Lilly Wolff picked up a pass just as she skated by the final defender and snapped a wrist shot into the back the net Wednesday for what proved to be the winning goal as third-seeded Cheverus/Kennebunk/Old Orchard Beach defeated sixth-ranked Biddeford 5-3 in a girls’ hockey South quarterfinal at Troubh Ice Arena.

Cheverus/Kennebunk/Old Orchard Beach (12-7) will be at second-seeded Falmouth in a semifinal Friday night.

Caitlin Wolff of Cheverus/Kennebunk/Old Orchard Beach looks for room to skate Wednesday as Calea Roy of Biddeford approaches during the second period of Cheverus/Kennebunk/Old Orchard Beach’s 5-3 victory. Photos by Jill Brady/Staff Photographer

Sophia Pompeo of Cheverus/Kennebunk/Old Orchard Beach takes a shot on Biddeford goalie Rebekah Guay during the first period. Guay kept the Tigers in the game, finishing with 36 saves.

After Abby Enck picked up a loose puck and sent the perfect pass, Wolff honed in and didn’t hesitate to shoot.

“Whenever I get a breakaway, you always have to think, ‘I’m getting a goal,’ ” said Wolff. “I just try to stay focused and be confident, and things worked out.”

Added Coach Kent Hulst: “She’s been working hard on her shot all year. We do a lot of skills in our practices.The girls want to do it. I think it was just repetition of working on the shot and taking shots from different angles. We try to teach them what could be open and what’s not open, and they’ve pretty well adapted to what we’ve taught them in practice.”

Just under five minutes into the game, Sophia Giancotti scored from Caroline Ray for Cheverus/Kennebunk/Old Orchard Beach.

Less than two minutes later, Lilly Wolff made it 2-0 from Caitlin Wolff.

Biddeford scored its first goal in the final moments of the first period.

A hard-fought battle near the blue line saw Suzette Lamoureux come away with the puck and she sent a bouncing shot toward the Cheverus goal. The puck slipped through with six seconds left in the period, making it 2-1.

Less than six minutes into the second, Taylor Turgeon tied the game for Biddeford (6-13), redirecting a loose puck in for the goal.

“The thing I’m most proud of – and I told them this in the locker room – when I took this team over a couple years ago, one goal was in and the game was over,” said Biddeford Coach Ashley Potvin. “Biddeford can’t get it in their head that they’re out of it and that they can claw back. That’s a big victory for this team mentally.

“You can go down by two goals, you can claw your way back in and you can hang tough with a team that’s really had a better overall season than we have.”

Cheverus jumped back out ahead with seven seconds to go in the second perio, when Giancotti added her second score of the game. She took a pass from Jill Hannigan and chipped the puck in the air, over the shoulder of goalie Rebekah Guay.

The Tigers tied it again early in the third, with Angie Fitzgerald scoring less than three minutes into the period.

The score remained 3-3 until Lilly Wolff scored her winner with eight minutes to go. Hannigan scored from Ray to give Cheverus/Kennebunk/Old Orchard Beach a two-goal lead with three minutes left.

Guay did everything she could in net to give Biddeford a shot at pulling the upset, turning away 36 shots.

“We said coming into today that we needed Rebekah to have a Rebekah day and she definitely did,” said Potvin. “Constantly making these saves, we’re on the bench, kind of cringing like ‘oh no,’ and then she came up with the save for us. All season for us really, she’s done a nice of job of keeping us in the game and keeping games reasonable.”

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