HAMPDEN — Winthrop spent a little too much time playing defense Tuesday. Fortunately, the Ramblers were extremely good at it. In fact, they were sublime.

Lauren Kaiser scored a goal late in the second half, and Winthrop’s defense did the rest in a 1-0 victory over top-ranked Dexter in the Eastern Class C field hockey final at the Weatherbee Complex.

“They just played their little hearts out,” Winthrop coach Sharon Coulton said. “They did everything they needed to do.”

No. 2 Winthrop (13-2-2) will face Western C champion North Yarmouth Academy (13-4-0) in the Class C state championship game, which is scheduled for Saturday in Yarmouth.

Dexter, which defeated Winthrop in the semifinals last year, had advantages of 13-4 on shots and 12-1 on penalty corners. In a telling stretch in the second half with the game still scoreless, the Tigers had five penalty corners in a span of 10 minutes — but had no shots on any of them.

“It was really the first team we’ve played that had (really) good corner defense,” Dexter coach Kristy Veazie said. “They got the ball, they put it on their stick, and they carried it — which is what we should have been doing.”

Back Nikki Burgess, one of only two seniors on the Winthrop roster, was a big factor in breaking up those corners. When Dexter (15-2-0) did get a shot, sophomore goalie Alyssa Arsenault was ready. Arsenault had seven saves in the first half and 10 in the game.

“She played amazing,” Burgess said. “This was just like how she played last year (against Dexter) except she went over the top and out with it, and she made every save that she could.”

Winthrop’s only penalty corner was less than five minutes into the game, but it created another scoring chance with 10 minutes left in the second half.

Kaiser had the ball and went down the middle to the top of the circle, drawing a cluster of Dexter defenders along the way. Kaiser somehow flipped the ball ahead and off Dexter goalie Maicee Gustin, who kicked it out to the right side of the circle.

The ball went to Winthrop’s Mary Claire Blanchard, who centered a pass to Kaiser in the middle of the circle. Kaiser quickly pushed a shot inside the right post with 9:35 left in the game.

After Kaiser’s goal, the Ramblers controlled play. Veazie called a timeout with 5:53 left to give her players a pep talk.

“They’re crying, and I’m like, ‘The game’s not over. We still have six minutes left, and if you want to win, you have to score,’ ” Veazie said.

Dexter got four more corners in the final five minutes. One resulted in a penalty stroke for Sarah Eastman with 2:17 to go. Eastman’s stroke went wide right of the cage.

“I was so nervous, but I knew we’ve got a really good goalie,” Kaiser said. “I knew that she could do it. We’ve been practicing strokes, and she’s been practicing stopping strokes. It just managed to all work out.”

Dexter’s last penalty corner was finished after time expired, as a shot went wide left and past the end line. With that, Winthrop had evened the score from last year’s playoffs, something the Ramblers  waited a long time to do.

“We were so pumped,” Burgess said. “We wanted this. We wanted to beat them finally. That’s what we’ve been saying all year: Dexter, Dexter, Dexter. Remember Dexter.”

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
[email protected]