WORCESTER ­– A two-goal first quarter launched Somerset Berkley to a 2-1 victory over Norwood in the Division 2 girl’s field hockey state championship.

The game avenged a 2023 state semi-final loss to Norwood by the same score. Somerset Berkley head coach Jen Crook said that result motivated her squad.

“These kids wanted it all year,” Crook said. “They wanted Norwood, it was a nail-biter until the end and I am so happy for these kids.”

Both Raiders goals were from Ryan Crook.

Norwood goalkeeper Ava O’Neil stepped up to make multiple athletic saves.

“Ava is amazing,” Mustangs coach Allison Doliner said. “She is the reason we have been here two years in a row. She is a brick wall, she owns it. She’s just something else. We are lucky she is on our side.”

Ava Hines’ strike into the bottom right corner in the third presented a wakeup call for the Raiders, who re-focused on sound defensive play and limited scoring chances with efficient clears.

“We came out early and got those two goals and felt good,” Ryan Crook said. “They started putting the pressure on us, especially with that goal in the third. Our defense really locked in at the end.”

The Mustangs earned three late corner plays but the Raiders kept the crease in front of goalkeeper Sophia Valcourt clean.

“We use a lot of communication on the field for defensive purposes,” senior captain Karis Botelho said. “We knew we just had to get it out and that we could lock them up.”

“That’s our corner plan for every corner play,” Jen Crook said. “It helped that we were up by a goal and time was on our side, but we defended the corner and were focused on clearing the ball out.”

This was the third state championship for Somerset Berkley in the last seven seasons and Botelho noted that getting it over the team that eliminated them last season made it even sweeter.

“It feels amazing,” Botelho said. “Last year we lost to Norwood in the final four and that made everyone angry. This year, with the final game playing Norwood again, we wanted it so bad. We are so happy to get another banner back home.”