SOUTH BERWICK — Lindsey Poirier scored twice Tuesday as third-seeded Marshwood hung on for a 4-3 victory against sixth-ranked Sanford in a Western Class A field hockey quarterfinal.

Marshwood will be home for the semifinals next Tuesday against 10th-seeded Cheverus, a 2-0 upset winner over second-ranked Gorham in its quarterfinal.

Marshwood had not played since last Tuesday, a 2-1 loss to Portland in the regular-season finale.

“It was a humbling experience. We lost our first game of the season, then won 12 straight,” said Poirier. “That loss was good going into the playoffs because we knew what (losing) felt like again. It took us down a notch, which is good.”

Poirier’s first goal put the Hawks up 3-1 with 3:21 left in the half. She cut through several defenders in the box, moving from left to right, before sending her shot to the bottom left corner of the cage.

She followed with a hard shot with 14:10 remaining in the game to make it 4-1.

“She’s a class act, a good player. She’s a good team player,” said Sanford Coach Diana Walker. “She uses her teammates more (this year) and it’s made their team better. She can take over when she wants to.”

“It’s her senior year and I have a great group of seniors,” said Marshwood Coach Lisa Truesdale. “I know she doesn’t want it to end. You can see that leadership, compassion, persistence. When you have a senior out there working that hard, it flows to the others.”

At the time, Poirier’s goals didn’t seem that important, but they turned out to be crucial when Sanford came up with a strong finish.

Marissa Nance sliced into the deficit with 10:40 left on a goal assisted by Kyleigh Cote to inch the Spartans within 4-2.

“We became hesitant at the end, almost afraid to do anything wrong with the ball,” said Truesdale.

Sanford pulled within 4-3 with 5:06 remaining on a wild play.

Coming off a corner from Elizabeth Helmreich, Makayla Garvin dished the ball back to Helmreich on the left side. Helmreich crossed to Morgan Champagne on the right side but Champagne whiffed on her shot.

Marshwood goalie Cassidy Smith came charging out of the cage to dispose of the loose ball but Allison L’Heureux of Sanford beat Smith to the ball and fired it in.

“We could have just thrown in the towel at 3-1 and we didn’t. Then at (4-1) and we scored and scored again and it was like, ‘one more, one more,’ ” said Walker.

“That was a little scary but I had faith in our defense and our team as a whole. We need to take it and keep the intensity up the whole game,” said Poirier.

Abigail Doyle and Amy Lietz also scored for Marshwood.

Garvin added a goal for Sanford.

Now comes Cheverus but Marshwood isn’t concerned.

‘We are rolling to go,” said Poirier.