LEWISTON — It was a controversial end to the Lewiston vs. Edward Little field hockey game at Don Roux Field on Saturday morning.
Maddy Freeman scored the game-winning goal off a penalty corner with less than a minute remaining for a 3-2 victory for the Blue Devils.
Seconds before the Blue Devils scored with 34 seconds left, the referee blew her whistle but quickly reversed her decision while Freeman was about to shoot the ball into the goal.
“It was really chaotic,” Freeman said. “Time was running out and I heard the whistle, but I thought, ‘Why not hit it in to see if I can win the game for us?’ Surprisingly, it went through because the ref called the whistle and I thought it wasn’t going to be our ball, but we got it.”
Edward Little coach Kim Joler wasn’t pleased with the official’s decision because her team played to the whistle. She said the referee wanted to give the Blue Devils a penalty stroke opportunity.
“What changed was that horrible call at the very end, where she blew a whistle,” Joler said. “When you do that, they all pause and they paused. I would have taken a penalty stroke over a goal any day of the week.”
Lewiston coach Jenessa Talarico said it was an unfortunate ending to a great game between the two rivals.
“I mean, that’s tough,” Talarico said. “She said it was inadvertent and you are supposed to hold (your original call). It was a quiet one; I don’t think everyone heard it. I mean, that’s tough — I wouldn’t have been happy. It shouldn’t be the way a game should end.”
The Blue Devils (7-7) were mounting an offensive attack in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter. Freeman’s goal came off the fourth penalty corner in that time span. Lauren Cote had two shot attempts at the end and Gabby Thomas had one.
Freeman said she could feel the momentum changing late in the game.
“The corners, each one, the build-up was even greater than the last one,” Freeman said. “You could feel it.”
Talarico said Lewiston has been working on corners throughout the season and the team now looks forward to them.
Edward Little (8-6) had a great start to the fourth quarter. Kassidy Lobb put the Red Eddies on the board 73 seconds into the fourth quarter when she tapped home a pass from Leah Thibodeau to tie the game 1-1.
“She works hard to be where she needs to be,” Joler said of Lobb.
The Blue Devils didn’t waste any time responding when Fiona Landry’s long drive found the back of the cage less than a minute later.
“Fiona is one of our captains and she was the energy of our team sometimes,” Talarico said. “She’s very loud and she does all of our team chants. Fiona is a big proponent of never giving up and she’s just a tough kid in general.”
Thibodeau had a rip in the circle off a penalty corner to tie the contest 2-2 just past the five-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
“She’s going to be missed next year,” Joler said of Thibodeau, who is a senior.
Talerico used a timeout after the goal to give her team a break.
“I think we got a little tired, to be honest,” Talarico said of the slow start to the fourth quarter. “I tried to use a timeout to get them more energy, but field hockey is a tiring game. They really pushed themselves today.”
It was a defensive first half, with each team struggling to generate any offense. Lewiston held possession for most of the first quarter in its offensive zone. However, the Blue Devils couldn’t get any shots on Edward Little goalie Kasey Smith (six saves).
The Blue Devils’ first shot on goal of the contest came five minutes into the second half.
Edward Little slowly tilted the field as the second quarter continued. The Red Eddies got their first shot on goal midway through the quarter.
Each team had a scoring chance in the final minute of the second when Thibodeau’s slap shot hit Lewiston goalie Sarah Mack (five saves) right in the stomach. The Blue Devils flipped the field and earned a penalty corner but couldn’t get a high-quality scoring chance.
Lewiston set up shop in the Red Eddies zone to start the third quarter. They had a shot go wide of the cage in the first minute. The Blue Devils started earning penalty corners in the third quarter and off the fourth one, Cote’s low shot beat Smith.
“She just scored the game-winning goal for us the other day at Oxford Hills,” Talarico said of Cote. “She’s only a sophomore, but she’s a huge leader of this team. She does well in big moments.”
Edward Little had opportunities at the end of the third quarter on penalty corners. On the first penalty corner, the Red Eddies earned another and put two point-blank shots on the net, but Mack made both saves.
“They worked the entire time,” Joler said. “They worked hard the entire game, both teams. We didn’t turn it on in the fourth quarter, we had it the entire time, so did Lewiston. We had some really strong drives, and they know how to stop the ball on this field.”
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