Hollis Brookline's Rosalie Desantis and a teammate comfort each other after the Cavaliers fell to Bow 1-0 in the Division II girls soccer title game at Exeter on Friday night. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

EXETER – There’s never a good time to see a 56-game unbeaten streak end.

And to see it end in a championship game may be the worst time, and definitely the most painful.

Maybe the most fitting? The top-ranked Hollis Brookline High School girls soccer team could only accept the reality after No. 3 Bow pulled off the 1-0 upset in the Division II finals at Bill Ball Stadium on Friday night.

“It is the toughest thing, but it’s almost a fitting place for it to happen,” Cavaliers coach Peter Clarke said. “Up against the very best in the very end, and we’re right up there, within two seconds of having a PK. I’m happy with that.”

It was the first loss the Cavalier program suffered since falling to Pelham in the 2022 semis at Nashua’s Stellos Stadium. In 2021 the Cavs left this facility disappointed with an OT semifinal loss to the Falcons, but they returned the favor in 2023 en route to their first of back-to-back championships and beat Bow by the same 1-0 tally in last year’s finals.

But the expected threepeat never happened. Bow’s Ashley Wallen beat the defense down the right wing side and crossed it to Anna Zerba, who quickly found the back of the net nearly nine minutes into the contest. And that was all the Falcons (13-3-3) would need.

“I put the ball in the net, from an amazing assist from Ashley and it made it into the corner,” Zerba said. “It really does everything. It really gets our confidence and energy up and it lasts through the whole game.”

And it wasn’t as if HB (17-1-1) had golden opportunities the entire game, either. Every time an HB player came within 25 yards of the goal, three or four white shirts would converge and that would be that. A far different look than the 3-0 Cavs win over the Falcons during the regular season.

“We wanted to feel like they were in a game,” Bow coach Jay Vogt said. “The first time we played them, we backed off and gave them too much space.We wanted today to not give them that time.

“Our defense has been fantastic all year, they refuse to be beat. We kind of hung in there at the end.”

That’s because a Cavalier hit the deck in the penalty area in the final second or two, but the only whistle that came from the official was the double tweet to end the game. “He didn’t call it,” Vogt said, “so off we go.”

Bow keeper Sierra Scull made seven saves, while HB’s Maddy Leonard had four. The Cavs had trailed John Stark 1-0 early in an early regular season game and responded with a slew of goals. But that never happened last night.

“(Bow) came out with a lot of energy, they created an opportunity and we gave up a goal, which we don’t do that often,” Clarke said. “Took us a little while to find our pace. I thought in the second half we came out and were back on our game for awhile. But under this kind of tension and pressure, we just couldn’t find that last touch that we needed.”

It looked like the Cavs had tied it up soon after Bow had scored but the play was ruled off-sides without any protest. Marleigh Kreick had a free kick she fired high, and in the second half Rosalie Desantis had rushes but was either stripped of the ball or the victim of a sliding save by Scull.

Bow’s Ava Popielarz knocks the ball away from Hollis Brookline’s Ysabel Ramas (11) during Friday night’s Division II girls soccer championship game in Exeter. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

As Clarke said, the Cavs came out strong in the second half as Bow took a more defensive posture. But as Vogt said, the Falcons couldn’t stay that way for 40 minutes “because (HB) is took good of a team. They’ll find space. … That early goal for us gave us confidence. It was huge to score first.”

“Bow played a great game,” Clarke said. “I think we found our game there in the end. Sometimes it’s the other team in an evenly matched game that steps up and makes a big play. You just have to credit them. It was a good championship game.”

“It was nice to finally get one,” Vogt said. “They’ve beaten us the last two years. And they were great games.”

And thus the streak is over. Reality set in as players, friends and family members gathered for awhile on the grass outside the stadium and home locker room.

“We’ve been winning for three years,” Clarke said. “It (the loss) is kind of new to a lot of people, but I think they’re going to be OK. I think they already recognize we had a fantastic season. …

“It was a fabulous run. You knew it would come down to an end at some point … I’m proud of the team.”