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SKOWHEGAN — A halftime speech motivated the top-seeded Skowhegan field hockey team to break open its Class A North semifinal against No. 5 Lewiston.
“We really got a good pep talk from our coach, and that lit a fire right under us, and we came out strong,” senior midefielder Grace Mayo said.
The River Hawks scored twice in the third quarter on their way to a 3-0 win, earning a berth in the regional final. Skowhegan (14-0-2) will face No. 2 Mt. Ararat (12-2-2) on Wednesday. The Eagles beat Mt. Blue, 2-1, in the other semifinal.
Lewiston ends the season 11-4-1.
Skowhegan took a 1-0 lead when Charlotte Haynie scored in the second quarter. Mayo, who was named a Miss Maine Field Hockey finalist on Friday, made it 2-0 in the third when she ripped a shot past Blue Devils goalie Shelby Vallee (11 saves).
River Hawks coach Paula Doughty said a Lewiston timeout midway through the third quarter helped Skowhegan settle down.
“I think the key turning point for us is when they called the timeout, and it really helped us a lot to sort of get our heads together,” Doughty stated.
Dasia Alberico added a goal late in the third off a corner.
The River Hawks had a 9-6 advantage in penalty corners. Doughty said Lewiston made those attempts tough for Skowhegan.
“Well, they have a tremendous defense,” Doughty said. “They’re very, very strong. I wish we could have scored on more of them.”
Lewiston only had one shot on goal.
More prepared
When Lewiston and Skowhegan met in the regular season, the teams tied, 0-0.
Doughty said the River Hawks kept the game plan simple on Saturday.
“We really work on basics and we’re not fancy,” Doughty said. “Between (assistant coach) Brandi (Merry) and I, we just try to work on the basics every single day.”
Mayo said they had to come out with a purpose against the Blue Devils.
“We tied them in the regular season and it just lit a fire under us,” Mayo said. “We really wanted to win.”
