In the case of the Lewiston field hockey team Monday morning, the Blue Devils demonstrated the value of going at least a minute of real time beyond that.

Lewiston’s Laurianne Murphy scored on an untimed penalty corner at the end of regulation, making it possible for Jenessa Talarico to connect with two minutes remaining in overtime and give the Devils a dramatic 2-1 win over Edward Little in their season finale at Sherwood Heights.

“My only thought was to just hit the ball in,” Murphy said. “I had no other plans but to do that.”

That was easier said than done for Lewiston (3-11), which enjoyed everything but the goal until its reprieve at the end of regulation.

It was the Devils’ 19th corner of the Columbus Day matinee. Yet EL (1-13) never buckled, in large part because of Karli Stubbs’ 18 saves and some stellar defensive work from Caitlyn Williams, Tyme Finnerty, Madison DeRosa and Brittany Williams.

Lewiston’s Erin Hubbard gained possession at midfield and located Talarico for one final rush in the closing seconds. Kaylynn Sampson took a sweeping shot toward Stubbs before the ball crossed the end line off an EL defender’s stick as time expired.

The official on the scene ruled that the Red Eddies knocked the ball out of play intentionally, resulting in the sudden-death corner for the Blue Devils. Talarico touched the ball to Naji, who shuffled it from right to left toward an unmarked Murphy just outside the crease.

“I felt like in this game we did everything that we practiced throughout the whole season,” Naji said. “We knew we didn’t want to lose to EL.”

Led by Sampson, Talarico, Desirae Roy and defenders Murphy, Brie Wilson and Olivia Norton, Lewiston continued the onslaught in the 7-on-7 overtime — their third foray into an extra period this season.

Roy ended it with a blistering hit from just outside the circle. Talarico tipped it past Stubbs’ valiant dive.

“I honestly just threw my stick down and hoped that I got it,” said Talarico, a senior who expressed pride in her team’s fantastic finish. “We didn’t have to try that hard. We’re not in the playoffs. We still didn’t give up.”

The intensity of the game spoke volumes about both teams’ character.

EL was attempting to cap the season with a two-game winning streak after a dozen straight losses. Senior Julia Langevin’s goal with 19:33 remaining in the first half was only the Red Eddies’ fifth all autumn.

“They’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. They scored against a team that’s higher than them and they stayed with them to the very end,” EL coach Greg Perkins. “Two less seconds and we would have won it, so what can I say?”

Lewiston breezed 7-0 in the teams’ previous KVAC contest.

“I’m just so proud of these kids and the way we played compared to the first time we played them. It wasn’t even a game,” Perkins said. “We came to play today. That’s all I asked them to do. We came to play the other day (at Brunswick). We won that one in overtime. We lost this one in overtime, but hey.”

Roy, Naji and Talarico had numerous chances to knot the game earlier in the second half, only to find Stubbs’ ever-present pads or to just miss the cage.

EL also hit the post behind Lewiston goalie Kaylyn Labonte with about five minutes to go, just missing out on a goal that would have sealed it.

Labonte (four saves) stood in the face of an EL corner with 1:15 remaining to give the Devils a final chance.

“They’ve been molding themselves to each other all season long, and today was an expression of their finest effort,” Lewiston coach Randy Richardson said. “We adapted to a very good EL team that managed to identify our stronger players and mark them very closely. I think this was sort of the complete game.”

A complete game, plus.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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