In the end, Franklin won its expected league title, but also rolled through the Hockomock League season racking up impressive win after impressive win. Early in the season the Panthers beat Canton 5-2 and then crushed OA 6-1 at home behind a hat trick from Kristi Kirshe. It was that mid-season game that had the senior forward thinking this might be a special season.
"We came into the year with only three upperclassmen that started, so we really didn’t know what we were going to be…and it wasn’t until the major games like OA and Canton that we knew we were good," reflected Kirshe months after the Panthers' title run.
A surprising 2-2 draw with Walpole ended the regular season but this team, led by a core of seniors but filled with young players learning on the job, went into the tournament with the no. 1 seed in D1 South and growing confidence that it was a favorite to take home the title.
One of the strengths of the team was its leadership. Seniors like Kirshe and Stephanie Pisani helped keep the younger players focused during the difficult playoff run. Just before the playoffs began, it was also revealed in a Boston Globe story by Jason Mastrodonato that the team had been inspired by co-captain Grace Conley, who was battling cancer through the season:
Before every game, coach Tom Geysen “would tell us, ‘You’re not just playing this game for you, you’re playing it for her, so she can come and see you guys play,’ ” Kirshe said. “So we went in every game thinking, ‘If we win this one, she’ll be able to see the next one.’ ”
Franklin beat Bishop Feehan, 2-1, to win the South sectional, but lost to Central Catholic, 1-0, in an overtime heartbreaker in the state semifinals.
Conley got out of the hospital the next day.
She now talks about her 9-inch scar — which runs from her lower chest down past her navel — and her chemotherapy pill — which she will likely have to take every day for the rest of her life — like most people would talk about a visit to their physician for a common cold.
“For any average kid, it would have been very, very trying,” said Geysen. “I don’t know how she’s done it. To her, it’s just, ‘Another part of me. No big deal. I’m able to play and get here.’ She really plays it down quite a bit.”
This fall, Conley has appeared in five games for the Panthers, who were 15-0 after Tuesday’s 7-0 Hockomock League win over King Philip Regional.
She has not played a full game yet, not because she doesn’t think her body can handle it, but because she thinks, in her current shape, there are better girls playing her position, outside fullback.
“Of course she said that,” said Kirshe, a skilled forward who is in an elite class of Eastern Massachusetts players this year with at least 30 goals. “That’s how she is. The best description for Grace is she’s a solid player. No one will go through her. She marks me in practice and I can’t get by her.”
Kevin Stone described the frantic final minutes for the MetroWest Daily News:
The second half was uneventful for the first 38 minutes, until a sudden goal from Oliver Ames' Corrine Herlihy found its way past Franklin goalie Dani Lonati with 2:25 on the scoreboard.
[Head coach Tom] Geysen called a timeout to calm his players down, but it didn't work.
Immediately following the break, Kendall Andrew launched a free kick nearly 30 yards from just in front of Franklin's bench that sailed over the head of Lonati and cut Franklin's lead to 3-2 with less than a minute to play.
The Panthers then punted the ball down field twice, killing the clock and setting off an exhilarating celebration as they stormed the field.
"I was so nervous," said [Taylor] Cogliano. "I just wanted the clock to run so badly and it seemed like we were out there forever those last few seconds."
"I've never been so nervous in my life," echoed [Alexis] Stowell. "That was just crazy. I'm just so happy we were able to hold on."
Chris Bradley covered the game for ESPNBoston.com:
Led by senior captain Kristi Kirshe and sophomore Taylor Cogliano, No. 1 ranked Franklin punched a ticket to the MIAA Division 1 state championship game, with a 2-0 win over Beverly.
Kirshe drew first blood just seven minutes into the game, scoring her 100th career goal on free kick from about 30 yards out. She was the catalyst of Franklin’s offense throughout, constantly attracting close attention from Beverly’s defense.
The striker, Cogliano, who narrowly missed scoring on several occasions in the second half before increasing the lead with 11 minutes to go, was able to break away from a Beverly defender who had misplayed a ball near midfield.
