When Gorham’s Jack Saladino scored his first goal against Mascenic, the Vikings still had a glimmer of a chance to win. By the time he netted his second and then a third, the NHIAA Division IV boys’ soccer semifinal was all but over, and the Huskies cruised to a 5-0 win that ended Mascenic’s stellar season.

“We made it this far,” senior Gabriel Hileman said after the game on the turf at Laconia. “All the hard work we put into it – we literally practiced all season to get here. Unfortunately, it ended here, but the top four is something Mascenic doesn’t usually see. So I’m proud of all these boys for putting in all the hard work and I’m excited we made it this far.”

The No. 3 Vikings (13-2-3) hadn’t seen the No. 2 Huskies (17-1) in the regular season, but coach Joseph Hileman had Gorham well-scouted. Mascenic actually did a great job marking Saladino, a career 100-goal scorer with 46 just this year, denying him any opportunity at a live-ball goal. However, the Husky star got three dead-ball opportunities – a corner kick in the first half, a free kick early in the second and a penalty a few minutes later – and he struck them all home.

“The kid did phenomenal,” Joseph Hileman said. “He’s a good player. We knew he was a good player going into it.”

Mascenic senior keeper Quinn Krook did all he could despite the lopsided score, making several impressive diving saves, and the Vikings put forth a valiant effort. Where they were lacking, though, was their intensity, as Gorham seemed to win the majority of the game’s 50/50 balls.

“Every time I put them out on the pitch,” Joseph Hileman said, “I say every ball in the air is our ball, every ball on the ground, every ball out of bounds, it’s our ball. And I say the same thing every game. That’s my warmup before we step out onto the pitch. And we didn’t do that. We were lacking in our aggression to win that ball. You know, [Gorham has] big kids and they were strong players and they read the ball well, but we’re better than we played tonight.”

Gorham added goals by Lane Wakefield and Emerson Cairns to round out the five-goal night.

It was the first semifinal appearance for Mascenic since 2019. Back then, the current roster was in middle school, watching the Vikings play at Laconia while working on an impressive run of their own that culminated in a Tri-County League championship win over Epping. With No. 1 Epping now set to face Gorham in Friday’s final, the Mascenic boys had hoped for a similar storyline to cap off their high school careers, but it was not to be.

“I really couldn’t ask for a better group of boys to do this with,” said senior Logan Lucas. “Sticking with these kids since we were like 6 years old, at least – it’s a tough way to end it, but I couldn’t have asked for a better way to do it, really.”

The Vikings graduate nine seniors, but with eight freshman already on the roster this year, they have the makings of another strong class in the works.