BY SAPNA PATHAK

It took less than two minutes to halt a season full of domination over opponents, the most wins in Division III and perhaps the biggest expectations the program has seen.

But don’t think for a moment Doug Maynard’s going to let 120 seconds overshadow two months – make that three years – of success.

It’s the attitude the head coach of Hopkinton boys lacrosse will have when he sits down with his players to reflect on their 8-7 loss in this year’s D-III boys lacrosse semifinals. Entering the matchup as the No. 1 seed, the Hawks battled fourth-seeded Merrimack Valley to overtime before the Pride scored the winning goal.

“We beat them, 10-8, in the regular season,” said Maynard, in his first year as head coach. “It’s hard to beat the same team twice. They played a little better in the first half, we fought back and never got the ball in overtime. We were definitely expecting big things this year. We thought we’d make it to the finals.”

In just its third season as a varsity program, Hopkinton has improved every year. After a losing season in 2005, the past two years have seen the Hawks make semifinal-round appearances. They dropped last year’s game, 10-6, to top-seeded Kearsarge.

Coming back from a 5-1 deficit in the first half, the Hawks pushed the Pride into a 7-7 deadlock behind offensive weapons Joe Dammann, with three goals; Dave Roberts, with two; and Doug Meyer and Steve Porter, with one goal each.

Seniors Deacon Blue, Nate Mosseau, Porter and Roberts finished the season with all-state honors. Porter led this year’s squad with 112 points.

“We’re going to field a lot younger team next season,” said Maynard. “We’re losing such high-quality seniors, but, at the same time, it only took a couple years for them to become that good. So we can expect big leaps from our young guys, too.”

Junior goalie Brian Libby played “by far his best game” against MV, according to Maynard, keeping the Hawks in a position to force the extra period.
“He played outstandingly well,” said Maynard of his keeper. “He kept us in the game and gave us the chance to fight for a win. They just came out and won the face-off in overtime, and we never got to touch the ball. We just didn’t have it at the end there, but that’s not to take away from the program being on its way up every year.”