FREEPORT — Freshman Eliza Thorne’s second goal of the game, an unassisted strike 1:27 into the second overtime, gave third-seeded Fryeburg Academy a 3-2 victory at No. 2 Freeport in a Class B South high school field hockey semifinal Saturday afternoon at the Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field.

Thorne got a step on a defender on the right side, dribbled in and beat Falcons’ goalie Piper Sherbert to lift the Raiders (11-4-1) into the regional final against top-ranked York Wednesday at Sanford High School at a time to be announced.

“This is really awesome,” said Thorne. “My teammates are great and I’m really glad for them. They’ve been very motivational.”

Freeport, which won at Fryeburg Academy in overtime of last year’s semifinals, took a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the game when Aynslie Decker scored on a rebound off a penalty corner.

The Falcons nearly doubled their lead late in the half, but Autumn Golding missed just wide of the mark and Raiders’ goalie Bailey Richardson (seven saves) denied shots from Ally Randall and Kyla Havey on a corner which was played out after time expired.

After mustering just two shots in the first half, Fryeburg Academy got things going with 27:21 left, as Thorne scored unassisted.

Freeport went back on top with 22:40 remaining, as Decker scored for the second time, beating Richardson in traffic, but with 20:14 on the clock, off a rush, Juliette Albert set up Camden Jones for the equalizer.

The score remained 2-2 through the end of regulation and the first of two eight-minute, sudden-victory overtime sessions, but early in the second OT, Thorne replicated her first goal and extended her team’s season, while ending the Falcons’ campaign at 10-4-2.

“We just had to keep trying,” said Thorne, who substituted for Jones just seconds before the decisive goal. “I just went for it. I just tried to focus. I wasn’t really thinking about it and I just saw the ball go in the goal. It was a great feeling.”

“It was two very good teams today,” said Raiders’ Coach Dede Frost. “We’ve been competitive all season long, but we weren’t able to finish. Today, it was nice to finish.”

Freeport finished with a 9-7 edge in shots on goal, got four saves from Sherbert and took seven corners to Fryeburg Academy’s three, but wasn’t able to secure a coveted regional final rematch with York.

“We practiced for overtime all week, so it wasn’t a lack of being prepared,” said Falcons’ Coach Marcia Wood. “We were all over the place, they just got their stick on the ball.

“We accomplished a lot this year. We finished No. 2 (in the region), got to host a semifinal, and seeing the youth program here being excited, we just hope to build on that.”

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