Campbell's Jaxon Abdinor (17) reacts right after the final whistle signals the end of Friday night's Divsion III boys state soccer title game vs. Gilford, won by the Cougars 2-1 in Laconia. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

LACONIA – A moment of brilliance.

That’s what Campbell High School boys soccer coach Brian Henderson said he was hoping for – and almost expecting – from junior striker Luke Delia in Friday night’s Division III championship game with No. 2 Gilford.

With just under four minutes to go in regulation at Bank of New Hampshire Stadium, he got one.

Delia, who scored three goals in a regular season win over the Golden Eagles (17-1-2) well over a month ago, broke free down the middle as fellow junior midfielder Jack Larose chipped it to him. Delia battled Gilford sophomore defender Anthony Burnham, wheeled around and fired a blast into the back of the net to give the top seeded Cougars a dramatic, hard fought 2-1 state championship win.

“I saw (the ball) come over and I said, ‘I should probably score this’,” Delia said. “I just tried my best and it went in.”

“It takes in that moment a moment of brilliance as we call it in soccer,” said Henderson said, his 19-1 team going nearly the last two months of the season without a loss, a streak of 17 straight wins. “As long as we didn’t give one up in the back, I thought we had the guy who could give the moment of brilliance, and it worked out. … Once I saw him get space, I knew it was going to be a problem. His shots so accurate all year. …He’s close to 40 goals, Luke’s been phenomenal this year. You can’t cap it off any better than that than him burying it.”

It almost didn’t happen. Burnham got back and Delia, who had a step and momentum, had to move around him.

“He got back, so I just went back to the side he went and then I went back again,” Delia said. “And he went the other way, so I just shot it.”

It was a game of several opportunities for both teams. Campbell’s Jack Bourque made a couple of key stops (four saves) while his defenders like Logan Barka somehow got possession in the box.

“We had a number of opportunities inside,” Gilford coach Dave Pinkham said. “We just didn’t – that’s the luck of the draw. That means either you get it, or it bounces to them.”

Meanwhile Gilford defender Tristan Reinhold made not one but two back line stops when netminder Caleb Giovanditto (four saves) was out of position thanks to mad scrambles.

But just under seven minutes into the second half a Gilford foul gave Brett Biron a free kick from 30 yards out (at the football 20) and he boomed a shot that clanged off the post and then off Giovanditto.

Fast forward to a frenzy at 59:30 when the ball found its way to the foot of Reinhold, who had an open net and fired. It was likely going in, but just in case Tanner Keenan tapped it in to tie the game at 1.

And then the battle continued.

Campbell keeper Jack Bourque makes a save on a shot by Gilford’s Aiden Bondaz duirng Friday night’s Division III title game in Laconia. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Campbell keeper Jack Bourque makes a save on a shot by Gilford’s Aiden Bondaz during Friday night’s Division III title game in Laconia. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Early on, Henderson said he knew Delia probably wasn’t happy with him when he had the Cougars play a more defensive game for half of the first half. “The last three years I played them, they’ve scored in the first 20 minutes,” he said. “So when we got past that mark, we were going to move up a little bit. … But we sat back for awhile, and that leaves Luke a little isolated. You’re asking a lot of hard work out of him. But they executed the game plan today. Luke was very persistent even when he was on an island.”

Pinkham felt his team should have owned the island.

“The truth? We deserved better,” Pinkham said. “We just didn’t get the breaks, and we made two mistakes. We shut (Delia) down and I’m still questioning if he was off-sides or not. … I wish it happened on our side so I could see it, but again, I’ll take the referee’s word. We made the one mistake on (Delia). …You make a mistake, and that type of thing happens.

“Take nothing away from them, they’re a very good team. When they needed to make a defensive clear, they did. They’re a very athletic team, they won the title. This one leaves a little bit of a (sting) because we played so well.”

It’s Campbell’s third title, including back to backs in 2018-19. They lost to Trinity in the 2021 finals, Henderson’s first year as coach, and fell in last year’s semis to Mascoma. Delia scored all three goals in a 3-2 overtime win over the Golden Eagles back on Nov. 4 – exactly a month ago. This one obviously had even more meaning and the striker put it into appropriate words.

“We just had to push through and really keep going at them until they broke,” Delia said. “And eventually it was a good time for everyone.”

Brilliant.