EXETER — Lebanon High coach Rob Johnstone said his team was “forced to look in the mirror,” and see its flaws when it lost to Bedford in the second game of the regular season.

Well, the Raiders are going to get another look in that mirror

It will No. 1 versus No. 2 playing for the Division II boys’ soccer championship Wednesday night at Southern New Hampshire University when the second-seeded Raiders face the top-seeded Bulldogs.

Lebanon (17-1-1) punched its ticket with a 4-2 win over No. 3 Hollis/Brookline in the first of two semifinal games at Bill Ball Stadium, while Bedford (18-0-1) edged Goffstown, 1-0, on an own goal with just over six minutes left in the nightcap.

The Bulldogs, runner-up to Hanover in last year’s tournament, went to Lebanon on September 2 and pinned a 2-0 loss on the Raiders. Johnstone said it was clear after that game that Bedford was the standard-bearer in the division.

For the first time in seven years, there will be a champion other than Hanover High.

Lebanon, 20 years removed from its one and only title, is making its first trip to the finals since losing to Hanover in the 2006 and the third under Johnstone; Bedford is in the finals for the second straight season.

“This year, we definitely have a lot of momentum,” Bedford senior captain Evan Powlowsky said. “We’re not the underdogs anymore.”

Lebanon 4, Hollis/Brookline 2: With nine seniors in the starting lineup of a team that reached the semifinals a year ago, the Raiders seemed to be well-equipped to shake off the effects of giving up an early goal.

But that’s not how they felt

“I was kind of scared,” senior forward Jordan Koloski said after the Cavaliers’ Jake Laurent scored 49 seconds into the match. “I don’t think we’ve ever been down that quickly.”

Lebanon didn’t let its nerves show, responding with four straight goals, including the equalizer by Brady Boisvert in the 28th minute that energized the Raiders.

“It got us going,” said Boisvert, who made a dazzling run down the sideline before rocketing a shot inside the far post. “I think we were too nervous. That really settled us down.”

Hollis/Brookline coach Rick Carvalho called the goal “one of the most spectacular individual runs I’ve ever seen at this level.” Lebanon coach Rob Johnstone called it “a season definer.”

Koloski put the Raiders ahead for good in the 36th minute when he awarded a penalty kick after a foul along the baseline. H/B goalkeeper Linds Caldwell guessed left on the shot; Koloski went right.

Caldwell, a freshman, kept the Cavaliers close, making 10 saves, but Lebanon’s pressure proved to be too much, especially after H/B started pushing more players into the attack.

Colin MacNamee made it 3-1 in the 62nd minute and Cooper Hardy followed up with his team-high 11th goal less than two minutes later to make it 4-1.

“I sent the kitchen sink at them,” Hollis/Brookline coach Rick Carvalho said. “We had to attack. I’d rather lose 6-4, than lose 2-1 and never try.”

H/B made it 4-2 in the 76th minute when junior back Connor Walks, one of those players pushing up into the attack, scored deep in the box off an assist from Christian Beiter. It was one of the few times the Cavaliers were able to sustain their an attack.

Lebanon goalie Austin Mansell made just four saves.

Bedford 1, Goffstown 0: The fifth-seeded Grizzlies (15-4) played giant killer once already in the tournament when they beat defending champion Hanover in the quarterfinals, and they had their chances to do it again against the Bulldogs.

They kept a Bedford team that had been held without a goal once this year — during a scoreless tie with Hanover — in check for most of the game. Bedford dominated possession, but Henry Seidal, Goffstown’s sophomore goalie who played on the junior varsity for most of the year, made some spectacular saves.

Seidal, however, had no chance on what turned out to be the only goal of the game in the 74th minute.

Bedford’s Casey Schel put a corner kick on the near post that Goffstown’s Kyran Oasan tried to clear off the line. The ball deflected off his leg and bounced high into the net.

“It’s not the way we wanted to win, but we kept getting the ball in the right area, where mistakes can happen,” Bedford coach Stuart Pepper said.

“I feel terrible for Kyran,” Goffstown coach Randy Lovering said. “It was a tough ball, a lot of spin.”

Hollis/B. (14-3-2) 1 1—2

Lebanon (17-1-1 2 2—4

Scoring: H/B: Jake Laurent (un.), :49; Connor Walsh (Christian Beiter), 75:39; L: Brady Boisvert (un.), 27:50; Jordan Koloski (pk), 35:36; Colin MacNamee (un.), 61:28; Cooper Hardy (un.), 63:01.

Saves: H/B: Linds Caldwell 10; L: Austin Mansell 4.



Goffstown (15-4) 0 0—0

Bedford (18-0-1) 0 1—1

Scoring: B: Own goal, 73:57.

Saves: G: Henry Seidal 6; B: Taylor Wallace 3.