MANCHESTER — It didn't take Windham long to make a statement in Monday's Division III girls' lacrosse semifinal at Southern New Hampshire University.

The top-seeded Jaguars scored on each of their first four shots and breezed to an 18-11 victory over fifth-seeded Hopkinton.

Those in attendance got a good look at the future of Windham lacrosse as well, as freshman Courtney Sweeney scored a game-high seven goals, classmate Ali Connors scored three and sophomore Melissa Cino collected two goals and five assists. Senior Kayla Breton also scored three goals for the Jaguars, who led 13-6 at halftime.

“The girls did a good job of coming out strong, coming out intense and making things work,” Windham coach Jill Bartlett said. “The girls worked hard and made the most of their opportunities.”

Running time kicked in when Windham's Jennifer Gaardner scored to make it 18-8 with 14:34 to play.

The loss ended Hopkinton's six-game winning streak. The Hawks, who lost six of their first nine games, finished 9-7.

“They move the ball really good with the over-the-shoulder passes, their timing is really good and they have three girls who can really move the ball upfield,” Hopkinton coach Eric Sideleau said. “That type of passing — we just don't see it that much.”

Elizabeth Hancock led Hopkinton with five goals.

Windham, which improved its record to 16-0, will face second-seeded Kearsarge (14-1) in Thursday's championship game. The Jaguars defeated the Cougars 12-11 when the teams met during the regular season.

“We're looking forward to it,” Bartlett said. “They're a strong program so we have to continue to play our game. We'll have to play a hard 50 minutes — fast, full-throttle the whole time. We can't afford to let off the gas even a little bit. We have to keep playing hard.”

Kearsarge 12, Plymouth 6: It was midway through the first half of Monday's Division III girls lacrosse semifinal, and things didn't look good for Kearsarge of North Sutton.

The second-seeded Cougars trailed third-seeded Plymouth by three goals with 12:57 left in the half, but controlled the contest from that point on. Kearsarge collected nine of the game's next 10 goals en route to the triumph.

“We've been a slow-starting team all year,” Kearsarge coach Scott Slogic said. “It's been a frustration for us. We needed to take a timeout and remind the girls what to focus on. The girls woke up.”

Senior midfielder Holly Pons led the Kearsarge offense with four goals. The Cougars received three-goal games from senior attack Cara Wolf and senior attack Paige Newman.

Ann Furbush led Plymouth with two goals.

“I thought the girls showed a lot of intensity right off the bat,” Plymouth co-head coach Thomas Cowie said. “We had more ground balls, we had more draw controls — we were playing very good lacrosse. Give it to Kearsarge. They came out in the second half and turned the game around. We let them have the momentum.”

Kearsarge, which has reached the Division III semifinals in each of the last four years, raised its record to 14-1 with the victory. Plymouth, which won last year's Division III championship, finished its season with a 12-4 record.

Email rbrown@unionleader.com