"We've had a really good sense of belonging within the team and it's one of the better teams I've been involved with, in terms of camaraderie and that," he said.
"We've won quite a few games, which makes it easy, but it's a challenge when you're not winning, as things can fall apart."
Maungakaramea felt the absence of Anna Thorpe during the semifinal, especially as she has been one of their top goal scorers to date.
With Thorpe injured, Maungakaramea coach David Heappey said the return of Ella Gunson had been ideal, but even she was not at her best due to a lingering hamstring injury.
In the other premier women's semifinal, Old Girls strode to a convincing 6-1 win over Whangarei Girls' High School (WGHS).
Clear favourites leading into the match, Old Girls were destructive when given a sniff of the goal.
"I think we're tracking well," Old Girls coach Alan Lints said after their 6-1 win.
"We've changed our formation a little bit but I think we're okay. From our perspective, we had a couple of midfield players that were sick this week so we had to rearrange during the game.
"Girls' High are a great young team and, right to the end, they never threw the towel in."
Lints was pleased with the effort of Jess Macalistair at right midfield as well as rising star Samantha Polovnikoff.
Moving from right wing to striker, Polovnikoff was all over the WGHS defenders and expressed a notable head of maturity in pressure situations.
"She's making better decisions and she's fast, she's so quick, and I think defenders think they've got her but they haven't," Lints said.
In the men's preliminary final, a decider to see who plays Dempster & Hill Maungakaramea in the final this weekend, Currie Electrical Springfield and Morris & Morris Mangapai both ground out impressive displays of hockey to finish the game locked at 2-all.
As a result, the match went to a shoot-out, won 5-3 by Mangapai.
