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OAKLAND — A historic season for the Lewiston field hockey team now has another chapter.

The Blue Devils had already set a school single-season record for wins entering their Class A North quarterfinal Wednesday against Messalonskee at Veterans Field. Then Lewiston defeated the Eagles on penalty corners 2-1 to advance to the regional semifinals for the first time.

“We’ve had a hard-fighting group all season long, and they never stopped believing,” said Lewiston coach Jenessa Talarico. “We started 0-2 and now we’re here. It says a lot about this group; they really committed to working hard.”

Corners were needed to decide the game after the teams remained deadlocked 1-1 through overtime. Valerie Potvin scored the winner for fifth-seeded Lewiston in the third round, assisted by Charlotte Crowley.

Lewiston (11-3-1) will be at No. 1 Skowhegan (13-0-2) on Saturday.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Lewiston’s defense was stout. Fourth-seeded Messalonskee (10-5) had 16 penalty corners but scored only once, getting a goal from Elsie Bell with 6:32 remaining in the third quarter.

• Behind that defense, Shelby Vallee stood tall for the Blue Devils. Recently named a KVAC Class A second-teamer despite never playing in goal prior to the season, Vallee made a career-high 16 saves.

“It’s such a trustful game and I rely on my defense a lot,” Vallee said. “We just have to sit back and trust each other, and that’s the key to our amazing defense.”

• Lewiston was opportunistic, winning despite putting nine shots on goal to Messalonskee’s 17. Ayanay Holloman scored the Blue Devils’ first goal midway through the first quarter before Potvin netted the winner during penalty corners with a no-doubter to the top left corner.

“We practice corners a lot so I’ve got a lot of practice keeping the ball flat,” Potvin said. “(Lauren Cote’s) pass in was really good, and it was just enough for me to touch it in, and it went in.”

WHAT IT MEANS

• Lewiston avenged one of its losses, a 3-2 defeat to Messalonskee in the season opener. The Blue Devils are 11-1-1 since starting the season 0-2, with the tie coming against the Skowhegan team they will face Saturday.

• Messalonskee ended the season on a three-game losing streak. Still, coach Riley Field thought the Eagles played with a lot more tenacity than in a 2-1 defeat at Mt. Blue on Oct. 16 and a 3-0 loss to Skowhegan two days later.

“Our big conversation was, ‘We need to focus on what we’re good at and play to the caliber we’re capable of,’” Field said. “It’s hard to be in a lull at the end of your season and shoot back out of that, and they exceeded what I asked them to do.”

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

“That Lewiston goalie is awesome; she has great stats. A lot of our talks when we pulled them off the field between quarters was on how to beat her – keep her on one side, pass it across the cage and lift the ball. She’s just good, and she made the stops.” – Riley Field

“Paige (Taylor) is fearless with how she runs out at the ball. She took one to the mouth and was on the ground but she said, ‘I’m going to play the rest of the game.’ I’ve seen her do that many times this year. That fearlessness has been huge for us.” – Jenessa Talarico

STAT LEADERS

• Lewiston: Ayanay Holloman (goal), Valerie Potvin (goal), Lauren Cote (assist), Charlotte Crowley (assist), Shelby Vallee (16 saves)

• Messalonskee: Elsie Bell (goal), Miranda Wrigley (assist), A.J. Pettengill (seven saves)