AUBURN — Winslow/Gardiner/Cony/Messalonskee/Lawrence/Erskine/Maranacook/Mt. Blue has opened the past two girls hockey postseasons at Norway Savings Bank Arena.
On Wednesday, the sixth-seeded Black Tigers again entered the Auburn arena as underdogs but left as victors thanks to Katie Berard’s overtime goal that gave them a 3-2 win over third-seeded Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland/Monmouth/Oxford Hills in a Northern Maine quarterfinal.
“We love coming down here and playing in the playoffs, being the underdog,” Black Tigers coach Bill Boardman said. “It’s our thing.”
Winslow defeated St. Dom’s 3-1 in the regional quarterfinal as the fifth seed last season.
The Red Hornets (12-5-2) won both regular-season meetings between the teams — by 7-2 and 5-0 scores — but coach Dana Berube knew the Black Tigers (7-12) play the top teams tough.
“I had a conversation with somebody about it early in the week that, you know, that was the team that beat (St. Dominic) last year in the playoffs,” Berube said. “They beat Brunswick early in the year, so they’re a dangerous team. You know, you’ve got to take all your opponents seriously, and I think we did that. We just didn’t have our game today, and they deserved it.”
How did Winslow win?
• Reegan Saunders scored two goals in a 19-second span in the second period to give the Red Hornets a 2-1 lead, but Leah Michaud tied the game for the Black Tigers six minutes into the third, and Berard netted the winner 20 seconds into overtime.
“I just couldn’t finish, but when the time came I got it done,” Berard said.
• The Black Tigers’ goals came from three of their top point-getters of the season: Berard (30 goals, 13 assists); Molly Hambrick (five goals, 10 assists), who scored the game’s first goal late in the first period; and Michaud (10 goals, six assists).
Statistical leaders
• Winslow co-op: Berard (goal, assist), Hambrick (goal, assist), Michaud (goal), Zoey Gilbert (12 saves).
• Edward Little co-op: Saunders (two goals), Adalyn Martin (assist), Avery Cologna (assist), Adeline Langan (assist), Paige Fecteau (20 saves).
They said it
• “We learned that we needed to change up our game plan from going up the middle to using the boards a little bit more.” — Katie Berard
• “That girl is absolutely tremendous. You know, (Fecteau) certainly shut us out for the majority of the game, so I can’t say enough good things about their goaltender.” — Bill Boardman
• “It’s a tough one, but, hopefully, they remember that feeling, how it feels to lose like that in the playoffs, and have that kind of be their fuel for next year.” — Dana Berube
Up next
• Winslow co-op: vs. No. 2 Brunswick (14-4) in the semifinals on Saturday.
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