BRIDGEWATER – After losing to Uxbridge in its Div. 4 state final debut last year, the Monomoy field hockey team’s vision was set from Day 1 this season to get back for another crack at its first state title.

With a grind-it-out 3-0 win over previously unbeaten No. 3 Sutton in a Div. 4 state semifinal at Bridgewater-Raynham, those second-seeded Sharks (20-0-2) turned that ambition into a reality Tuesday night.

Senior midfielder Emily Layton scored twice, helping the program become the first in school history to reach consecutive state finals in any sport. Her second goal came in a two-goal second half, giving goalie Maddie Swett (eight saves) a cushion she didn’t need in a phenomenal effort to hold off several promising Suzies (21-1) responses on the attack.

Monomoy will get a state final rematch with No. 1 Uxbridge on Saturday at Worcester State.

“That was the goal from the beginning,” said Sharks head coach Kyle Cappallo. “Once you get to the state final, you want to get back there. … We’ll make some adjustments from last year, but just getting back there I think is a huge accomplishment. We’re prepared. We’re more prepared at this point for this state final than we were last year.”

Sutton played scrappy on the defensive end all night, staving off several long stints of pressure the Monomoy attack brought beyond the 25. That was especially true in a first quarter that the Sharks dominated possession in, with the Suzies only allowing two shots on goal.

Layton’s execution was critical, then, to produce a 1-0 lead with 2:20 left in the first quarter, sending a flick through traffic that bounced in. And after Sam Clarke muscled in a goal off a scrum on a corner in the third quarter, Layton rifled a highlight-reel reverse chip in the first couple minutes of the fourth quarter on another corner for the 3-0 mark.

“It is awesome, it’s a great feeling of hard work,” Layton said. “I take those reverse shots all the time, so when it came time for that, I knew that I had it in me to get it in. … The scoresheet doesn’t matter (that much) to me, but it’s obviously great to help excel our team.”

“She’s clutch, she’s one of the most valuable players in the league,” Cappallo added. “She’s a huge part of our offensive corner unit. Just a great leader on the field and she comes up clutch.”

Teams traded control of the first two quarters, as Sutton outshot Monomoy 4-0 in the second quarter to inject some life into the game.

After only two shots on goal in the first half, Monomoy felt it needed to settle down and just find the rhythm it’s used to stay unbeaten thus far.

“We focused a lot on our defense,” Layton said. “We can win a game by scoring, but we can’t lose a game if we don’t let up goals. … The two shots (in the first half), we knew that we had had possession, so we kind of just changed our mindset for looking for the corners and the littles instead of getting the big shots off, and I think that worked out.”

It always helps to have a performance like Swett’s, too, to provide an ultimate safety net – as a freshman, no less.

“She plays a lot of hockey and she practices a lot outside of season,” Cappallo said. “She’s a good goalie and she comes up big. I’m just glad she’s in net and she’s only a freshman.”