The Boynton Middle School field hockey team capped an undefeated season Saturday morning, winning the Tri-County League Division III championship by defeating South Meadow Middle School 8-0 in Hollis.
Division III includes the smallest schools from Hillsborough, Merrimack and Rockingham counties.
The win gave the Boynton Bulldogs a perfect 14-0 record under coach Nerissa Peschke. Over the season, Boynton outscored its opponents by 145 to 1.
Boynton eighth grader Reese Alix scored the first goal in the sixth minute, followed by goals from eighth grader Eden Traffie and seventh grader Harper Alix in the first quarter.
Seventh grader Havana Cormier notched a hat trick for the Bulldogs, making her the team’s second leading scorer of the playoffs with five goals and giving her 18 for the entire season. Traffie scored another goal in the championship game and was the second leading scorer for the year with 22 goals.
Captain Reese Alix scored the game’s final goal with a blast into the top half of the net. It was Reese’s 14th goal of the playoffs and 63rd of the season, an average of 4.5 goals per game.
Eighth graders Maddie “Fran” Somero, the team’s goalkeeper and captain, and defender Brooke Sallia led the defense. Sixth grader Maggie Higgins and fifth grader Zoey Alix helped keep the South Meadow Pumas at bay.
Seventh grader forward Pippa Phillips, who scored 15 goals this season, put pressure on South Meadow’s defense throughout the game. Eighth grader Brooke Muhonen had a standout game at midfield.
Boynton eight grader Reese Alix dribbles the ball, while South Meadow’s Olivia Swinyer races to defend. Boynton’s Havana Cormier follows the play. Credit: LAUREN PASHAYAN / For the Ledger-Transcript 
South Meadow’s #4 Allie Hamlin and #16 Avery Masterson, look to defend. Credit: LAUREN PASHAYAN / For the Ledger-Transcript 
South Meadow’s goalkeeper Mads Latini, #11 Ruby Taylor, #4 Allie Hamlin defend the goal. Credit: LAUREN PASHAYAN / For the Ledger-Transcript 
Credit: LAUREN PASHAYAN / For the Ledger-Transcript 
Action in front of the South Meadow goal. Credit: LAUREN PASHAYAN / For the Ledger-Transcript 
Boynton’s #10 Havana Cormier, South Meadow goalkeeper Mads Latini, South Meadow # 2 Isla Higley, Boynton’s #13 Eden Traffie, South Meadow’s #11 Ruby Taylor and #18 Riley Johnson, Boynton’s Lillian Knisley, South Meadow’s #13 Olivia Swinyer, Boynton’s #7 Reese Alix, and South Meadows’ #3 Inora Rushalko in Saturday’s championship game. Credit: LAUREN PASHAYAN / For the Ledger-Transcript 
Boynton’s Pippa Phillips controls the ball. Credit: LAUREN PASHAYAN / For the Ledger-Transcript
Eighth-grade captain Olivia Klebes scored 11 goals on the season. She led the midfielders, including eighth grader Lillian Knisley and seventh grader Anya Bergeron, who kept the ball in the opponents’ half of the field most of the game.
Other Bulldogs were seventh graders Kelsey Lawler and Bridget Raymer, sixth grader Aerilyn Hills and fifth grader Morgan Guichard. Every player contributed to Boynton’s championship.
Boynton was also the undefeated league champion in 2023. By winning the championship on the Hollis-Brookline synthetic turf field, the Bulldogs exorcised the site of the Boynton field hockey program’s only loss over the past three seasons, in last year’s final to Derryfield.
South Meadow, coached by Ashley Kersbergen, finished with a 12-2 record, with its only losses coming to Boynton. Excluding those games, the Peterborough-based Pumas outscored opponents 60-2.
For the Pumas, eighth graders Ella Walsh, Penny Griffiths, Inora Rushalko and Brooklyn Sipe were team leaders all year. Seventh grader Mads Latini served as goalkeeper.
Other players for South Meadow were eighth graders Allie Hamlin, Ruby Taylor, Avery Masterson and Riley Johnson; seventh graders Amber Dragon, Isla Higley, Olivia Swinyer and Ashley Whitaker and sixth grader Arden Beulieu.