WINTHROP – Taking one for the team isn’t merely a baseball concept. It can work in field hockey, too.

Liz Cote didn’t score the game-winning goal or even register an official assist Monday.

Her injury timeout, however, probably played a roundabout role in giving Livermore Falls the burst of energy it needed for Kathryn Ventrella’s game-winner and a 3-2, double-0vertime victory over Winthrop in a Mountain Valley Conference showdown.

Cote crashed to the ground near midfield after a collision with a Winthrop player.

The shaken Rambler rose to her feet after clearing the cobwebs, but the game was delayed two minutes while coaches attended to Cote. She eventually walked off the field under her own power and wearing a sheepish smile.

It was her second too-close-for-comfort moment of the game.

“Poor Liz. She already had a gash on her nose, and she said the only sound she could hear after that last collision was the ringing in that ear,” Livermore Falls coach Julia Parker said. “But after we scored and celebrated the goal and knew she was alright, we told her that probably was the little break we needed.”

Livermore Falls (12-1) took possession when  play resumed and quickly worked the ball into its offensive zone.

Erin Gats made the initial centering pass. Winthrop goalkeeper Lorin Bryant stepped out to kick the ball away, but Ventrella alertly tipped the ball into the cage.

“We were running our hearts out,” Ventrella said. “Erin got it to me, and I put it in.”

Ventrella’s goal came with 2:06 remaining in the second and final eight-minute overtime period, sending the Andies into a frenzy with good reason.

The win advanced the Andies from third to first in the Western Class C Heal Point standings and virtually assured them a berth in the MVC championship game.

Livermore Falls has one remaining regular-season game against Boothbay.

“We’d love to get back to that game,” Parker said. “It has been a few years. We’d love to play for any title. Our ultimate goal is to get through the Western Maine regional. That has been kind of a block for us.”

Monday’s showdown between the Route 133 rivals was the perfect tuneup for two teams with championship aspirations.

Winthrop (9-2) also played well in its first big test since an unexpectedly one-sided loss to Telstar.

The Ramblers led 2-1 at halftime and had nine unanswered penalty corners to start the second half, including seven in the first 11 minutes.

“We’ve scored on a lot of corners. We’ve scored on a lot of plays that weren’t corners,” said Winthrop coach Sharon Coulton. “It’s a little frustrating that we couldn’t convert one of those.”

Caylee Morris made 10 saves for the Andies, capped by two point-blank denials in the first overtime. Her counterpart, Bryant, turned away 17 shots.

Sam Greenwood scored each of Livermore Falls’ goals in regulation. She tied the game by tipping in a hard, waist-high shot by Ventrella with 15:15 remaining.

The Andies trailed at the half despite a 10-5 advantage in shots.

Mary Claire Blanchard put the Ramblers ahead in the seventh minute. Blanchard deflected the ball past Morris at the end of a corner after the keeper stonewalled shots by Lauren Kaiser and Nikki Scott.

Greenwood knotted the score with a similar goal. The Andies maintained possession and kept up their pressure following consecutive Bryant saves.

Sarah Warner retrieved the lead with 7:41 remaining in the half, once again off a corner, with help from Lauren Kaiser.

Winthrop produced only five shots on goal in the second half despite 11 corners.

“We had a lot of shots go just off to the side,” Coulton said. “We knew we needed to get a couple to be in the game with them, because their goalie moves so well.”

Each team had its chances in the wide-open, frantic overtime. Instead of 11 players on the field for each team, OT is seven-on-seven, including goaltenders.

Open space on the field appears to double. Noise from the sidelines seems to magnify tenfold.

“It’s too hard,” Greenwood said.

“I think everyone is just trying to get the ball down the field and score,” Ventrella added.

But Livermore Falls paid attention to defense, too, rotating a set of fresh legs into the lineup almost every minute.

Winthrop warded off a flurry of free hits and long hits by Annika Durrell in the first extra period.

The Ramblers had a quality chance early in the second OT. Scott tipped in the ball with six minutes left, but not before the officials ruled that Blanchard’s initial shot hit the top of the cage, stopping play.

The Andies avenged a 4-3 overtime loss here last year.

“I think it was a great game and a great win today,” Parker said. “But we did say (before overtime), ‘Let’s not have a repeat of last year.’ “

koakes@sunjournal.com

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