WATERVILLE — Certainly no one in Class C field hockey had as many impressive performances this season as Winslow. The Black Raiders were not only undefeated but they beat three of the four teams in the Class B regional finals. They also tied Eastern A champion Skowhegan in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship game.

Still, those amazing accomplishments wouldn’t have meant nearly as much without what happened Saturday afternoon at Thomas College. Jess Greeley scored two goals, Brooke Haskell added one, and Winslow played its usual outstanding defense for a 3-1 victory over Lisbon in the Class C state championship game.

“I am so happy for them,” Winslow coach Mary Beth Bourgoin said. “They’re just a really good, special bunch of girls.”

The state championship is the 51st in Winslow High School history, covering all sports. The Black Raiders had not won a field hockey state title since winning three straight Class B Gold Balls from 2000 to 2002.

Winslow (17-0-1) went out in front early by scoring on its second penalty corner of the game. On the play, Ciera Poulin received the insertion pass on the right side and passed it to her left. Mackenzie Winslow faked a one-time and let the ball go by her to Greeley, who rattled the ball inside the left post to make it 1-0 just 2 minutes, 19 seconds into the game.

Out of Saturday’s three state championship games, it marked the first time any team scored in the first half. But Winslow’s lead didn’t last long. The Greyhounds (15-3) stormed back the other way and Charlotte Mooney evened the game at 1 with 24:39 still to go in the first half.

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Although there were nearly 60 minutes still to play, that was the last time Lisbon had a great scoring chance. The Greyhounds didn’t get a penalty corner until there was less than 16 minutes to play. By that time, Winslow had 12 corners.

The most obvious reason was Winslow’s defense, led by backs Alyssa Wood, Haskell and Poulin, sweeper Katie Smith, and goalie Delaney Wood.

“They are just this solid unit that just shift back around and rotate back around,” Bourgoin said. “They’ve played together — solidly — for three years, four years. They were just a well-oiled machine. I can’t say enough about (them). They’re just awesome.”

When needed, Winslow defenders like Haskell, Poulin and Alyssa Wood could also make long rushes with the ball.

“We’ve been playing together since we were 5,” Haskell said. “We just know where we are. We’ve been working on our passing games, so we always have someone up. We can pass the ball up, and we can defend, also. It works well.”

In general, Winslow just seemed to have Lisbon frustrated. When the Greyhounds tried to advance the ball with long passes, the Raiders clogged up the alleys, kept their sticks low, and intercepted the ball. When Lisbon tried dribbling or short passes instead, Winslow still took the ball away.

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“One of the things we (did) was trying to keep it out of the middle, because we knew that’s where their strong area was,” Bourgoin said. “Also, we knew that our communication was working, and as long as they kept cutting to the ball and communicating, they would be able to keep momentum going.”

Haskell scored what ended up being the game-winner with 11:22 to go for a 2-1 Winslow lead at the half. In all, the Raiders had a 10-0 advantage in corners in the first half.

“We were able to pass a lot and make sure that we could move the goalie,” a giddy Greeley said after the game. “It worked really well. It was just so much fun. I’m so excited.”

Winslow withstood three Lisbon penalty corners in the second half, and a rush resulted in Greeley’s tip-in out of a crowd with 2:32 left.

Even the Winslow coaches didn’t realize Greeley was the one who had scored, but they didn’t mind not knowing. Throughout most of the game, the Winslow substitutes huddled under the covered bench to protect themselves from the cold and rain. As the clock reached under a minute to play, the subs threw off their jackets and stood on the sidelines. The moment the clock reached zero, it was a big Winslow party in Waterville.

“We just really came out with fire this year,” Haskell said, “and wanted to make it further than last year and prove to people how good we are at field hockey. And we wanted to get that 51st state championship for our school.”

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Matt_DiFilippo


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