Mary Keef scored with 17:31 remaining Wednesday to lead sixth-seeded Westbrook to a 1-0 victory against third-ranked Cheverus in a Class A South field hockey quarterfinal.

Keef delivered on the 14th of 18 corners for Westbrook (12-4), which completely dominated the game. The Blue Blazes outshot Cheverus 16-1 and the Stags (11-5) had no corners.

Westbrook will play Saturday at second-seeded Massabesic (13-2) in the semifinals.

“We just added that new corner (play) so it was great to see it work,” said Keef.

Maddison LeBeau assisted on the goal.

“The girls get together before the game to get fired up and they brought their energy right from the beginning,” said Westbrook Coach Theresa Hendrix. “We always talk about (how) you need to play a total 60 minutes, especially against good teams, and they did that today.”

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Despite the seedings, the result wasn’t a total surprise. Westbrook defeated Cheverus 3-2 in their regular-season meeting Sept. 29 at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

“Since we lost to them last time we knew we really had to give it our (best) game,” said Cheverus goalie Kat Kane. “I’m really proud of my defense. I think we had a great game. Everyone has their day. It just wasn’t our day today.”

Cheverus didn’t register its only shot until 22:16 remained when freshman Lucia Pompeo took a backhander that was saved by Westbrook goalie Kimberly Goddard.

“We got outplayed. We just didn’t play well,” said Cheverus Coach Sally Cloutier. “(Westbrook) played a great game. They defended us well. It is what it is.”

The Stags struggled to get anything going against Westbrook’s tight defense that refused to allow any good chances.

“(Cheverus) has huge strengths in the middle, so we talked coming into this game (about) who their key players were, keying in on them, really trying to double-team everything,” said Hendrix.

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“The girls came out and did just that. It wasn’t a solo defensive effort. Every single girl pitched in and did her job.”

The Blue Blazes appeared to have taken a 1-0 lead with 17:10 remaining in the first half when Keef sent a shot from outside the circle that was deflected in.

But it was determined that the shot was deflected by a Cheverus player and the goal was not allowed.

“Some of our top players just didn’t play that well and it’s OK,” said Cloutier. “They haven’t had a bad game all season.It’s just a bad time to have a bad game.”

Kane played a terrific game for Cheverus, making 15 saves, with few easy ones.

“Kat played awesome. (On defense) Anna Smith played awesome. Defensively we played well,” said Cloutier.

Now the Blazes must prepare for a tough semifinal.

“I think that’s the cool thing this year, that every team is really at (a high and equal) level, so we just have to keep that energy going,” said Hendrix.

“The past couple years we got shut down in the (quarterfinals) so it feels amazing to (advance) and see how far we can go,” said Keef.


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