Ahern powers Notre Dame into final

Notre Dame-Hingham girls lacrosse coach Meredith Frank pulled star sophomore midfielder Madison Ahern off the field with their season on the brink midway through the second half.

Frank told Ahern to take over the final 10 minutes of the game, but Ahern acted upon her coach’s message sooner than that.

Ahern, who finished with six goals, put the Cougars on her back over the remaining 13:26, scoring three times and assisting on another goal to propel No. 3 NDA past second-seeded Westwood, 11-9, in a Division 1 South semifinal yesterday at Flahive Field in Westwood.

“She’s a leader and she’s a competitor,” said Frank, as the Cougars advanced to Saturday’s South final against Needham. “She’s not going to rest until the clock says zero and that’s what she did. We expect a lot of her as a team and that’s mentally and physically draining.

“So (I pulled her) as an opportunity for her to catch her breath and be prepared to get going again. We’re always going to look to her.”

Westwood (18-5) scored six straight goals bridging the first and second halves to erase a five-goal deficit, as a tally from Haley Connaughton (three goals) capped the run and put Westwood in front, 8-7, with 15:50 left.

But that’s when Ahern sprung into action. She notched the equalizer with 13:26 left and gave NDA (175) back the lead moments later. A minute later, Camerin Rawson found Ahern, who deposited an off-balanced shot, before assisting on a Kelsey Kenney goal for an 11-8 lead with 7:18 left.

Connaughton got a goal back for Westwood, but the Wolverines couldn’t go on another run.

“It means everything because I’m doing it with my teammates,” Ahern said. “This game especially, we really started to work together and gel and that’s what helped us to win.”

In other girls lacrosse action yesterday:

Elle Hansen finished with seven goals and four assists while her sister Jane added six more tallies as No. 1 Cohasset (18-2) defeated No. 5 Old Rochester, 18-5, in a Div. 2 South semifinal. . . . Murphy McDonough and Anne Hilsinger had four goals and two assists as No. 3 Norwell (16-3) rolled to a 20-7 win over previously undefeated Falmouth Academy.

Boys lacrosse

Jack Sutherland scored five goals and Matt Ward added four as No. 1 LincolnSudbury (17-1) defeated No. 4 Reading, 14-8, in a Div. 1 North semifinal.

Matt Gill scored three goals and added two assists as No. 3 Duxbury (16-5) beat sixth-seeded Wellesley, 10-4 in a Div. 1 South quarterfinal. . . . Max Djusberg scored twice in the second half as No. 1 BC High (17-3) defeated No. 9 King Philip, 6-3.

Marc O’Rourke scored four goals as No. 1 Hingham (20-3) coasted to a 17-5 win over No. 4 Scituate in a Div. 2 South semifinal.

Killian Morrissey had four goals as No. 2 Ipswich (17-2) advanced to the Div. 3 North final with a 14-9 win over No. 3 Austin Prep.

Jake Hurley and Cullen McGlynn each posted hat tricks as No. 1 Walpole (19-1) defeated No. 5 Concord-Carlisle, 9-3.

Softball

Belle Erti went the distance, allowing a single run in the second, as No. 12 North Attleboro (14-6) defeated fourth-seeded Marshfield, 6-1, in a Div. 1 South quarterfinal.

In a Div. 2 South quarterfinal, Mia Iodice allowed just four hits and struck out five in a 5-0 shutout victory for No. 3 Dighton-Rehoboth (221) over No. 11 Old Rochester . . . Lauren Keleher drove in two key runs in the bottom of the sixth to clinch a 8-5 victory for No. 1 Abington (25-0) over No. 4 Fairhaven, 8-5, and advance to the sectional final.

Olivia McGrath struck out 13 and allowed just one hit as No. 1 Latin Academy (22-2) cruised past No. 8 Chelsea, 11-0, in a Div. 3 North quarterfinal game.