Lake Region’s girls made another strong bid in the field hockey post-season, taking down Leavitt (2-1 in the region quarterfinals) and Greely (2-1 in the Western Semifinals) before finally meeting their match in York last Thursday.

York broke a scoreless tie less than three minutes into the second half when Megan Yorke scored, with assists to Lauren Coupla and Carie Rovnak. Then Rovnak scored twice with well-tagged shots later in the period to spark the home team’s 3-1 win.

Lake Region finally scored with only 1:46 left in the game, Kelsey Powers adding to her season total with a skillful shot.

“It didn’t happen to be our day,” said Lake Region coach Dagny Leland, whose girls ended the season 13-3-1. “But they played the best they could today and I’m proud of them.”

The Lakers lost a lot of players to graduation after last season and predictions varied how well the team would recover this fall. But the younger players stepped up and filled in the blanks, making the team a contender.

The win over Greely in the Oct. 22 playoff game was a major high point for the Lakers, after splitting with the Rangers during the regular season.

Renee Nicholas scored in the second overtime to lift the fourth-seeded Lakers over the top seed. Kayla Nowell had scored during regulation for Lake Region and goal keeper Kristine Hamaty stopped six shots to secure that win.

The Lakers had won four in a row going into their showdown with York.

But York powered up its offense against Lake Region and out-shot the visitors 12-5, keeping the pressure on.

“It’s been a wonderful year for the girls,” said Leland. “I think they came together as a team halfway through the season. This hurts, but every one of them played their hearts out today.

“And we’ll be back.”

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