By Josh Perry || HockomockSports.com Managing Editor

FRANKLIN, Mass. – Franklin took the lead in Monday afternoon’s Div. 1 quarterfinal at Beaver Pond Field midway through the second quarter. When the horn sounded at the end of the fourth quarter, the scoreboard showed that the Panthers were still in front by a goal, but Hopkinton forced a corner so even though the clock read 0:00 the game wasn’t over.

Senior Ella Fowler got space and time at the edge of the circle and hit a rocket into the far corner, tying the game in the most dramatic (or devastating, depending on your perspective) way possible.

It was the kind of moment that could derail a team, especially one as young as Franklin, but the Panthers regrouped, reset, and regained control of the game. The hosts dominated in 7-on-7 and one minute into the second overtime period freshman midfielder Cade Taccini was tripped while driving at goal.

The officials gave a penalty stroke for denial of a clear scoring opportunity. Taccini was the pick to step up to the spot to try and win the game. She coolly rifled the ball into the top corner, giving the goalie no chance, sealing a 2-1 win, and sending the Panthers to their third state semifinal in the past five seasons.

“Wild, wild,” said Franklin coach Michelle Hess. “In all my years, I’ve never experienced anything like that. Them scoring with no time left was pretty crushing but I walked over to my team and they were like, ‘We’ve got this.’ They were almost too excited, we did some reset breaths to get them back down.

She added, “As soon as they called that stroke, I knew it was going to be Cade. She’s got the strongest shot on our team and I had faith in her. They played out of their minds tonight. They really wanted this game and they wanted to send a message to show that we can get back to the Final Four.”

Taccini explained, “I knew that was my moment. I had to capitalize on it and if I didn’t I’d have to be running back and forth some more. I just remember putting the ball on the line and I knew my spot and I just knew I had to score that.”

Franklin started slowly in each of its first two playoff games but on Monday, even without leading scorerElla Marzullo who picked up an injury in warmups, the Panthers got onto the front foot early on.

Jossie Camp forced a turnover and stepped up into the attack. The ball swung to the right for Tori Cahill, who fed it to sophomore Penelope Brady on the right side of goal. Her shot was kicked aside by Riley Curtin. The rebound was cleared at the far post with freshman Lily Aparo lurking.

Late in the first, on a corner, Taccini slipped a pass to Addi Weiss but her shot was deflected out. Sophomore Clara Blongastainer followed with a drive through the crowd but there was no touch.

Hopkinton had a scoring opportunity early in the second quarter. Avery Quebec fired a shot towards goal but Abby Burke’s tip went wide. Taccini had another scoring chance at the other end and Brady saw her round cleared off the line with the rebound popping out to the other side the Hillers again managed to clear one right on the line.

The breakthrough came with 6:50 left to halftime and it came from an unlikely source. Taccini again played the initial pass into a crowd in front of goal and in the scrum, with Brady and Ava Lucenta also in the vicinity, junior Kiley Silvestri got the final touch to push the ball over the line, just her third goal of the season.

Fowler had a shot through a crowd blocked just in front of Franklin goalie Devon Barry, who didn’t face a shot on target until the Hopkinton goal, and Blongastainer managed to squeeze the rebound out of danger.

The best chance for the hosts came with no time left in the third quarter, as they created a pair of corners. On the second one, Taccini fired the ball into the crease and Brady got a piece of the shot but couldn’t steer it on goal.

In the fourth, Lucenta started a corner routine with a pass to Taccini, who found Brady in space to the right of goal. Her shot found Blongastainer’s stick but the deflection took the ball into her body. A couple minutes later, sophomore Samantha Feigen made a nice steal to keep Hopkinton pinned back. Brady fired the ball across the face of goal and Weiss wasn’t able to get a touch despite being at full stretch.

Searching for a second goal that could put the game away, Caydence Canavan found Taccini for a shot off a corner, but Curtin made the save.

Franklin had only allowed nine goals in 20 games coming into Monday, including a pair of shutouts in the playoffs, and hadn’t allowed a shot to get through to Barry since the opening round, but the Hillers got one more chance and Fowler did not miss with her unstoppable blast.

When the game went to 7-on-7, Hess threw out a lineup that included two seniors (Barry and Lucenta), a junior (Camp), two sophomores (Brady and Blongastainer), and two freshmen (Aparo and Taccini), with freshman Amelia Manning coming off the bench. In the biggest moment, it was a freshman that stepped up.

It comes as no surprise to Hess, who has leaned on her underclassmen right from the start. “They showed right from the get-go that they were going to buy into our culture and tradition,” she said. “We did graduate so many good players but these guys just believed from the very beginning and they knew we could get back.”

The Panthers don’t often have a chance to show off their resiliency but it was on full display on Monday, as they quickly righted the ship and found a way to win.

“It definitely impacted our team a lot,” Taccini said of the Hopkinton goal, “but our coach, she really calmed us down. We do breaths, they really work. We knew this was our moment, we can’t lose. We never lose on the Beav, we just had to come out as strong as we can.”

Franklin (16-2-3) will face No. 3 Wellesley in the Final Four on Wednesday night at Westboro High. Five years ago, the program reached its first state semifinal. Now, it is headed to its third. The Panthers have reached the quarterfinal every year under the new tournament format.

“I’m very blessed with players who just love this sport and they just come out every day and work hard,” Hess said, emotion creeping into her voice as she thought about what it takes to keep the program at this level. “The expectation every year is to get back here and they buy into it.”