SCARBOROUGH – Kelsey Howard had a hand in both goals as Scarborough rallied from a 2-0 first-half deficit to tie Sanford 2-2 Wednesday in an SMAA field hockey game at Scarborough High School.

Howard, a senior midfielder, pulled the Red Storm within 2-1 midway through the second half with her second goal of the season, then assisted Rachel Wallace on the tying goal less than 10 minutes later.

“I think it feels like a win,” said Howard, who also had two great scoring opportunities in the first overtime, only to send the ball wide of the goal each time.

“Coming back from that first half down 2-0, it’s definitely big because in field hockey there aren’t a lot of goals.”

Scarborough’s frantic pace in the second half and overtime offset a slow start that allowed the Redskins (5-0-1) to grab a 2-0 lead. Caroline L’Heureux opened the scoring 14 minutes into the game. Four minutes later, Janelle Cannon scored to give Sanford a comfortable lead.

The Red Storm (4-0-1) called a timeout following the second goal, then mounted a couple of scoring chances late in the half that were turned aside by Sanford goalie Sarah Stanley.

“We knew that this game was going to be really hard,” said Stanley. “We knew we just had to come at it 110 percent the whole game and if we communicated and stayed with it, we would be able to hang with them.

“We will definitely be thinking about this at practices and be working hard toward seeing them again.”

Led by Howard, whose speed created space for her teammates, the Red Storm carried over the momentum into the second half and continued to challenge Sanford’s defense.

“Speed kills, and this is a game all about that,” Scarborough Coach Kerry Mariello said. “(Howard is) a playmaker, she makes things happen and she knows what to do with the ball in pretty much every situation.

“She’s a very consistent player so you feed off of her, and hopefully everyone around her responds well. They seemed to do that in the second half.”

Scarborough created at least six quality chances in overtime, including a last-minute, point-blank shot by Lindsay Dobecki that Stanley dived to stop.

Sanford’s best chance in OT came with four minutes left when L’Heureux sent the ball ahead to Cannon alone behind the defense. But the ball skipped away from her.

“It’s great for them to come back but it was discouraging that we couldn’t push it over the top and get that win,” Mariello said. “The opportunities were there but the goalie made some excellent saves. We’ll see them again, I’m sure.”