Hanover High’s Sadie Higgins and Hollis-Brookline's Alyssa Hill battle for control of the ball during the NHIAA Division II semifinal game in Hanover on Monday. (Courtesy photo by Jennifer Hauck/Valley News)

HANOVER — Shouting “Water!” and “Ice!” as the Merriman-Branch Field clock ticked down, Hollis-Brookline girls lacrosse coach Jim Maxwell had the perfect antidote for a steamy evening on the turf.

Really, though, a hot streak made the Cavaliers’ day.

The visitors answered a six-goal Hanover run with one of their own, netting the final half-dozen goals of the contest for a 12-8 victory in an NHIAA Division II girls lacrosse semifinal on Monday evening.

The Cavs are now set to take on Portsmouth in the finals on Wednesday night at Bedford High School’s Bulldog Stadium at 7. The Clippers cruised past Pembroke, 16-5, in the other semi.

Sophomore Alyssa Hill starred in attack for the Cavs (11-4), scoring three times and setting up six more goals. Of the five markers tallied by senior midfielder Abbey Magnuszewski, four came off direct feeds from Hill.

“Honestly, I think we got out of our game,” Maxwell said. “We play a certain style, which is different than most teams, and toward the end of the first half and into the beginning of the second half, we started playing a game that’s not our game.

“So we got a timeout, we sat down and talked to the girls and told them, ‘Let’s go back to our game,’ and they did it. And they did it on their own.”

Without head coach Sarah Martin (illness) on the sidelines, Hanover assistant coaches Hannah Haskell and Lindsay Fox kept their athletes focused on the things that have worked all spring. Hanover (8-5) rallied from a 6-2 deficit by forcing its way into HB’s scoring fan, drawing fouls and — as often as not — converting the ensuing free-position restart.

The Cavaliers slowed that down in the second half. Goaltender Hallie Bardani also played a role, making seven of her 12 saves over the final 25 minutes, including three key stops after her teammates had regained the lead.

“There were some sparks that were happening on the field, some lucky free positions that we got, and we capitalized on them,” Fox said. “We’re certainly looking to draw the fouls, if we can. We have several plays where that’s baked into the play, and that worked out sometimes.

“But tonight it wasn’t even the plays; it was the general offense. They worked out, and we were able to capitalize on that.”

Magnuszewski and Hill worked two-Cavalier magic nearly from the get-go. After the teams traded early goals, Hill sandwiched two successful passes to Magnuszewski around a solo dodge from junior Nicole Heiter for a 4-1 cushion before the contest was seven minutes old.

Hanover built its comeback on free positions, converting four of six in the opening 25 minutes. Emily Perras (three goals), Caroline Adams (one goal, two assists) and Sadie Higgins (two goals) all buried restart shots past Bardani in a span of 2:30 late in the first half. Perras tied the game at 6-6 just 12 seconds after Higgins’ goal, whipping home an Adams feed after one of the junior middie’s many draw wins.

“We knew we were just going to come out,” Haskell said, “and fight as hard as we could.”

Higgins and Kali McDonnell (two goals) struck in the opening three minutes and change of the second half — the latter on Hanover’s fifth free position connection — for an 8-6 advantage. The hosts’ offensive spigot went dry the rest of the way.

Magnuszewski scored twice in 39 seconds to bring the match to 8-8. Fox and Haskell called a timeout after Hill fed Magnuszewski for her fourth goal of the contest with 15:50 to go.

Bardani stepped up for HB from there. She stoned Hanover’s Lia Naughton point-blank after another Adams draw victory. She denied McDonnell on a free position at the right post moments later, adding another save on McDonnell on a low-crease cut.

Sophomore Bella Haylayan scored twice around the last Hill-to-Magnuszewski goal of the night to rebuild the four-goal cushion for the visitors. One late Bardani stop of a Perras free position cemented the Cavaliers’ trip to the finals.

Stick Checks: Hanover goaltender Sierra Curtis recorded six saves on the evening. … Hanover finished with five goals on 10 free-position opportunities. The Cavaliers went goalless on their five chances, all in the first half, frequently choosing to pass to cutters from the corners rather than driving directly to the net. … Adams and Higgins combined to win 15 of the game’s 21 draws.