EXETER – The No. 6 Bishop Brady Giants are headed to their fifth Division III championship game in six years after a, 1-0, win over the No. 7 Newfound Bears in the semifinal thanks to a savvy goal by senior forward Kimble Rose in the third quarter.

The Giants entered Thursday’s semifinal on a roll, having won their previous two tournament games with shutouts, and had already beaten Newfound twice during the regular season at home, 3-0, and away, 1-0.

“We had beaten them twice before, but anything could happen in playoffs, anytime,” Rose said. “They had just upset the second seed, we had no expectations going into this game, except to play hard and do our best.”

The Giants and Bears’ fans covered Bill Ball Stadium in green to cheer on their teams. However, the first half was uneventful, with few shots and many corners that the Giants struggled to capitalize on.

The game was a midfield skirmish for the ball with each team oscillating near each other’s circles. Finally, halfway through the third quarter, the Giants scored.

Previously, Brady had not managed to shoot on target from most of their penalty corner plays.

“We adjusted. We moved some of our defense up, had some of our offense stay back, and we got in front of the green. And once we're in front of the green, we could make those shots,” said Giants’ senior midfielder Camdyn Despres.

After the adjustment, Despres sent a pass across the circle that rolled to Rose – who had been a handful for defenders all night – all alone on the left side of the goal to shoot and score quickly.

“That tends to happen a lot, actually, the opposite side is open, but it just depends on if we’re able to get it over there and have those shots,” said Despres. “I saw Kimble there and I knew she could execute.”

No. 6 Bishop Brady (12-4-1) came into the game with two big playoff wins, one in the preliminary round over Kearsarge, 1-0, and an upset in the quarterfinal against No. 3 Mascenic, 2-0, who had looked unstoppable in the regular season.

Similarly, Newfound (10-7-1) had squashed No. 10 Mascoma Valley in the preliminary round and upset second-seeded Stevens in the quarterfinal.

Yet, the Bears struggled to gain any momentum against the Giants going forward. Despres controlled the midfield with turnovers and pushed the Giants forward well, while goalkeeper Ava Archambault locked down.

Despite giving up a few penalty corners, Bishop Brady’s defense held on and did not allow the Bears to get clear shots on target. Newfound created counter-attack chances quickly in the fourth quarter with long driven passes. and managed to shoot on target a handful of times but it was not enough to tie the game.

The Giants will move on to the D-III championship, which will be played at Bedford High School on Saturday. Game time is scheduled for 5 p.m.

“I think our energy is our biggest thing as long as we keep it up. Anything’s possible in playoffs,” said Rose. “Like I said, if we put 100% into every ball, we get there first, we got it. I believe in us.”

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com