“Eventually Kristi was going to get something and Taylor is good enough, skilled enough where she would get an opportunity,” Franklin head coach Tom Geyson said. “After that first goal I think they kind of took control of the game, but the last 15 minutes I thought we played really well, we really put the pressure on.”
Cogliano was the most aggressive player on the field in the second half, getting several opportunities to score around the net as a result of quick instinct and beating Beverly to 50-50 balls. Her goal late in the second half put the game completely out of reach for Beverly.
As she lined up the sixth minute free kick, the chant started raining down from the student section, “One Hundred, one hundred!” In the biggest moment of the biggest game so far, Kristi Kirshe delivered.
The Franklin senior forward curled 30-yard free kick off the bottom of the post and into the back of the net to give the Panthers the perfect start to the EMass Championship game against Beverly.
It also got Kirshe past the mental block of trying to reach an important career target.
“Going into the year, I knew that I needed a pretty high number of goals to get it so I just kind of took it one game at a time. Now, knowing that I got it, it’s incredible.”
As Ryan Lanigan described for HockomockSports.com, it was a dream come true:
“It’s a great thing,” Franklin head coach Tom Geysen said. “We’ve been a very good program for a very long time. We’ve been close several times to going over the top.”
Franklin scored first in the 13th minute when Kirshe and Cogliano played a couple of quick touches back and forth before Kirshe found herself on the near side of the six-yard line. She used the outside of her right foot to beat the goalie and found the far post. The ball blanked off the post and found the back of the net to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
“The first goal was a classic goal with me and Taylor combing,” Kirshe said. “That’s how we always try to do it with small ball. I just got the outside of my foot on it. It was a greatest feeling ever.
Less than 10 minutes later in the 21st minute, Kirshe was at it again. After Kirshe won a defensive header off a Nashoba corner, the ball ended up at the feet of Cogliano. The sophomore carried the ball with speed towards midfield and was one on one with the last defender.
She calmly slid the ball to the left, finding a streaking Kirshe. The senior took the ball in stride and when the goalie charged out, Kirshe took the ball to her right and buried it into the open net for the eventual game winner.
Something had to give in this one.
Both the Franklin and Nashoba Regional went into Friday night’s Division 1 state final at Worcester State University without a loss this fall. The South sectional champion Panthers touted an impressive 21-0-1 mark, while the Central champion Chieftains from Central Mass. came in at 18-0-4.
Thanks in large part to the efforts of sophomore Taylor Cogliano and senior Kristi Kirshe, people will be dancing in the streets of Franklin as the Panthers captured the first girls soccer state championship in school history by earning a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Nashoba.
Slade’s goal sparked the Panthers into life, and they began to press forward and limit the chances that Nashoba was able to create. Geysen spoke afterwards about the needing to change the momentum late in the game.
“Better teams will step back up and try to push it back and maintain their poise," he said. "The last 10 or 15 minutes I thought we maintained our poise a lot better and that was the difference for us to stay ahead.”
While the Franklin attack -- Kirshe in particular -- will deservedly get the headlines, the Panthers showed strength on defense. Sweeper Julia Bireley and defender Allexia Martin clearing a host of chances, and freshman keeper Dani Lonati made 10 saves -- including one highlight reel dive to rob Kaitlyn Thorogood...
Amidst tears and a huge traveling contingent of Franklin fans, Kristi Kirshe tried to explain what it meant to finish her senior season with a state championship.
“It’s the greatest feeling in the world," she sadi. "I mean, going undefeated senior year, winning the first ever state title… it’s something I’ve dreamed about.”
She added, “It’s a dream come true right now.”
While being interviewed for the HockomockSports.com Miss Hockomock award, Kirshe remarked, "For me, the state title is what I’m most proud of. The individual awards are nice and it’s really cool that I got them, but I’ll never be happier than when our team won the state title."
She added, "When the final whistle blew I started crying tears of joy. Everything that we did finally paid off. I couldn’t ask for a better end to my soccer career, my senior year. I think about it every day, it’s going to be one of the greatest days of my life."
Not only was the title historic for the girls' soccer program at Franklin, but the undefeated run to the D1 state title was the top moment for the Hockomock League in 2012-13.
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