WINSLOW —– The Winslow field hockey team has yet to put together the perfect game, but the Black Raiders came up with a solid effort Tuesday in their Class B North quarterfinal game against Lawrence.
Junior Silver Clukey scored a goal and added an assist in the first half and the defense protected its own goal well in a 3-0 victory.
Third-seeded Winslow (13-2) advanced to play No. 2 Foxcroft Academy in a semifinal game Saturday morning while No. 6 Lawrence closed its season at 9-6.
Staff photo by Michael G. Seamans Winslow senior Maddie Beckwith, left, celebrates her goal to seal a 3-0 win over Lawrence in a Class B North quarterfinal round game Tuesday in Winslow.
The Black Raiders won both regular season meetings against Lawrence, but both were competitive.
“They’re always tough,” Winslow coach Mary Beth Bourgoin said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s one time or three times, but going up against somebody three times in a season I knew it was not going to be an easy ride.”
The Bulldogs came out quickly and put pressure on Winslow’s defense, but the Black Raiders recovered to take control of the half. Lawrence defender Alissa Hume saved a sure goal when she crept behind goalie Marian Zawistowski and deflected a shot with her stick. But the Raiders kept the pressure on and took a 1-0 lead when Clukey bounced a high shot off Zawistowski’s pad and the ball trickled in.
“It was on a corner and I usually take the insert on a corner but I don’t on this corner,” Clukey said. “Maddie Beckwith took the insert and it (kind of) didn’t go where it was supposed to, but we got it out to Weslee (Littlefield) and we finished the corner through and I ended up throwing it right in.”
Littlefield set up Winslow’s second goal 2:20 later when she hustled down the left sideline, got control of the ball and hit a reverse stick pass toward the middle. The ball ended up on Clukey’s stick and she passed it across the goalmouth to sophomore Karlie Ramsdell, who one-timed her shot into the goal, shortly after she entered the game
“She comes off the bench,” Bourgoin said. “She probably gets 15 or 20 minutes a game, but anytime she goes in, she does her job. It was a beautiful goal.”
Senior Weslee Littlefield and her younger sister Bodhi controlled the center of the field in the first half, but the Bulldogs came out strong in the second half and controlled play for the first six minutes, prompting a Winslow timeout.
“I thought we played really great at the beginning of the game,” Lawrence coach Shawna Robinson said. “We stuck to it but when they got that first one, I think it took a little bit of wind out of their sails a little bit.”
Lawrence’s Nora Buck is comforted by a teammate after the Bulldogs fell to Winslow in a Class B North quarterfinal game Tuesday in Winslow.
The Raiders out-shot the Bulldogs 18-5, getting nine shots on goal in each half. Lawrence had seven penalty corners in the second half but only managed three shots on goalie Leah Pelotte. Instead the pressure was on Zawistowski, who made 12 saves, none of them easy.
“Marian’s a great, great goalie,” Robinson said. “I put her up for goalie of the year.”
The Black Raiders didn’t really need an insurance goal since time had expired when they led 2-0, But they were awarded a penalty corner just before the final buzzer and took advantage of the rule when the Bulldogs didn’t clear the ball. Beckwith did the honors with a quick shot to Zawistowski’s left that ended the game.
“We still have a lot to work on,” Weslee Littlefield said. “It was a good game and we came ready to play. We want to keep playing.”
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