BY MATT SCHOOLEYMembers of the Gilford defensive backfield tugged at the side of the net, hoping to find a hole that the ball could have slipped through, not willing to believe the ball indeed snuck into the upper right-hand corner of the goal. The Golden Eagles joined the list of teams left baffled after a jaw-dropping postseason run by ...

BY MATT SCHOOLEYDoug Maynard knows what is going to earn his team a spot in the Division III postseason, and he reminded his group during every huddle. The Hopkinton boys lacrosse coach stressed to his team the importance of winning ground balls during each break in the action, and it paid off during a 13-2 victory over shorthanded Pembroke ...

BY RYAN O’CONNOR Dave Chase is the first to admit it. His seventh-seeded Hopkinton baseball team was hosting a first-round playoff contest, but the game was in jeopardy before the players even took the field. In fact, said Chase, it was in trouble a week prior, when the Hawks blew a 10-0 second-inning lead at home against ...

BY RYAN O’CONNORWhile other squads competed against fellow Class M-S programs, Hopkinton track and field traveled the state – often with head coach Rick Welch driving one of the buses – and faced some of the top competition from Class I and L schools with student bodies sometimes two or three times larger. “And they held ...

BY MATT SCHOOLEYVisiting Hopkinton High School jumped out early on host John Stark and minimized a second-half charge, continuing its recent dominance of the Generals with a 7-2 victory in Division-III boys lacrosse on Friday, April 18. Hopkinton’s David Wood opened the scoring roughly three minutes into the first quarter of the contest, ...

BY RYAN O’CONNORIf you didn’t look closely enough, you may not have noticed that a recent track and field meet in Pelham featured a Class M team in the midst of several Class I powers. And if you did miss the oddity, then you probably also didn’t notice that the Class M team was best of all. Hopkinton, facing seven schools with ...

BY CHRIS QUARTARONEJake Nichols knew this was a special game when he scored the first three baskets for Hopkinton. He didn’t stop there, pouring in a career-high 22 points in the Hawks’ 49-26 Class M boys basketball win against the Hillsboro-Deering Hillcats on Friday, Feb. 8. “He’s been shooting the ball pretty well for ...

BY RYAN O’CONNORHopkinton coach Scott Zipke said he hopes the memory of back-to-back state champions reverberates for years to come. “Those leaving, they left a legacy of excellence and served as an example that we strive for excellence here at Hopkinton,” said Zipke. “You often see trends set where if you have an average ...

BY RYAN O’CONNORWhen Katherine DiPastina joined the Derryfield field hockey team as a freshman, she excelled immediately, not only starting throughout the season but led the Cougars with 12 goals. So it came as no surprise to Derryfield coach Lenny McCaigue that, when her younger sister, Anne, joined the team, there were some striking ...

The Hopkinton High School Boys Soccer team celebrates their NHIAA state championship.   Click   to view and purchase more photos from this event.