scored more than one goal in a game this season, they have won. Unfortunately for the No. 4 Bow Falcons, they allowed the Cavaliers to score three unanswered and were unable to come back in the Division II semifinals on Tuesday night at Bill Ball Stadium.

Hollis-Brookline’s 3-0 victory punched its ticket to Saturday’s championship game. The Cavaliers will play No. 3 John Stark at Bedford High School at 7 p.m.

The Falcons fought valiantly but struggled to break into the Cavaliers’ circle, and only managed to get four penalty corners and three shots.

“They were coming for us, they executed,” Bow head coach Sarah Vaughn said. “They played well. Their corners were perfect. We just didn't have the skill that they had today. With that said, this is our second year in a row making semis, so that's something to say for our program, with consistency. We plan on being here next year.”

Last season, Bow and Hollis-Brookline both fell to Kennett in the playoffs. Bow had lost to Kennett in the semifinal and this year they had a shot at redemption and advancing to the championship match for the first time since 2011. 

Similarly, Hollis-Brookline was looking to advance to the D-II championship for the first time and succeeded. 

“I’ve been here for three years, in my time we've tried our hardest to create a winning mindset and a winning culture. I mean, this is a credit to these girls,” said Hollis-Brookline’s head coach Greg Cochrane.

The Falcons went down early in the game after Hollis-Brookline senior midfielder Addison Marchant scored from a penalty corner toward the end of the first quarter.

Three quarters later, senior forward Emily Tebbetts, scored two goals for the Cavaliers with two, nearly identical, long powerful shots from the right side into the left side of the goal after penalty corners.

Bow’s senior goalkeeper Kayla Croscut had five saves through the first three quarters, but could not save the last two by Tebbetts, and the Falcons’ offense could not match the firepower they faced.

Bow faced a tough opponent, but beating the Cavaliers was something the Falcons, unlike any other team this season, had already done. The Falcons were one of only four teams in the regular season to score against the Cavaliers – who had the best defense in the division.

This time, the Falcons were frustrated and held to none and went home empty-handed. The disappointed Falcons had a good season, and despite graduating six seniors this year, have a relatively young team (seven sophomores and seven freshmen are on the roster) that will look to build upon the lessons learned this postseason.

“This game was a world’s different. It was spaced out, it was fast,” said Cochrane. “They played super hard. They came out guns blazing, and we just had a little extra, that’s it.”

The Hollis-Brookline Cavaliers will play in the program’s first championship game since the Class M final in 1990.

“I think the little details are going to be the difference, certainly corners who can capitalize on those corners. So I think it's going to be little details, 50-50 balls, hustle plays and corners,” Cochrane said.

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com