Souhegan's Ella Barrett tries to get around John Stark's Cailyn Worthen during Sunday's Division II championship at Bedford High School. (Photo by Joe Marchilens)

BEDFORD – The Souhegan High School field hockey team did something Sunday it hasn’t had to do all season: chase a goal.

But after John Stark scored under three minutes in to the Division II championship game, that’s where Souhegan was, and unfortunately for the Sabers, where they would stay.

Courtney Cranshaw sent the ball into the cage 2:33 into the game and the top-seeded Generals made that lone tally stand up for the next 57 minutes, as they defeated the second-seeded Sabers 1-0 at Bedford High School.

“My girls came in wanting this one for sure, but Stark wanted it as well,” Souhegan coach Kelli Braley said. “They got that one early one and their defense made it stand up.

“I thought the fourth quarter, we were definitely turned it on and were pouring shots on in the end. We had a ton of corners and some great opportunities, but their defense came out quick and we weren’t getting the shots off that we were looking for.”

Souhegan (15-1-1) had its best chances at the ends of each half, as the Sabers sent John Stark goalie Edie Fischer all over the circle in the second quarter to keep the Generals ahead.

“I think in that time, my head was telling me just save the ball, that’s all you’ve got to do,” Fischer said. “It’s not a matter of the right footwork or anything like that, just get the ball out. I think that got in my head at that time. I was just all over the place.”

Fischer finished with 13 saves and Cailyn Worthen got an assist on the goal for John Stark (16-0-1). Adie Bolduc and Jackie O’Donnell helped lead the defense in front of Fischer.

Annie Raduazzo had six saves for the Sabers, who probably had their best scoring chance late in the first half, when Ella Barrett put the ball across the front of the goal, but no one was at the far post to tip it in.

“We kept it down there for a bit,” Braley said. “We had a couple of really good opportunities where if we had that extra person on the post, that’s a tap in and it’s a totally different game at that point.”

The Generals had a pair of penalty corners to open the second half and nearly made it a two-goal game, but a shot was just wide of the cage.

Braley called a timeout with 4:56 left in the third to set up a play on a corner, but Bolduc was able to get out quickly to deflect a shot and a call against the Sabers ended the opportunity.

John Stark coach Dennis Pelletier used a timeout of his own with 6:10 remaining to help set up the Generals defense for down the stretch, putting in more defensive players upfront to try to keep Souhegan at bay.

“I don’t think I changed what I was doing until the fourth quarter, at least until I called the timeout,” Pelletier said. “Ava Friberg has been relentless when she gets on the field. Her and Caylin (Worthen) and Jillian (Fredette) don’t stop. Being able to put pressure on them from the forward line on down, that’s what I talk about when I say team defense.”

Souhegan was able to get a couple of corners late, but couldn’t do much with them and the Generals held on to win the program’s first field hockey championship.