SOUTH HADLEY — When the South Hadley girls soccer team dropped its third game of the season, 1-0, a physical, chippy match with Hampshire Regional back on Sept. 6, the Tigers couldn’t wait to meet up with the Raiders again — this time on their home turf.

Thursday was that highly anticipated second meeting between the two programs, and it clearly looked like South Hadley had waited eagerly to get even.

After taking a 1-0 lead into halftime, the Tigers added a second goal in the opening minute of the final 40, then put the game on ice with another tally with just under 11 minutes to go. South Hadley controlled possession and racked up scoring chances en route to a decisive 3-0 victory over Hampshire under the lights on its home turf.

The win also had league title race and state tournament ranking implications, an added bonus for South Hadley.

“The girls definitely circled this one on their calendar,” Tigers head coach Rich Marjanski said. “We felt like we missed a lot of chances up at Hampshire, and the girls really wanted to get that win back. This is a big league game for us, and going 2-0 this week one day before the state rankings come out, it’s a great win. Especially when you win 3-0 and you shut a team out.”

CC Gurek finally got the scoring started after South Hadley had knocked on the door throughout the entire first half, as she capitalized on one of the Tigers’ seven corner kicks on the night. The ball was sent into the box when Allison Fleury got a foot on it and sent it high in the air. It finally came down at the feet of Gurek, who got enough on it to squeak it into the net, putting the hosts up 1-0 with 12 minutes left until intermission.

Out of the gate in the second half, South Hadley doubled its lead on a pretty combination from Fleury to freshman Hannah Haesaert. Fleury raced up the left sideline before sending a quick, low cross to Haesaert on a diagonal cut toward goal.

The freshman used the outside of her right foot to find the short side of the goal just 59 seconds after halftime.

“The diagonal run from Hannah, it was a great run,” Marjanski said. “And [Fleury] took it up the side and found her, and she finished it short side. It was just a great goal with Hannah coming from the opposite side.”

All soccer coaches would agree that the third goal is one of the most important goals to score. If the score is 1-1, it gives a team a ton of momentum. If the score is 2-0, it either gets a team back in the game or puts it completely out of reach, depending on which side scores it.

That third goal went to the Tigers, and it came via another corner kick. Fleury took the corner, sending a short low ball to what looked like a charging South Hadley player. After she fake kicked it, the ball kept rolling to the top of the box, where Kate McArdle met it with a booming kick.

McArdle’s rocket of a shot went whistling into the net to make it 3-0 Tigers.

“Getting that next goal, it gives us breathing room with one more,” Marjanski said. “It gives us a calmness and we played better up front, connecting more passes and playing free. The girls played great today. We left some out there, but they played hard the full 80 minutes of the game.”

South Hadley has won five of its last six and eyes another victory on Monday against Wahconah. Kickoff is slated for 4:15 p.m.

Hampshire had a handful of quality chances, including a few golden opportunities in the second half. South Hadley keeper Olivia Athas, who made six saves in goal, denied the Raiders twice from point-blank range to keep the shutout in tact.

It wasn’t for a lack of effort from the Raiders on Thursday, they just could never break through.

“They always put in 100 percent effort, and that’s all I can ask for,” Hampshire head coach Steve Croft said. “South Hadley is a great program, and we expected them to come out strong on their home field. We laid it all out there, but we just came up a little short tonight.”

The Raiders now sit at 4-4 and have lost their last two tilts including Thursday’s, both against league opponents. Croft has coached soccer long enough to recognize that no season is going to come without bumps in the road.

Now it’s just about how his team is going to respond at the midway point of the schedule. That starts with a Monday night game against Pittsfield next week.

“I always say the season is like climbing a mountain,” Croft said. “We’re gonna keep going, we’re gonna take our hits as the season goes, but we have to focus on the long-term goal and keep moving forward.”