Tyler Bretton (22) and the rest of the Cougars wear a somber look after losing in sudden death overtime to Plymouth in the Division III semifinals Thursday at Laconia. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

LACONIA – When the Campbell High School boys lacrosse team jumped out to a 4-0 lead over No. 2 Plymouth in the first quarter of Thursday’s Division III semifinals at sun-splashed Bank of NH Stadium, a sudden death overtime was the furthest thing from anyone’s mind.

But after a scoreless second quarter Cougars coach Harrison Urda could see things start to change, and sure enough his team was outscored 7-2 the rest of the way. Plymouth’s Nolan Galvin scored with 2:40 left in OT to give the Bobcats a 7-6 win and a berth in Saturday’s 6 p.m. finals here vs. No. 1 Coe-Brown.

“I think we got too ahead of ourselves a little bit, and lost focus there,” Cougars coach Harrison Urda said. “I think they were able to get a step on us a little bit more, off dodges, we weren’t in quite the right position. And momentum is a killer.”

“It certainly was a flat-footed start,” Plymouth coach Glenn Malsouf said. “But there’s a reason why you play four quarters. Give credit to (Campell), they came out fired up and ready to go, and it took us a little bit just to find our footing.

“We saw some opportunities and we knew that we could play better. That’s what we were discussing as halftime. Despite on how things started, we were only down three.”

Yes it was 4-1 after one but the teams combined for 28 first-half turnovers and fans saw a rarity – a scoreless second quarter.

Campbell’s Evan Molino, Scott Hershberger, Tyler Breton and Cruz Sandquist were the goal scores in that opening period barrage. Plymouth’s Cooper Legacy scored the first of his two goals on the day with 2:17 left in the first half to get the ‘Cats on the board.

Who knew that would be the final goal of the half? Peyton Long scored a minute and a half into the third period to make it 4-2, and it stayed that way until Breton’s second goal made it 5-2, a lead Campbell took into the final quarter.

But they would only manage one more goal, thanks in part to Plymouth netminder Cullen McNair (five saves). Long and Legacy got things to within 5-4, the latter right off a Cougar turnover (they had 20 for the game). It was answered only by Cougars’ Matthew DeCarli with 8:20 to play, giving Campbell a two-goal cushion again, 6-4. But that would be their final goal. Some 40 seconds later Galvin scored his first goal to make it 6-5, and it stayed that way for over three minutes until Plymouth’s Sage Upson finally got the equalizer for the Bobcats with 4:07 left.

“Our offense started to not move as well as we have in the past, a little bit stagnant, and that gave them more opportunities,” Urda said.

Neither team could produce a goal the rest of regulation, thanks mainly to turnovers.

“Both teams certainly had their share of miscues,” Mausolf said. “The defense was able to stabilize, and we were able to just keep playing on and keep persevering.”

Campbell’s Sage Upton harasses Plymouth’s Mike Aprilliano during Thursday’s Division III semifinal at Bank of NH Stadium in Laconia. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Plymouth almost had a chance to win it in the final seconds of regulation, but a long pass to Upson bounced off his stick into the basket of goalie Will O’Brien, who was fantastic on the day with 10 saves. But the Bobcats won the faceoff to start the sudden death OT and a couple of minutes later Galvin had the ball with some space on the left side and had a decision to make

It turned out to be the right one.

Should he take the shot? There was a teammate behind the goal, so if he missed the Bobcats would keep possession. Or should he rotate the ball around again.

“I didn’t really know,” he said. “I just saw the guy (a teammate behind the goal), I’ll just go to the goal and see if I can score. If not, my team’s got us. I was just going to go. Somebody’s always there to back it up.”

“Nolan certainly played a key role, but it was a total team effort,” he said. “You back at some of the hustle plays between the boxes, some of the ground balls, the clears, guys hustling back to stop fast breaks, I’m extremely proud of this team, the fact they kept fighting to the full 48 minutes and beyond.”

Hustle is always Campbell’s middle name. Urda’s team started the season out slow, but then had a great second half and first two rounds of the tourney.

“I think they grew,” he said. “It was led by seniors, most of the starters were seniors, and the sophomores and juniors grew as the season went on. Going forward I’m really confident we’ll still have a competitive team and be right back here next year.”

But not Scott or Nick Hershberger, who helped set the tone. Nick’s athletic career is likely over, but Scott of course is set to play football at the University of New Hampshire in the fall. He was the leader of the Cougars’ tenacious defense.

“The kid’s a stud on and off the field, just an absolute workhorse,” Urda said. “I couldn’t be happier for him and his career; I wish it had ended a little bit differently for him.”