Souhegan's Maddie Lim and Portsmouth's Charlotte Marston both go after the ball during Wednesday's Division II semifinal at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter. (Photo by Joe Marchilena)

EXETER – The old guard is headed to the final, while the new kid is headed home.

Playing in the Division II semifinals for the eighth time in the last nine years, the Souhegan High School field hockey team came back from an early deficit Wednesday and held on for a 4-3 win over Portsmouth at Bill Ball Stadium.

But it won’t be an all-Greater Nashua championship game, as Hollis Brookline, playing in the Final Four for the first time in recent memory, came up short against top-seeded John Stark, 2-0, in the second semifinal.

The No. 2 Sabers (15-0-1) got two goals from Ari Goulet and a goal and an assist from Allison Jordan, as they fell behind in the first quarter before scoring twice in the first five minutes of the third to take the lead for good.

“We were so unbelievably frantic in the first quarter,” Souhegan coach Kelli Braley said. “It doesn’t matter how many times you come here, I’ve got 10 seniors who have been four times in a row now, they know nothing else, but getting to this point. But there is still something of the aura of being a Final Four team.”

Ella Barrett also scored for Souhegan and Annie Raduazzo finished with five saves, including one on a Portsmouth penalty corner with no time left on the clock.

“We dug ourselves into a whole and obviously that was going to be difficult to get out of, but they almost did,” Portsmouth coach Sara Carpenter said. “I think it’s our second game with them that’s ended on a corner. When you get yourselves behind by that much, it’s always going to be difficult to win.”

The No. 3 Clippers (13-4) took a 1-0 lead in the first quarter on a goal by Sydney Moreau, but Goulet’s first goal with 3:26 left in the half tied the game. Barrett gave Souhegan the lead with an unassisted goal 2:26 into the second half, and two minutes later, Jordan scored on a corner to make it 3-1.

Goulet was able to knock home a bouncing ball with 7:58 remaining to make it 4-1, but Portsmouth didn’t take long to respond.

Mia Edwards cut the lead back to two goals, as she scored 1:21 later to make it 4-2, and Audrey Walsh made it a one-goal game, redirecting a shot by Darla Mahoney with 4:58 to play.

“The last thing I said before we got off the bus was that a one- or two-goal lead is not going to take care of this team,” Braley said. “Holy smokes was I right. Even a three-goal lead was questionable.”

The Sabers return to the title game for the third time in four years, where they will face John Stark, which made it to the final for the first time by denying the Cavaliers’ their first trip since 1990.

Lauryn Gauvin and Jillian Fredette had a goal apiece for the Generals (15-0-1), as they were able to keep HB from getting many opportunities throughout the night.

Despite the loss, HB coach Greg Cochrane felt good about how the players came out against a team that beat them 5-0 in the first game of the season.

“I thought we were motivated,” he said. “I thought we stuck with to our game plan to a certain extent. I’m proud of the way they fought and the way they kept in it, the way they kept their composure.”

Cochrane was hired as the coach late in the offseason, and while it took a little while for the Cavs to get going, they exceeded their own expectations.

“We’ve accomplished a lot more than we thought we could,” HB senior Bella Haytayan said. “We came into it really wanting to have a successful season and everyone worked their butts off. We did everything in our power to get as far as we possibly could and we definitely accomplished that.”