Bow’s and John Stark’s girls soccer teams couldn’t muster any serious offensive threats through 80 minutes of play.

But it took John Stark forward Joan Hamel only 1 minute, 4 seconds to break through the afternoon shadows that consumed the Bow High School field and a host of Falcon defenders. Her goal gave the Lady Generals a 1-0 overtime win. The Friday, Oct. 10, contest was a battle of Class I postseason contenders; both teams entered the game with eight wins.

Coming off a difficult 2-1 loss to Kearsarge, John Stark’s head coach, Heather Doucette, preached to her team about the importance of a road win against Bow prior to the game.

“(Bow) was obviously fired up for us, and we came out and really needed to utilize our speed,” said Doucette. “They did a good job of keeping us off of our game. This was big for us after a disappointing loss, so I think it gave us some confidence to finish strong.”

During regulation, the majority of play took place near midfield, with neither goalie tested regularly.

Early in overtime, Hamel picked up a loose ball near midfield and carved through multiple Bow defenders, blasting down the sideline and powering a shot into the upper-right corner of the net. “In a tight game, it just takes a mistake or someone to step up,” said Bow’s head coach, Jay Vogt. “It happened so quickly. I’m still not really sure what happened. Obviously it’s frustrating.” Including the loss to the Generals, Bow has been shut out in two of its last three games, a problem Vogt said his squad needs to correct.

“At times we moved the ball, and we did everything until we got to the final third (of the field),” said Vogt. “That’s it. We have to find a way to finish. We just need to create some opportunities and get some shots on net.”

Midfielder Caitlin Heindl and defender Caitlin Pratt played well for the Falcons, while John Stark midfielders Alyssa Charest and Allison Harris were in the middle of the action throughout the contest. The win improved the Generals to 9-4-0 on the season, while Bow dropped to 8-4-0 with the loss.

Despite the win, Doucette said she knows her team, which has scored one or fewer goals five times this season, has to improve offensively.

“Being able to beat a team like this can boost us, but we need to be able to get more creative up front,” said Doucette. “There’s a lot to be done.”