The Hollis Brookline girls soccer team laments its 4-3 overtime loss to Pelham in Tuesday's Division II semifinals at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – The third time was the charm vs. Hollis Brookline for the Pelham High School girls soccer team.

Yes, the No. 2 Cavaliers had beaten the No. 3 Pythons twice this season. But the difference Tuesday at Stellos Stadium was Pelham’s 4-3 overtime win came in the Division II semifinals.

Different animal.

“That was real tough,” Hollis Brookline coach Peter Clarke said, his team now having suffered two overtime semifinal losses the last two years. “We’re young, we showed real playoff jitters the first 10-15 minutes. … We were still a little tentative. Playoff soccer, a lot of emotions out there. It can end in so many ways.”

And it ended at 9:17 of the first 15-minute sudden death overtime when Pelham’s Maddie Cote maneuvered her way into an open shot from the left side and beat HB keeper Bailey Dunn to her left with a line drive. Cote was so excited the details of her goal resembled the fog coming up from the Motta Field surface.

“Honestly, I don’t really remember,” she said. “Just got past the girl, and I shot.”

“I think it was just the exhaustion and emotions, because we had been on the attack,” Clarke said of the moments creating the game-winning opportunity. “I don’t think we transitioned to defense quickly enough because (the Pythons) hadn’t been getting in.”

It was in some ways a duel between Pelham junior striker Ashlyn Walsh and HB’s McKenna Maguire. The Cavs (15-3) led at halftime 2-1 on two Maguire goals, but the two teams scored all three goals in a span of just 1:06.

Maguire scored unassisted at 25:23 for a 1-0 Cavs lead, but Walsh, who scored in the high 30s this season and already has committed to Fairfield in 2024, answered 51 seconds later to tie it at 1. Makenna said not so fast and before you knew it she was right downfield and buried a breakaway chance just 15 seconds later to make it 2-1.

“Makenna’s phenomenal,” Clarke said. “I think she’s the most creative exciting striker in the state. We racked up a lot of goals and I think she had 29. … She created opportunities when a lot of other teams wouldn’t have been able to.”

And one came with just 30 seconds left in regulation, after senior teammate Paige Magnuszewski created a turnover and fed her about 20 yards away from the goal, but her shot sailed high – and to overtime the two teams went.

“We knew we had to be very patient and control with our defense, because they’re unbelievable,” Pelham coach Carlos Fuertes said, his No. 3, 15-2-1 Pythons set to face No. 4 Pembroke in Friday’s 7:15 p.m. finals at Stellos. “And it worked.”

Pelham actually had the lead for much of the latter part of the second half. Maguire, sent in by teammate Lexi Brodeur, tied the game just over four minutes into the second half on a grounder that just bounced away from Dunn. And 10 minutes later senior Carlee Sloan put a shot high into the right corner to give the Pythons a 3-2 lead.

Pelham’s Maddie Cote, left, battles HB’s Lauren Holt for the ball during Tuesay’s Divison II semifinals at Stellos Stadium. Cote got the game-winner in overtime. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

“Throughout the season, there were times they were down, and we’d tell them to hold their composure, and they did, and they’d come back,” Fuertes said. “Really remarkable.”

But the Cavs had been remarkable all season and Magnuszewski put a shot high out of the reach of Pelham keeper Hannah Deschene (five saves) in the 66th minute to tie the game.

And in the OT – overtimes in the semis and finals are now 15 minutes long, not 10 – HB had its opportunities, buzzing around Deschene.

Nope.

“We don’t owe ourselves any apologies for not finding a way to win that game,” Clarke said. “We were right there.”

But “there” ended up being the same spot as in 2021, feeling a tough OT semis loss.

“But,” Clarke said, “two years in a row we’ve lost in overtime in the semis. That’s the hallmark of a pretty decent program.”

PEMBROKE TOPS BOW

In the second semi, Pembroke got the game-winner with three minutes left in regulation to unseat defending champion Bow, 2-1.

Friday’s doubleheader at Stellos is now set, with Bedford taking on Exeter in the Divison I girls final at 5 p.m. and Pembroke-Pelham at 7:15.