AUGUSTA — The fourth-seeded Lawrence field hockey team needed not one but two double overtime playoff victories to reach the Class B north championship game.

Now, the Bulldogs (12-4-0) brace for No. 3 Belfast (15-1-0) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hampden Academy.

“Crazy,” Lawrence coach Shawna Robinson said of the playoff run. “We lost nine starters, yet we believe. They just don’t want it to be over. They are not ready to write their ending. It’s been such a crazy year. It really is anyone’s game on any given day, and they believe it’s going to be them.

“If we can hang around long enough, we seem to make magic happen.”

Hampden Academy will host the North finals while Massabesic High School will host the South games.

Skowhegan (12-3-1) and Messalonskee (14-2-0) will meet in the Class A North title game at 3:30 p.m. It’s a rematch of the regional final last season, which the Indians won 2-1 in overtime .

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“We’ve gone at it with them year after year after year,” Skowhegan coach Paula Doughty said. “We always like playing Messalonskee. They play clean and are just great to play. Both of us know how the other plays; it’s why the games are so close.”

Defending Class C state champ Maine Central Institute (14-2-0) will play Winthrop (13-2-1) in the C North title game at 5:30 p.m.

“It should be a great game,” MCI coach Nancy Hughes said. “We’ve seen them play a few times so we know a little what to expect. We have a feel for them. We’re going to have to go out and push the passing and not make mistakes. When you get to this level, you can’t make the same mistakes you were making at the beginning of the season. We have to be on the same page, and if we are, we can be hard to beat.”

Added Winthrop coach Jess Merrill: “They are very, very good, but we match up well with them. We both play well on turf and we both can score and play good defense. It should be a great game.”

In Class C South, Oak Hill (15-1-0) will play St. Dominic (13-2-1) at 5:30 p.m. The Raiders are coming off a dominating 3-0 victory over Lisbon in the semifinals.

No. 1 York will play No. 3 Yarmouth at 3:30 p.m. in the Class B South title game while No. 2 Marshwood will play No. 5 Massabesic in the A South game at 7:30 p.m.

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Rejuvenated Lawrence — which is riding consecutive double overtime victories —is playing in its second regional final in three seasons.

The Bulldogs dropped a 2-0 decision to Skowhegan in the 2014 Class A North championship.

Lawrence, which upset No. 1 Foxcroft in the B North semifinals, fell to Belfast 3-0 on Oct. 4.

Robinson said she watched Belfast beat Winslow in a semifinal game Saturday.

“They are extremely talented and extremely fast,” she said. “I think they are a better team on turf.”

Skowhegan entered the A North playoffs as the No. 4 seed, but advanced to the regional final with wins over No. 5 Oxford Hills and top-seeded Mt. Blue. The Indians are aiming to win their 14th state title in 16 seasons.

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Messalonskee, meanwhile, comes in as the two seed. It finished off No. 7 Hampden and No. 3 Cony.

The teams split their two regular season meetings, with Skowhegan winning the first meeting 1-0 in the second game of the regular season and Messalonskee prevailing 3-2 on Oct. 11.

In Class C North, top-seeded MCI and Winthrop did not meet in the regular season. The Class C South title game participants — Oak Hill and St. Dom’s — also did not meet in the regular season.

Bill Stewart — 621-5618

bstewart@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @billstewartMTM


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