Riding a 119-game winning streak, the Watertown field hockey team failed to score in the first 30 minutes of Saturday’s Division 2 North final against Ipswich.
But senior Kourtney Kennedy tallied two minutes into the second half, backhanding a shot by goalie Sydney Pignone, and the seven-time defending state champions recorded a 3-1 victory at North Andover High.
Watertown (21-0) will play South champion Foxborough in a state semifinal Tuesday at Reading High.
“We knew we were going up against a strong, aggressive team,” Watertown coach Eileen Donahue said.
“We just had to take everything from practice into the game,” Kennedy said. “We want to play our game. We focused on what we didn’t do well in the first half in the second.”
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Three minutes later, junior Sydney Poulin buried the eighth corner of the day for Watertown, but Ipswich wasn’t done.
Senior Julia Glavin pushed one past senior goalkeeper Jonna Kennedy and it appeared as if the Tigers had momentum moments later when a Watertown goal was disallowed.
But freshman Ally Kennedy scored on a shot that deflected past Pignone to restore Watertown’s two-goal cushion.
“We needed to move the ball and make smarter decisions,” Donahue said.
“We always want to hit first,” Kennedy said. “Whoever scores first of the game sets the tone.”
Division 2 South
Foxborough 2, Falmouth 0 — Coach Melissa Bordieri won her first sectional title in 15 years at the helm as Foxborough (19-2-1) topped Falmouth (11-5-5).
“We stepped up defensively big time and made adjustments on the aerials,” Bordieri said, acknowledging Foxborough’s two-goal lead was not a safe one until the final whistle.
“Maybe a third or fourth goal is insurance in the playoffs, but Falmouth can score.’’
Foxborough will play Watertown in a state semifinal Tuesday at Reading High.
Division 1 South
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Walpole 2, Sandwich 1 — Audra Tosone scored the winner with 7:18 remaining off a corner, sliding it through the crowd and into the left netting.
“We’re always practicing corners, so we always try to capitalize on them,” Tosone said.
Melanie Weber received the pass at the top of the box and swung it to Tosone, who was cutting toward the net.
After briefly losing the ball, Tosone won it back and placed it just out of reach of the Sandwich keeper.
Walpole (20-0-2) will play Acton-Boxborough in a state semifinal Tuesday at Reading High.
With just over a minute left in the first half, Tosone received a long pass at midfield from deep in her team’s defensive third.
She turned and ran.
Pushing the ball forward down the open right flank, she cut the ball around a Sandwich defender toward the middle of the field, full head of steam as she entered the circle.
But Tosone was denied as she lost the ball to two Sandwich defenders waiting for her in the box.
Tosone was not denied in the second half, however.
Sandwich eighth-grader Macey White scored with 4:54 remaining in the first half to tie it up at 1-1, matching Melanie Weber’s rip that found the right corner of the net 10 minutes into the game.
Weber opened the scoring after a stout defensive showing from both sides, with neither team allowing a shot until nine minutes in, when Sandwich had an opportunity kicked away by Walpole’s Giovanna Anello.
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Division 1 North
Acton-Boxborough 3, Winchester 1 — A pair of goals from junior Caitlin Little carried the defending state champion Colonials (15-2-3) to the North title in North Andover.
“I think after the first few minutes, we really started playing like a team,” Little said. “That’s what ultimately led us.”
“Pure determination and strength of character,” A-B coach Mae Shoemaker said. “I said we cannot play defensively, we have to attack, and we did. We’ve had issues coming out in the second half flat. Not today.”
A-B will play Walpole in a state semifinal Tuesday at Reading High.
Winchester (14-3-3) seized a 1-0 lead 4:15 in when senior captain Lucy Milauskas capitalized on the first corner of the game.
Just two minutes later, A-B junior forward Kathryn Lundquist tallied the equalizer, and the Colonials were off. Little scored the go-ahead goal a little more than halfway through the first frame and scored at the start of the second.
On the first goal, Shoemaker said, “they had two girls marking her, and she tends sometimes to get frustrated. She really didn’t, and I was so proud of her. She was making things work for the other girls.”
Globe correspondent Sam Boyles in Taunton contributed to this report.