WATERVILLE

When Winslow midfielder Jessica Greeley tipped a shot in with 2:32 remaining in the game, the Raiders had all the confidence that in just a short time they will become the 2014 Class C field hockey state champions, and they did as they pushed past Lisbon High School, 3-1 on Saturday at Thomas College.

In a game that featured the West champion Greyhounds (15-3) and the East champions of Winslow (17-0- 1), everything that both teams worked for all year had to be left on the field, one that was collecting heavy rain and a raw gametime start temperature of 39 degrees.

It took no time for the action to get underway as the Raiders fired off the first goal of the game just 2:19 in when Ciera Polin accepted a pass off a penalty corner taken by Brooke Haskell. Polin turned and found Greeley, who rocketed her shot past Greyhounds goaltender Victoria Swan.

At first it seemed that Winslow had made a statement, one that many might have thought had a chance to put the game away in the opening minutes. However, Lisbon turned things around and knotted the score at one only three minutes later when Charlotte Mooney lifted the ball into the corner of the cage from 10-yards out.

“My first thought was ‘oh no,’” Greyhounds coach Julie Petrie said of the Raiders early goal. “But then I thought to myself ‘okay we’ve been in this position more than enough times,’ more than we should have and then we answered which was huge.”

“When we watched film on (the Greyhounds) of their Western Maine Championship, the first time Oak Hill scored they were very quick to answer,” Raiders goalkeeper Delaney Wood said. “They were always very competitive, they wanted it so much and you could tell how much they wanted it.”

The Greyhounds had a chance to take the lead with 22:32 remaining when the defense launched a ball up field playable for Chase Collier. The Lisbon forward carried the ball to the top of the circle, but with the Winslow defense closing in, Collier’s shot missed wide-right of the net and out-of-play.

Both teams had made its first move with plenty of time remaining in the first half, but the Raiders played another hand that swung the momentum back in their favor. With 11:22 on the clock, Haskell found a loose ball amongst the cluster in front of the Lisbon net and threw her stick in for a 2-1 Winslow advantage.

“We’ve worked on that whole mental piece of the game, not just for this game but for many years,” Raiders coach Mary-Beth Bourgoin said after the game about Lisbon’s quick-answer goal. “If you get scored on you just come right back, it doesn’t mean the game is over, you build back from that. That was a big focus mentally for us all season long.”

‘Hounds push

The start of the second half offered much of the same, with the Raiders consistently closing in on the Lisbon defense, but the Greyhounds never gave up as they gained forward motion in the final 15 minutes.

With 10:10 on the clock, the Greyhound offense found themselves inside the crease and almost tied the game when Kate Philbrick tipped a ball in front of the net, forcing Wood to make a difficult save.

“I saw her and I kept saying ‘Brooke (Haskell) behind you, Brooke behind you,’” Wood said of Philbrick closing in. “Things like that happen, it’s good field hockey. But in practice we practice tips so much that I’ve become used to it.”

“Delaney has cat-like reflexes,” Bourgoin said of her goaltender. “She hasn’t really seen a lot of action throughout the season. We had some tough games against Gardiner and Mt. View, but there were times where she didn’t get a lot of action. I know she can rise to that.”

“I really thought we were going to score at one point down there with a few minutes to go,” Petrie said. “It wasn’t meant to be today and it stinks, but it’s sports and they worked hard and we can’t take that away from them. Winslow’s a very good team.”

Greeley’s goal with 2:32 remaining happened so fast that there was difficulty determining who scored it, but in the end it was the deciding factor and propelled the Raiders to their first state title since winning five of six in Class B between 1997 and 2002.

Though the Greyhounds didn’t walk away with the result they had hoped for, Petrie said her team made more strides throughout the season than she anticipated.

“I told them today on the bus, win or lose you upset the No. 1 (Oak Hill), you upset the No. 2 (Yarmouth), we lost 11 seniors last year, no one thought we would be here,” she said. “They’re a great group of kids, they work together, they’re a family, we didn’t have any drama. I think that’s why I get so emotional about this, because they’re just such great kids, I couldn’t ask for a better group.”

“We had an outstanding season,” Swan said of her team after the game. “We came together really well and none of us gave up all season. When we got to playoffs we knew not everyone thought we would make it this far, but we pushed as far as we could and looking at it all, I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Winslow 3,
Lisbon 1

Western Maine Class C
Field Hockey Championship
At Thomas College in Waterville
Lisbon — 1 0 — 1
Winslow — 2 1 — 3
Goals — (L) Charlotte Mooney; (W)
Jessica Greeley 2, Brooke Haskell.
Assists — (W) Ceira Polin.
Shots — Winslow 6, Lisbon 3.
Saves — (L) Victoria Swan 2, (W)
Delaney Wood 2.
Penalty corners — Winslow 12, Lisbon 3.
Final records — Lisbon 15-3;
Winslow 17-0-1.
Note — Winslow captures 2014
Class C Field Hockey State Championship.