The DHS girls’ lacrosse team saw its season come to an end on Friday afternoon in Hopkinton, when they lost a heart-breaking, 13-12, decision to the No. 2-seeded Hillers in the Division II South Sectional final.

It was a game that was always within reach, as Duxbury held a 3-1 first quarter lead, and was still within striking distance at halftime when they trailed, 7-5.

After sophomore Tess Chandler won the opening faceoff for Hopkinton, the Hillers controlled play for almost three minutes before senior attack Brooke Rudden cut through the slot in front of goaltender Sophie Fitzpatrick and fired back across her body to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Duxbury wasted little time in getting it back, as senior Olivia McCarthy took a feed from junior Molly Zaverucha and broke right down the middle, beating goaltender Jaclyn Chirco at the 21:24 mark to tie the game at 1-1.

A rejuvenated Dragon squad went ahead 12 seconds later when sophomore Hannah Murphy (5 goals) picked up the faceoff and headed straight for the Hopkinton net, burying her shot past Chirco for a 2-1 lead.

The lead grew to 3-1 less than three minutes later when senior defender Devan Bahr raced up field with the ball, finding Murphy inside where she beat Chirco once again, boosting the confidence of her teammates.

The tide slowly turned against the Lady Dragons, as Chandler began to control the faceoffs with her height advantage over Siobhan McCarthy. Three straight goals had the Hillers ahead 4-3, but Murphy tied it once again out of a free position at the 12:58 mark.

The game went back and forth, as senior captain Keri Gould put Duxbury ahead, 5-4, for their last lead of the afternoon. Sophomore Kristen Blackwell would tie it once again for Hopkinton, and Chandler would regain the lead at 6-5 with 11 minutes left in the half.

What had been a fast-paced game suddenly slowed down, as both sides had trouble finding the net over the next nine minutes. With 1:44 remaining in the half, Chandler struck again to send the Hillers into intermission with a 7-5 lead.

The Lady Dragons were optimistic trailing by just two goals after turnovers, lost faceoffs and Hopkinton’s possession advantage called for a much bigger lead.

Despite the optimism, reality set in, as the Hillers reeled off three straight goals in the second half to take a 10-5 lead, their biggest of the game.

Olivia McCarthy broke the Hopkinton run with 18:55 remaining to make it 10-6, and goals by Gould and Murphy took just 35 seconds to bring Duxbury back into contention trailing, 10-8.

Hopkinton responded with a pair of goals by Rudden and Tamara Mills to regain its four-goal margin with nine minutes left on the clock.

Coach Kelly Jurgens called a strategic timeout and it appeared to be just what the team needed, as they came back onto the field with Murphy and McCarthy scoring 30 seconds apart to cut the lead to 12-10.

The momentum ended when freshman defender Taylor Sokol got free inside and put the Hillers ahead 13-10 with 6:20 left on the clock.

Things now became desperate, as McCarthy picked up a loose ball off a faceoff and raced around the Hiller defense, sliding her shot past Chirco for a 13-11 deficit.

Things were too tight for Hopkinton, as Coach Jodi Dolan called a timeout to try and calm her team down as Duxbury inched closer.

With a chance to add an insurance goal, Hopkinton saw that opportunity go by the boards when Duxbury defender Jenna Cusick made a big defensive stop, sending the ball up field and triggering a break that resulted in McCarthy’s fifth goal of the game with 2:14 to go.

“Olivia had an unbelievable game (5 goals) and a great tournament run,” said Jurgens.

The pressure was now on the Hillers, as the Lady Dragons tried to tie the score and almost did with 1:42 remaining when Zaverucha hit the post with the ball bouncing out and into Hopkinton’s hands.

“We have a lot of sharpshooters on this team and we hit a lot of posts this year,” said Jurgens.

Charlotte Cipolletti stole the ball back with 37 seconds left in Duxbury’s end of the field and took off up the right sideline, getting the ball to McCarthy, who was stripped of it as three Hillers converged on her as she went across the slot.

Time ran out and with it went Duxbury’s chance at their second state title.

“We played a lot of catch-up in this game, but what impressed me the most was that our kids played the full 50 minutes and they never gave up,” said Duxbury’s rookie coach.

The game also marked the end of the high school lacrosse careers of seniors: Charlotte Cipolletti, Devan Bahr, Jenna Cusick, Stephanie Lenhardt, Sara Varano, Siobhan McCarthy,  Olivia McCarthy and Keri Gould.