GARDINER — The Winslow field hockey team believed it could play with Gardiner following an overtime game a couple of weeks ago. Tuesday, the Black Raiders confirmed their suspicions.

Backed by an outstanding performance from senior goalie Hope Winkin and two goals from sophomore Anna Petrovic, No. 7 Winslow upset No. 2 Gardiner 4-3 in penalty corners in a Class B North quarterfinal game at Somerville Field.

Winslow (9-6-1) advances to play No. 3 Belfast, while Gardiner concluded its season at 13-2-0.

Winkin made her 17th and final save of the game as she turned away Jillian Bisson and Gardiner’s bid to tie the game after Petrovic had put the Black Raiders ahead with a goal on her team’s third penalty corner.

“We are really peaking at the right time which is amazing to watch,” Winkin said. “They are a great team. It feels really good to beat them now. We have a lot of respect for them.”

The Tigers led 2-1 at the half, getting goals from Haley Brann and Aimee Adams, while Winslow countered with a score from Haley Ward. Cassidy Rickard tied the game for the Black Raiders in the second half before the Tigers took a 3-2 lead on Sarah Morgan’s score with 3:11 left in regulation.

The Black Raiders made the best of their final scoring chance, a penalty corner with 46 seconds left. Ward drove a hard shot from the right side toward the goal and Petrovic tipped it in to tie the game at three with 37 seconds remaining.

“That’s my job,” Petrovic said. “I am on that back post and I just kind of sweep it in when it comes across.”

Gardiner held a 23-11 advantage in penalty corners but the Black Raiders made the most of their opportunities, scoring all four goals following corners.

“We work hard at that,” Winslow coach Mary Beth Bourgoin said. “It’s been something we really worked on.”

The Tigers carried most of the play in the two 8-minute 7-on-7 overtime periods. Again, Winkin came up big with six stops, including one on Hailee Lovely’s breakaway in the first OT and another against Adams in the second. In both instances, she came far out of her cage.

“It’s kind of all just instinct,” Winkin said. “If I see and I think I have a chance to save it, then I do it.”

Winkin and Gardiner goalie Avery Backus (seven saves) got help from their defense. Gardiner’s Mikayla Bourassa saved a sure goal when she dove to stop Samantha Washburn’s shot in the first half and Natalie Greene did the same for Winslow five minutes later.

“That was a hell of a game,” Gardiner coach Sharon Gallant said. “It’s hard to be sad when I come back and I said, ‘Raise your hand if you played as hard as you could,’ and when every single girl puts her hand up, you can’t beat that with a stick.”

Petrovic scored her game winner following a scramble in front of the goal.

“My teammate Cassidy Rickard, she fell over (goal line),” Petrovic said. “I just kind of swept (the ball) over the line and it kind of went into her body but the ref called it a goal.”

Morgan, one of Gardiner’s senior captains, played a strong two-way game for the Tigers.

“She’s quite a force back there,” Gallant said. “She is a great kid, valedictorian of her class and just gives 110 percent all the time.”

Ward, a junior transfer from Cony, stood out on defense as well as on penalty corners for the Black Raiders, excelling with several hard drives.

“She’s been a huge help,” Bourgoin said. “At the beginning of the season, I had her up front in the mid. About the third or fourth game I said, ‘I’m going to move you back to defense,’ because she has incredible speed and field vision. That has been a really strong factor for us.”

Related Stories