The final score was definitely not a true indication of how well and dominant the Mt. Hope High School girls' soccer club played Monday night, Oct. 26, in a 2026 Division I state championship tournament preliminary round game at Roger Williams University, where the Huskies prevailed over visiting Moses Brown by just a 1-nil tally.

Sara Nencka's goal at the end of a superb series of passes from her mates in the 54th minute of the second half was the only MHHS shot to reach the back of the net, but the Huskies were otherwise still pretty much overwhelming throughout.

If not for the outstanding keeping by the Quakers' Mariele Nassiff, the margin would have been more complementary to the Huskies. The MB senior was credited with 14 saves on 15 Mt. Hope shots on frame, though the hosts likely sent at least double that amount towards the target. By contrast, MHHS goalie Moira Ware needed to make just two saves and maybe faced a handful of attempts, if that many.

The sixth-seeded Huskies improved to 7-6-4 overall with the victory. Mt. Hope advances to the quarterfinals and a road date against third-seeded Lincoln Thursday night, Oct. 29, at 5:30. For Moses Brown, seeded 10th in the playoffs, its 2026 fall came to a close with a 7-10-1 mark overall. The Huskies also defeated the Quakers during the regular season, 4-2.

Asked if the lack of finish by she and the team was becoming frustrating at times, Nencka said, "Definitely, yeah. I had a lot of chances, and I'm, of course, mad at myself that they didn't go in. But you only need one goal to win. One went in, so I'm super proud of that. But yeah, it was a little frustrating, definitely."

The Huskies opened with far better of the possession. During the initial 15 minutes of play, the ball barely made into the MHHS half and Ware needed to play the ball once on a nonthreatening attempt.

Otherwise, central defenders Elise Lanoie and Flynn Hancock along with their back-four cohorts Aubrey Cummings and Olivia Overy easily prevented any potential Quaker advances.

The Mt. Hope sister duo of Maya and Emma Goglia, who dazzled the Quakers with their dribbling exploits all evening, created the game's first true scoring chance. The former's cross to the latter for a shot from the top of the 18 was saved by Nassiff.

That sequence became a familiar refrain. Though creating on offense, all of the several MHHS attempts came from distance. And two corners led to one shot easily taken by the MB keeper and the other a header sailing well over the bar.

Nencka appeared to put the Huskies in front in the 26th minute off a neat cross from Kendra Ascoli. The referee, however, deemed Nencka's leaping attempt as having glanced off her arm before the ball floated past Nassiff.

Mt. Hope had two more attempts before intermission.

The first came in the 35th minute when Nencka was fouled just beyond the top of the 18-yard box. Emma Goglia took the free kick, her first shot ripped into the wall and her second as it caromed right back to her sailed just over the bar.

The second occurred in the 37th minute off a similar situation. This time Goglia attempted more of a chip shot that also flew over the bar.

The second half followed mostly the same script as the first, though the Quakers were a bit more direct after sitting well back in their own end during the opening 40 minutes.

MB really created only two potential chances in the final period. A slow-rolling through-ball forced Ware well off her line for the clear. The other came off a counter, the shot by the Quaker attacker, however, hit the side netting.

"I would say the first half, they played way more into their own half," Lanoie said. "They sat back, but then all of a sudden they're playing direct and kind of caught us off guard, but we were able to adapt to it very well."

All along, the Huskies continued to pepper the Moses Brown defense and Nassiff with numerous shots. Nencka was stoned by the keeper on the line off another nice cross by Ascoli in the 47th minute before the senior striker finally found the range.

And it was a relatively simple shot at the conclusion of a sequence started by a Ware throw to Brooke Avila in the middle of the field. Avila sent a pass up the right side to Ascoli, who found Emma Goglia deep down the right wing. Goglia's cross was at the feet of Nencka, who got behind both Nassiff and the nearest Quaker defender for the easy tap in.

Mt. Hope had two more quality chances before the final whistle.

In the 63rd, Avila was fouled about 30 yards out as she dribbled. The sequence eventually led to a corner by Overy and a Lanoie header that was easy saved by Nassiff.

In the 66th, Maya Goglia crossed to Macy Brodd for a shot off the left wing, but it was again stopped by the diving MB keeper.

The Quakers closed out the game with a couple of free kicks. In the 72nd, Ware had no trouble catching a shot from about 40 yards out. And the night's last kick by Moses Brown in the 80th minute was well off target and floated out of bounds.

"I thought we dominated the entire game 100%," said Lanoie. "The ball was in there half most of the time, and when it did get in our half, we got it out. We played very well. We've been playing very well the past few weeks. We're being like really competitive. We passing the ball really well. We're finishing our chances most of the time. But other than that, I say we really deserved this one."

The Huskies now turn their focus towards Lincoln, which wound up with a 12-2-3 regular season record and included a 4-2 win over Mt. Hope back on September 15.

"If we do our best and just put our heads up and do really good, I think we can honestly win," Nencka said of the rematch with the Lions. "When we played them, we weren't at our best. We had a lot of girls injured, a lot of our starting girls, so Thursday will definitely be interesting. And I think it will be a close game."