Raiders roll> Winslow dominates Belfast

WINSLOW – While the win was decisive, and in the works early on, there were reasons for both the fans in black and those in blue to feel jubilation after Wednesday’s Class B field hockey semifinal.

For the Winslow faithful, well, their No. 2-seeded team won 3-1 against a Belfast team it split with in two overtime games this year. And it showed signs that it could be storming back to claim a third straight Class B state title.

First, Winslow must face No. 1 Foxcroft Academy on Saturday at Dover-Foxcroft in the Eastern Maine final.

“We were just concerned with Winslow,” Black Raiders coach Brenda Beckwith said. “We had a scrimmage Monday and they were 90 percent ready. I told them today to be 100 percent ready. They were. They looked up and on the ball.”

For the Lions, it seemed there was little joy to glean from a game in which Winslow outshot Belfast 13-6, scored in the first half, and appeared to seal the win with a 2-0 advantage early in the second.

But when Ann Berry knocked in a rebound on a corner shot as the buzzer sounded, the Blue around the Winslow goal erupted in cacophony and confusion. For Belfast coach Allen Holmes, the gratification in that token goal was reason enough to consider extending his 27-year career after he retires from teaching next spring.

“I didn’t care what the score was, I was just glad to see them score,” Holmes said. “That showed they didn’t give up. How many teams would do that [when down 3-0], to play like we’re still in the ballgame?”

After the two regular-season thrillers in which Belfast and Winslow each won an overtime game by a goal, the Raiders’ three goals Wednesday seemed like a scoring binge. A big reason why was Ashley Sennett, who scored the goal in Winslow’s regular-season win over Belfast.

Sennett assisted on the first and second goals Wednesday, scored the back-breaker on a breakaway, and, in general, gave Belfast goalie Kristina Lane fits as she brought the ball down the length of the field three times. Sennett is fast, but her slick maneuvers were more a matter of her outthinking the Lions than her outsprinting them.

“We changed our speed. We’d start on a jog, then all of a sudden sprint, try to catch them off guard,” Sennett said. “We knew we had to beat them to the ball.”

Sennett did, but her stickwork was what won it.

In the circle with 2:33 left in the first half, she jammed a short, persistent pass to Jess Phair, who beat Lane. Then 4:10 into the second, Sennett got the ball in the circle on a 60-yard tear, and assisted Kristen Roy on the game-winning goal.

Jamie Morin stopped all six shots she saw for 15-1 Winslow.

Lane made 10 saves on 13 shots for Belfast, which finished 12-3-1.