AUBURN — The Lisbon and St. Dominic Academy field hockey teams were undeterred by the raw and wet conditions of Saturday’s Class C South semifinal game.
Both squads played like everything was on the line, neither wanting its season to end.
Four 15-minute quarters and two eight-minute overtime sessions weren’t enough to decide a winner.
It was going to come down to penalty corners.
In what was a microcosm of the game, neither defense gave an inch during the penalty corners. Lisbon went second in the seventh round, and Haley Tuplin’s walk-off rocket from 7 yards out sent the sixth-seeded Greyhounds to the regional final with a 2-1 win over the No. 2 Saints.
When the shot left her stick, Tuplin said she wanted one of two things to happen: the ball be tipped by one of her teammates, or go into the cage for a goal.
“Preferably, (I was looking for a tip), but it was in the circle; so I went for that direct shot to hope it would get on the post or between the goalie’s legs,” Tuplin said.
Greyhounds (7-8-1) coach Julie Petrie emptied out her playbook throughout the game when it came to the penalty corners.
“I switched a couple of (players) just to get a better positioning near the post,” Petrie said. “We ran quite a few of our corners today just to get them a different look, so we wouldn’t be predictable.”
In the previous rounds of penalty corners, Saints (12-2) goalie Pilar Hewey (20 saves) was a brick wall. She made three saves in the fourth round. In the sixth round, she was on the ground but still managed to stretch across the goal line when Lisbon was trying to dig the ball into the cage.
“She’s my only (goalie), she has held down that backfield, she has more shutouts than I can count,” St. Dom’s coach Abigail Bowie said. “I am very sad it’s her senior year, I am sad to see her go, but that’s what we ask her to do; as a goalie, you can only stop the ball so many times before it gets in.”
Lisbon goalie Maria Levesque (six saves) also came up with key saves in the game.
Both coaches didn’t want to see the game decided on penalty corners.
“It’s hard for it to come down to penalty corners,” Petrie said. “It’s unfortunate it had to come down to that.”
“It’s definitely really tough to lose in this way, especially in playoffs, but these girls played their hearts out,” Bowie said. “Our (saying) today was throw our worries out to the soccer field and leaving everything good on (the field hockey) field. I think the St. Dom’s field hockey team did that today.”
Bowie also added: “I couldn’t ask for a better game and I couldn’t have asked for a better opponent, too. I think (Lisbon) will do great things (the rest of the playoffs).
In the fourth quarter, both teams started to wear down, and offensive opportunities began to open up more. Lisbon thought they took a 1-0 lead when an aerial shot appeared to be going in, but it sliced a little too much and hit the post.
“We did definitely get lucky in this game, but they also got lucky, too,” Bowie said.
A few minutes later, St. Dom’s advanced the ball on the offensive side of the field, and freshman Emily Andrews scored another playoff goal to give the Saints a 1-0 lead. She scored all three of the team’s goals in Thursday’s C South quarterfinal win over Telstar.
Lisbon didn’t take long to respond. Laura Mockler scored to tied the game with about six-and-half minutes to play.
“Laura is like our energizer bunny who doesn’t stop,” Petrie said. “She was exhausted today, as you would be playing overtime and not getting a sub. She (plays) defense, she (plays) offense, she wants to score. She plays everywhere and she plays with a lot of heart.”
Tuplin said the Greyhounds have been working hard this season, and that effort paid off Saturday.
“It feels amazing to feel all the hard work pay off,” Tuplin said. “Our whole team worked together to get where we are today. It feels amazing.”
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