SCARBOROUGH — The final seconds played out in slow motion. A pass, a shot, a block. And then elation.

Fourth-seeded Biddeford High took the lead early in the first half and held on in the frantic final seconds to defeat top-seeded Scarborough 2-1 in a Class A South field hockey semifinal Friday night at Mitchell Sports Complex.

“We’ve never made it this far, so this means everything to me,” said Biddeford senior forward Sarrah Marcotte, who scored the winning goal midway through the first half.

“I think everyone on the team wanted it as much as I did. The whole 60 minutes, there was just 100 percent effort the whole time.”

This will be Biddeford’s first trip to a regional final since 1995. Biddeford (14-2) will play Massabesic or Westbrook on Tuesday at Thornton Academy.

Scarborough finished 14-2.

“Hard-fought game and well-deserved by Biddeford,” said Scarborough Coach Kerry Mariello. “They’ve been knocking on the door the last couple of years, they’ve worked hard, and they deserved this game. I wish them luck.”

All the goals were scored in a dizzying three-minute span in the first half, each coming off a penalty corner.

First, Hailey Allen fired in a shot from the left side of the circle 12:11 into the game to give Biddeford a 1-0 lead. Lauren Topchik tied it for Scarborough with a rebound goal at 13:28, but Biddeford regained the lead at 15:03 when Marcotte took a precision pass from Allen at the right post and tipped it in.

From then on, Biddeford made it awfully difficult for Scarborough to get any scoring chances. The Tigers went hard to each ball and the defense swarmed around every Red Storm offensive player.

“We kept it really tight,” said Biddeford Coach Caitlin Albert, who played for Mariello at Scarborough. “We know that they work really well together and move as a unit and use their little passes accordingly, so we kept things tight to kind of counteract that movement.”

And then it came down the final seconds.

Scarborough got its first penalty corner of the second half with 35 seconds remaining. The Red Storm couldn’t get a shot off but were awarded another penalty corner. The clock ran out, but under field hockey rules, the game doesn’t end until the penalty corner is played out – ending either with a goal or when the defense clears the ball past the 25.

Lucy Malia inserted the ball from the right of the cage to Rachel Paradis at the top of the circle. As she shot, Biddeford flyer Abby Allen got her stick on the ball, deadening it. That left it for Biddeford’s Megan Mourmouras to sweep the ball out past the 25, ending the game and creating a wild celebration at the Biddeford net.

“We played really hard, we kept our heads up high,” said Hailey Allen. “We showed everyone what we’re about.”

“Someone has said, ‘Act like you’ve been there before,’ ” said Biddeford Coach Caitlin Albert. “And I have to remind them, these girls haven’t been here before.

“This is all very new to them. And the excitement is real.”

In the end, said Mariello, the Tigers executed at critical times.

“It’s all about executing,” she said. “They did on those couple of corners, those couple of goals, and we fell short.”

Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or:

mlowe@pressherald.com

Twitter: MikeLowePPH