LEWISTON — The Saints’ defense came to play. St. Dom’s back line held their ground for most of regulation.
They did their job for 60 minutes, then the offense took over in the overtime session. Charlotte Gastonguay’s goal with 5:11 remaining in the first overtime gave St. Dom’s a 2-1 victory in a Class C South quarterfinal contest played at Lewiston High School. It was her second goal of the contest.
The Saints had to defend 19 penalty corners in the game.
“Coming in this game we didn’t expect it to be easy,” Saints defender Avery Greco said. “We definitely wanted to play our hardest and I feel that’s what we did. We all pushed ourselves and we played as hard as we could.
Oak Hill coach Betsty Gilbert knew her team missed some quality chances from the penalty corner position throughout the night. They were only able to put eight shots on goal and only half of them were on goal.
“There were quite a few of them I would like to have back,” Gilbert said. “We are battling injuries and we had key players out. We were hoping to get another week to play, but it wasn’t our luck tonight.”
Once the overtime session began, with the teams played seven on seven, the Saints offense was able to find holes in the field for long passes and more room to run. Gastonguay challenged Oak Hill goalie Mackenzie Thibault deep in the 25-yard circle. Gastonguay let Thibeault make the first move and had an open net to target. The assist went to Caroline Johnson.
“I think our team does well with the 7-on-7,” St. Dom’s coach Jennifer Brown said. “Having that space, opening up the field for those opportunities in front of the net which is great. I am glad we can finish it.”
St. Dom’s picked up the only goal in the first half when a long pass reached Gastonguay on the offensive side of the 50-yard line. She ran down field with it, created room for herself and fired the ball into the cage with 17 minutes remaining in the half.
“We really worked hard as a team transitioning it up (the field),” Gastonguay said. “It wasn’t just me, it was my teammates setting up for both goals. Everyone was trying their hardest on the field and it really paid off.”
Oak Hill put pressure on the Saints the remainder of the half. Their hard work got them a couple of chances. Kylie Leavitt was sent off for St. Dom’s with a yellow card as she knocked down an Oak Hill player as both were trying to get the ball with 6:25 remaining in the half.
The Raiders tried a back door play with about four minutes remaining in the half but the shot went wide.
Oak Hill came out strong in the second half as it continued to rack up penalty corners. They finally struck, not on a penalty corner but working hard. Desirae Dumais brought the ball down the right side line. Players converged to the cage as a battle ensued for the ball. Kaylei Robichaud pushed it past the goal line.
“I am very proud of my girls,they played their hearts out and gave it their all,” Gilbert said. “I couldn’t have asked anything more from them.
The play remained mostly on Oak Hill’s offensive zone. They had plenty of chances as they had 11 penalty corners in the second half. Simone Long backstopped the Saints into overtime.
“I needed to make sure my girls were calm,” said Long, made four saves in the game. “If they were calm we were all in it – we can do it and work out the win.”
Brown thought about using a timeout in the second half to give her team a rest.
“I thought about calling a timeout to give them a breather, especially the ones running from the 50-yard line” Brown said. “But they played through. It’s one of those things. This is a big field. It was hard to get the referees attention for a timeout.”
Oak Hill goalie Kiara Levesque has no chance to stop Saint Dominic Academy’s Charlotte Castonguay from smacking the ball into the back of the net in overtime to win the game in Lewiston Wednesday night. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Oak Hill’s Kaylei Robichaud, center, looks to get a rebound off Saint Dominic Academy goalie Simone Long as it rolls dangerously between her legs before swatting it away during Wednesday’s playoff field hockey game at Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Saint Dominic Academy’s Bailey Derocher, left and Oak Hill’s Adelle Surette, right, battle for the ball during Wednesday’s game in Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
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