WENHAM — It was a heart-breaking end to the season for the South Hadley girls soccer team.

The Tigers dropped their MIAA Division 4 state quarterfinal matchup against Hamilton-Wenham, 3-2, in double-overtime on Wednesday night at Gordon College.

Tessa Hunt scored the game-winner for the No. 2 Generals in the final seconds of the second OT period, after a cross from Georgia Wilson in the box ended up in the back of the South Hadley net.

The Tigers, which entered the game as the No. 7 seed, fought back from a two-goal deficit in the first half, but couldn’t complete the comeback after Hamilton-Wenham’s golden goal.

“I’m super proud, being down 2-0 and then slowly chipping your way back into the game and taking over the game in the second and then our chances in the overtime, we were right there,” South Hadley head coach Rich Marjanski said. “We had our chances, we didn’t obviously capitalize on all of them, but I’m super proud of the way they played. They played so hard, it was awesome.”

The Generals (17-0-4), which will play No. 3 Lynnfield in the semifinals, scored twice in 36 seconds during the opening 40 minutes to put the Tigers behind 2-0 in a hurry.

South Hadley responded on a goal with about five minutes left in the first frame from Allison Fleury. Fleury took a bouncing pass from Hannah Haesaert and sent the ball soaring into the back of the net to cut the hosts’ lead to 2-1.

Hamilton-Wenham held the majority of the momentum in the first half, but Fleury’s tally gave the Tigers a boost into the break.

“We were giving them too much space defensively, so we had to push our defense up and open our midfield up and get the ball forward to our forwards,” Marjanski said on the message going into the second half.

South Hadley brought the intensity during the second stanza, however it needed nearly 35 minutes to knot the score, 2-2. Katherine McArdle found a seam in the Generals de fense and made them pay as the Tigers senior sent the ball into the bottom right corner with 5:23 to go.

“[McArdle] got us back into the game, she’s done that all year,” Marjanski said. “She’s one of our better players and leaders. She leads on the field and she was just getting more forward and forward, and waiting for that ball to drop to her feet and put it into the back of the net.”

In similar fashion as the initial 80 minutes, South Hadley methodically went to work in the first overtime. Late in the 10-minute frame, McArdle attacked the Hamilton-Wenham net and drew a penalty kick.

Fleury took the kick, but was stopped as she sent the ball directly at the Generals keeper, who didn’t move from their starting center position.

“She’s lights out, which is crazy, so she’s probably kicking herself for that one,” Marjanski said. “She’s had a tremendous year. Obviously if she could take it back she probably would, but I’m super proud of her just to keep her head in the game.”

It appeared as though the game would need penalty kicks to decide a winner, as both teams traded chances during the second 10-minute OT. However, Hunt’s goal sealed it and put an end to the Tigers’ season.

The Generals’ team speed was a factor all night long and was exemplified during the deciding goal as they pushed the ball up-field in a flash, following a couple of South Hadley bids.

“We had to make some adjustments,” Marjanski said. “[Wilson] was super fast on the outside so we made some adjustment. I moved my center-back to the outside, who’s probably one of our fastest players. She’s wicked physical and slowed [Wilson] down a lot, which was great.”

Along with McArdle, South Hadley’s senior class included Cianna Gurek, Abigail Gelinas, Emma Levreault, Maggie Evans, Maddie Soderbaum and Margaret Watkins.

The Tigers concluded their 2024 season with a 14-5-2 record