YARMOUTH — Between the first and second overtime periods Saturday, Lisbon field hockey sniper Chase Collier received a quick reminder about what to do if her speed produced a breakaway during the 7-on-7 sequence on North Yarmouth Academy’s fast, sometimes slippery artificial turf.
“She has a lot of pressure on her. She’s aggressive and she’s fast. She’s a key player,” Lisbon coach Julie Petrie said. “I said, ‘Look, when you’re ahead of the pack like that and it’s you and the goalie, take a second to slow your feet down and pick the placement.’ I’m glad we had that conversation.”
Collier made an interception just outside the opposing circle, raced 60 yards ahead of the fray and fired the game-winner to the lower left corner of the cage with 3:15 remaining, nudging No. 8 Lisbon past No. 5 NYA, 2-1, in the Class C South semifinals.
Lisbon (7-9) advanced to the regional title game for the fourth consecutive year. It will face No. 3 Oak Hill on Tuesday at Portland’s Fitzpatrick Stadium in a rematch of the 2014 final, won by the Greyhounds.
This has been a different sort of season for Lisbon, which graduated nine seniors and started the season with assistants Joanne Campbell and Jessica Porter running the team while Petrie gave birth to twins.
Season-ending victories at Winthrop and Oak Hill solidified the Greyhounds’ grip on the final berth, and they have taken out both top-seeded Dirigo and a perennial playoff pest in NYA (11-5).
“We’re definitely starting to mold together as a team,” Collier said. “We’re finally learning to trust each other and work together.”
Collier scored both Lisbon goals in a game dominated by defense. Lisbon and NYA combined for only six shots on goal.
Led by Kate Phllbrick, Bree Daigle, Shelby Cyr, Olivia Leduc and Morgan Fenderson, the Greyhounds were 11-for-12 defending the Panthers’ penalty corners.
“It was definitely just pushing through and keeping our sticks down,” Collier said. “They’re a great team, especially for having only 11 players.”
Twelve, if you count starting goalie Bairu Chen. Savannah Shaw of Auburn donned the pads and moved from the midfield to take over in the cage during 7-on-7. That gave the Panthers one available substitute during regulation.
NYA went overtime to knock off No. 4 Mountain Valley in the quarterfinals.
“It’s a different kind of team. A couple of 13-year-olds, a couple of 15-year-olds, a couple of 19-year-olds. People played in all various positions on the field, and with one sub, you could not ask for more,” NYA coach Julia Sterling said. “I feel like we were the better team at some points, at more points. They had a couple of fast players, and we probably ran out of gas.”
Collier landed Lisbon the lead with 12:18 remaining in the first half. Fenderson inserted the ball on a free hit from just outside the circle. Chen kicked away Mooney’s initial scoring bid, but Collier alertly swept home the follow-up.
The Panthers didn’t challenge Lisbon goalkeeper Mikaylia Harnden with any official shots in the first half. NYA’s two best bids veered just wide of the cage over the final seven minutes.
That assault continued early in the second half and produced the equalizer. Freshman Emma Cohen found a seam from the top of the circle, converting senior Callie Sturgeon’s feed courtesy of a corner.
Mallory Fairbanks made a key takeaway and Harnden delivered her only save of the day in the first overtime.
“Everyone was definitely dead. We just kind of pushed through mentally,” Collier said. “We all really wanted to win today, because people underestimate us.”
That probably should stop now. Lisbon has defeated each of the top five South teams this season, plus Winthrop, the No. 5 seed in the North.
“We were young. We lost nine girls. We knew it was going to take a while,” Petrie said. “Joanne was great while I was gone. My being gone was not a factor. It was us having that experience and trusting each other. Now that they trust and believe that they can beat anybody, there’s no going back from that.”
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