WORCESTER – Finally, bacon is served.

After twice losing to Andover in the state championship the last two years by one goal, the top-seeded Walpole field hockey team got its revenge Saturday at WPI with its own 1-0 win over the No. 2 Golden Warriors in the programs’ third straight Div. 1 state final showdown.

Izzy Adams scored the lone goal in the first quarter, proving the difference to help end the Porkers’ (22-1) six-year title drought.

Walpole won its Div. 1-leading 13th state championship as a result, doing so in front of a collection of recent alumni that got so close to it themselves against Andover (19-3).

“I wanted it for them more than anything else,” said Walpole head coach Jen Quinn. “Losing last year, it’s so hard. I feel so bad for them. They really worked hard. A lot of this group has been around for two years, they’ve been at this for two or three years. They’ve been really plugging away.”

“This is probably the best feeling I’ve ever had in my entire life,” added senior Kerin Birch. “It’s been accumulating for a while, we’ve put in so much work. … We just knew we needed to put our best foot forward.”

Scoring early has been a huge focus for the Porkers this tournament, especially after failing to score in 1-0 losses in the 2021 and 2022 finals. Defense ruled much of the way for both groups in limiting the game to just eight combined shots on goal, but not enough to keep Adams off the board.

Her goal with 1:43 left in the first quarter came from around the stroke line, giving her three goals in Final Four play.

“That was crucial,” Birch said. “We knew coming into this if we can score early, we’d put ourselves in a really good spot. … Giving ourselves that advantage early on was just a confidence boost.”

Andover staved off eight corners in a strong fight to stay in the game, but couldn’t get any offense. Abby Johnson had two saves in the shutout, while Katie Colleran starred on defense once again by clearing dangerous balls in open space around the goal, and the rest of the team kept its composure to secure the state title.