LISBON — Timber Mattson scored late in overtime to lift Lisbon to a 1-0 victory over Hall-Dale in a hard-fought Mountain Valley Conference field hockey battle on Saturday.

The game’s only score came with 1:10 remaining off an Emma Willey pass on a penalty corner for the Greyhounds.

The win improved Lisbon’s record to 3-11. Both the Greyhounds and Bulldogs (1-13) await the final Class C South Heal point standings for a possible playoff berth in the coming days.

“We had some bumps at the beginning of the season, figuring each other out. New blending with the old and old blending with the new,” Lisbon coach Julie Petrie said of her roster that boasts nine freshman and a pair of sophomores on the 18-member squad. “We’ve been on a tear the last four games. Not so much on the winning side, but of how we have improved.”

With nothing determined after 60 minutes of regulation, the two teams squared off in the extra frame in the light drizzle that had been falling for most of the game.

After Hall-Dale created a couple of opportunities deep in its offensive territory that the Lisbon defense pushed away, the ’Hounds carried the ball down the field on the sticks of Haley Tuplin, Alexia Barnes and Laura Mockler.

With under two minutes remaining, an infraction was called on the Bulldogs and a penalty corner was awarded to Lisbon. Mattson set up the play.

“She’s a senior captain and has been with me since the second grade,” Petrie said after noting that she let Mattson make the call. “I put all of my trust in that girl, I love her. I knew she wanted it today, I’m really, really proud.”

Willey sent the ball into play and Mattson drove it home as the ball bounced off a defender’s stick, slipping past Hall-Dale keeper Kelsey Cormier for the winner.

“I just had a feeling,” an excited Mattson said about calling her own number. “We do a drill like that all of the time. I was confident in myself that I could do it.”

She also gave credit to her teammate for delivering her the ball.

“Emma is so great at inserting, getting it low and always right on, it’s awesome,” added Mattson.

Despite holding a 15-6 advantage in penalty corners, Hall-Dale was unable to convert a goal.

“We showed up ready to play and dominated,” Hall-Dale coach Angela Corbin said. “It’s pretty frustrating dominating and not getting the outcome you want. They played hard today. We just didn’t finish.”

SECOND HALF ACTION

After 30 minutes of action, where Hall-Dale held the advantage in shots (2-1) and penalty corners (6-2), both teams threatened in the second half. At the midway point, Tuplin sent a rocket just right of the cage for a near score. And with nine minutes remaining, the Bulldogs nearly pushed one in as Lisbon goalie Becky Budeshiem came out to make a save and the shot went by her toward the cage until Willey stepped in and made a game-saving stick save.

“That means so much that I’ve got her there. In reality, I can’t stop them all,” Budeshiem said. “I’ve got to have my backup and she has done a stick save a few times now. It’s a great feeling knowing she’s back there.”

With eight minutes left, Hall-Dale ran off a string of three penalty corners in a span of less than a minute. Budeshiem came up big again, making a pair of saves, including a stop while lying on the ground after colliding with a Hall-Dale forward.

“We charged at each other, I stopped it, but she kept going through and she ended up pushing me back and we were both down,” the senior keeper, who made four saves in the shutout, said. “She kept trying to get it in and I just put my stick out.”

The wet conditions made the field slippery, not necessarily sloppy, but still challenging.

“It was pretty hard at times as it was slippery,” Hall-Dale keeper Cormier (four saves) said. “But I think we did a pretty good job with it. Our defense did well today, as they have been talking a lot and always moving their feet and getting down the field to defend.”

The Bulldogs made one last attempt to score in regulation when a penalty corner was called as time expired. Per the rules, the corner plays out until the ball is cleared. Once the Bulldogs inserted the ball, the Lisbon defense was able to clear it, sending the game into overtime.

“They’re goalie played a pretty good game,” Corbin said. “Anytime you go into overtime, it’s usually a pretty exciting game.”

For now, the two teams will wait for the final Heal points and see who their next opponents may be.

“We’re pumped,” Petrie said. “I told them it doesn’t matter how you start — it’s how you finish. We’re happy to be here. We’re young and peppy and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got regardless of who we play.”

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