WEST SPRINGFIELD — In near-freezing temperatures at Clark Field during the MIAA Division 5 girls soccer state semifinal matchup on Monday night, Monson’s Hannah Murphy exhibited ice in her veins with two goals in its 2-1, double-overtime victory against Granby.
Murphy, who became the all-time leading goalscorer in Massachusetts girls’ soccer history earlier this season, clinched a state final appearance for the Mustangs with a tremendous, individual-effort goal with two minutes, 32 seconds left in the second, 10-minute OT period.
Murphy settled a bouncing ball past midfield on the left side of the pitch, weaved around multiple Rams defenders, then finished off the play with a sliding sweep at the ball with her right foot from within the box, which caromed off Granby goalie Meredith Bartosz, flew straight up in the air, then skittered across the goal line as fourth-seeded Monson took down top-seeded Granby in an instant classic.
“I just looked at Hannah and no disrespect to Kalli White and players on her team, I told Hannah ‘you are the best player on this field, go do something and win us this game,'” Mustangs head coach Larry Pagliaro said. “Again, no disrespect to Granby or anybody on their team, they are a wonderful, well-coached team. But I just told Hannah ‘hey, it’s yours, go get it,’ and I think she did.”
Despite the final stat-line suggesting otherwise, the Rams did about as well as they could have containing Murphy. Granby’s backline did not allow Murphy any clean looks throughout the nearly 100-minute-long affair.
Murphy’s first goal was on a free kick, mere paces from the perimeter of the 18-yard box, after No. 5 was brought down on a rush opportunity in the first half.
The golden goal was a combination of determination and talent and sometimes, all you can do is tip your cap when a player with Murphy’s abilities makes a difference.
“She’s tremendously talented, you got to give her credit,” Granby head coach Bob Weaver said. “She’s a great kid. She can shoot the ball from anywhere. She has the MIAA record for a reason.”
Rams’ Kalli White made her mark in the state semifinal striker-showdown as well, scoring the equalizer for Granby with 6:43 remaining in the second half.
White sprinted through a Monson defender right up the heart of the box with the ball and sent it into the bottom right corner of the net with a left-foot flicker, making it a 1-1 game.
The pitch tilted the Rams’ way for the last five minutes of regulation and a majority of the first OT after White’s marker.
“They’re just so talented,” Pagliaro said. “We didn’t want Kalli White, she’s such a great player, we didn’t want her to not work for everything. [Our gameplan] was centered around neutralizing Kalli White, but we all know, that’s really difficult to do.”
The second OT didn’t offer much action until Murphy forced herself into Granby’s penalty box then fed Makenna Peterson with a centering pass from in-tight, but Peterson didn’t get much on the shot attempt, with about five minutes to go before penalty kicks.
However, Murphy got another chance a couple of minutes later and this time, the prolific goalscorer did what she does best, sending Monson back to the state championship for the first time since it snatched the Div. 5 crown in 2023.
“We have one more mountain to climb,” Pagliaro said.
Monday’s meeting in the final four was the third time the Rams and Mustangs played this fall, with Granby winning the first two times.
The Rams should be among the best in Div. 5 again next season as they only lose three seniors from this season’s squad in Ava Elizabeth Loughman, Kaitlyn Curran and Mylin Laliberte.
Still, Granby felt it had all the ingredients to go all the way this time.
“You get here, you really got to take opportunity, seize it and move on,” Weaver said. “You got to give Monson credit. They played well too.”
The Rams’ 2025 record wound up at 15-4-4.