Hollis-Brookline's Olivia Langfield (9) is congratulated after she opened the scoring in the Cavaliers' 5-0 win over Milford in Tuesday's Division II semifinals in Exeter. (Photo by Dan Doyon)

EXETER — After losing to Pelham in the semifinals three years ago, the Hollis-Brookline High School girls soccer team hasn’t tasted defeat ever since.

With every win comes higher expectations and pressure, but that’s exactly what the two-time defending Division II champion Cavaliers have flourished through entering Tuesday’s semifinal against Milford.

Olivia Langfield’s goal 14 minutes into the game sparked a brigade of five different goal scorers, as top-seeded Hollis-Brookline extended its unbeaten streak to 56 games with a 5-0 victory over No. 4 Milford (10-5-3) at Exeter High School’s William Ball Stadium.

“There has been so much pressure three years running,” Hollis-Brookline coach Peter Clarke said. “There was a lot of turnover from last year and the question was how would we answer this season and find our own identity.”

Hollis-Brookline (17-0-1) aims for a three-peat when it returns to Exeter on Friday at 5 p.m. when it takes on No. 3 Bow (12-3-3) in a rematch of last year’s championship game in which the Cavaliers prevailed, 1-0.

The Falcons advanced with a 1-0 win over No. 2 Oyster River (10-3-5) in Tuesday’s earlier action. Hollis-Brookline also eliminated Bow in the 2023 semifinals and won a 3-0 decision a month ago.

“It’s a classic matchup against a program we respect so much,” Clarke said. “It’s a good, respectful rivalry and we look forward to it one more time.”

Hollis-Brookline had a 45-game winning streak snapped when it fought to a scoreless tie with Lebanon at the end of September. The Cavaliers have rattled off 11 straight wins since, including Saturday’s 1-0 quarterfinal win over No. 8 Lebanon.

“It’s definitely scary coming in and everyone feels that pressure but we know that everyone is supporting each other,” Hollis-Brookline sophomore defender Olivia Langfield said. “We are all going through it together, we all feel it, but it’s just about supporting teammates.”

Langfield calmed any potential nerves by nailing a header off a corner kick past Milford goalie Trinity Millner to give the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead.

“We knew that we needed to come out hard and get a goal fast because that’s how we keep going to play well and feed off that momentum,” Langfield said. “We needed to come out strong and we did that. Now we’ve got to keep doing that in the championship.”

Langfield’s goal opened the floodgates, as senior Marleigh Kreick added a goal five minutes later. Livia Ward gave Hollis-Brookline a 3-0 halftime lead before Donagha Lussier and Ava Barry scored in the second half.

“Both teams were a little nervous because the Final Four is different and to get those two earlier goals was huge because then we could have the confidence to fall into our game and not have to do anything extraordinary,” Clarke said.

Milford coach Scott Locasto was well aware of what his team was up against following a 6-0 loss during the regular season. Milford was making its first semifinal appearance since winning the 2020 Division II championship.

“They’re undefeated for three years in a row for a reason,” Locasto said. “They’ve got a lot of skilled players and they know where to be. They’re a well-balanced team and they know what to do to get the job done.”

Hollis-Brookline now looks to cap off a memorable fall that has seen the Cavaliers outscore their opponents 71-4 with 14 shutouts. The last Division II team to win three straight championships came when Souhegan won nine straight Class I titles from 1992-2000.

“We thrive off the pressure,” Kreick said. “I think we’re very prepared and we know what we need to do.”