When the fourth-seeded Lisbon High School field hockey team walked onto its home field on Wednesday, there was a very familiar opponent on the other side.
Lisbon is 10-5 and will take on top-seeded Oak Hill on Friday in a rematch of the past two Class C South regional finals, with both teams holding a win.
Against NYA, Lisbon showed that there is a difference between the regular season Greyhounds and the playoff Greyhounds. Last year, Lisbon entered the postseason as the No. 8 seed, then upset Dirigo and NYA in the playoffs. This year, the Panthers felt a similar fate.
“The season was on the line and there is no room for error in the playoffs,” said Lisbon (10-5) coach Julie Petrie. “You give it everything you got. That is what you have to expect from every single team in the playoffs.”
“We knew that it was do or die,” said Lisbon senior midfielder Kate Philbrick, who was all over the field for the Greyhounds.
From the start, Philbrick showed her speed, controlling the ball in the defensive end and quickly transitioning to offense. In the first half, Lisbon outshot NYA, 8- 2, and scored the only goal when Peyton Gosselin cleaned up a rebound of a Chase Collier shot with 10:16 left until intermission.
NYA was dealt a blow when starting goaltender Eliza Tod was unable to play due to flu-like symptoms. Panthers coach Wendy Polstein inserted top defender Maya Davis into the cage.
“We have a really young team, so I thought we did well considering,” said Polstein, who missed Davis playing in her usual defensive spot. “We were desperately missing Maya back there. Lisbon was fast and quick, just really good and a pleasure to play.”
Panthers tie it
NYA came out strong in the second half, tying the game on an Amber Rose goal just 3:20 in.
Lisbon needed to respond, and the senior Collier was the one to do it. Collier hustled to a loose ball and slipped a shot by Davis three minutes after the Panthers had tied it, and the senior made it a 3-1 contest just 58 seconds later.
“We knew that we had to come out strong, and we did that, and when they scored we knew that we had to take back the momentum” said Collier. “We talked about going for the shots. We didn’t want fancy.”
Philbrick continued to cut off NYA advances up the field, along with defenders Shelby Cyr, Emily Brewer and Bree Daigle, who earned an assist on Collier’s second goal.
“We had to stay strong,” said Philbrick. “I knew as an upperclassman that I had to step up, defensively and offensively.”
“I didn’t like the way we came out, and that goal was a wake-up call,” said Petrie. “Once they poked that in, we had to come back. We were not happy being up just 1-0, so we didn’t want to sit back. We had to go for it.”
The Panthers, who outshot Lisbon 4-2 in the second half, pushed for a second goal, but Greyhound netminder Mikaylia Harnden made three big saves down the stretch.
“We wanted to play NYA like we have played them in the past, and we realized that they are in it every year with a rich tradition,” said Petrie of the Panthers. “This was what it was about it. Just putting it all out there.”
Lisbon held a 10-6 shot advantage and a 5-4 edge in penalty corners.
In two games against Oak Hill this season, the Greyhounds fell 3-0 and 5-0, but will look to change their fortunes in the semifinals.
No. 4 Lisbon 3, No. 5 NYA 1
Class C South Quarterfinal At Lisbon
| NYA | — | 0 | 1 | — | 1 |
| Lisbon | — | 1 | 2 | — | 3 |
Goals — (NYA) Amber Rose; (L) Peyton Gosselin, Chase Collier 2. Assists — (L) Chase Collier, Savannah Czechalski, Bree Daigle. Shots on goal — Lisbon 10, NYA 6. Saves — (NYA) Maya Davis 7; (L) Mikaylia Harnden 5. Penalty corners — Lisbon 5, NYA 4. Records — Lisbon 10-5; NYA 7-6-2. Up next for the Greyhounds — Friday Class C South semifinal at No. 1 Oak Hill, time TBA.
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