Campbell's Jackson Kanaley reacts as the buzzer sounds at the end of Hopkinton's 7-4 win over the Cougears in the Division III boys lacrosse title game at Exeter on Sunday. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

EXETER – The frustration was visible in Josh Knight’s facial expressions and words.

He and the Campbell High School boys lacrosse team he coaches aren’t interested in taking steps toward a title. They wanted one Sunday, and were denied by the No. 5 Hopkinton Hawks, 7-4, at Bill Ball Stadium.

“Hopefully now we’ve been in this position we’ll know what to do,” Knight said. “But why do we have to do this every year and go one step further?”

Remember last year Campbell was a heavy favorite, dominating the regular season before being upset in the semis. This year, they were 15-2 coming into Sunday’s final, the second seed and the favorite after the Hawks knocked off top seed, previously unbeaten Bow. But still, not the ending the Cougars wanted.

It looked at one point it would be, despite it being a sloppy, helter-skelter game in which the ball was on the ground way more than in the net. The teams combined for 31 turnovers in just the first half alone.

Yet Cougar top scorer Andrew Willnus netted his third goal of the game to knot the score at 4 with 7:47 left. Then something changed.

“Momentum,” Knight said. “It’s a game of momentum. We had a couple of brain farts and they were able to capitalize on it. Not playing top side, not playing the angles correctly, and we just got beat. It’s tough.”

Hopkinton (13-5) would go on to score the final three goals of the game. John Despres fired a bullet from the outside that Campbell goalie Ryan Guerrette had no chance on to give the Hawks the lead for good with 4:01 to play. Patrick Buss made it 6-4 in a man-up situation with 3:39 to go, and the Hawks’ Merrick Chapin scored down low on a pretty fast break – perhaps the cleanest play of the game by either team to make it 7-4 with 2:38 to go.

The way the Hawks were winning faceoffs with Ozzie Rosenholm, Campbell had little or no hope of coming back.

“I think we settled into it, and felt a sense of urgency,” Hopkinton coach Deacon Blue said. “We had to take care of the ball, both ‘D’s’ were incredible. The first game the season was 4-2. … As the season progressed, our offense got better and I think the same thing happened in the game. We were able to possess more and more and keep it out of their hands. They have a good offense and some potent scorers and we had to possess. They responded to that.”

Hopkinton had jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Lincoln Wilson and Shane Smith, but Cruz Sandquist and Willnus knotted things at 2, Willnus tying the game with 2:17 left in the half to send the teams into the locker room that way. He then gave Campbell it’s only lead of the game, 3-2, with 7:10 left in the third. But Hopkinton’s Wilson got his second and Nick Martel tallied to make it 4-3 heading into the final period before Willnus tied it.

“He’s a great player, our offense runs through him,” Knight said of his junior attackman. “We had our opportunities, their goalie (Colby Boissy, seven saves) played a helluva game.”

Part of the problem was the helter-skelter nature of the game, as Knight kept waiting for his players to settle down. They did at times, but not often enough.

Campbell’s Cruz Sandquist battles Hopkington’s Steven Reddy for the ball during Sunday’s Divison III title game at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Campbell’s Cruz Sandquist battles Hopkington’s Steven Reddy for the ball during Sunday’s Divison III title game at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

“We were playing with our hair on fire a little bit,” Knight said. “We had to just calm down a couple of times. We weren’t necessarily thinking of playing lacrosse, we were playing more or less summer ball. Not very organized, and that’s kind of what killed us.

“There were turnovers because we weren’t thinking. We played with little cohesion, and we had cohesion throughout the whole season.”

Hopkinton was 5-5 after losing to Bow on May 6 and didn’t taste defeat the rest of the season to win its fifth title. The Hawks had won three straight (2017-19) then lost in the finals last year to Laconia. But now they’re back on top.

Where the Cougars want to be.

“It’s sports,” Knight said. “There’s a whole bunch of losers (generally speaking) and one winner. That’s all it is.”

The Cougars were certainly winners, just not at the end when it mattered most.