Trafton, Haney key Central win Red Devils rally for championship

PORTLAND – With a smile on her face and streaks of tears across her cheeks, Caitlin Elliott stood near one of the field hockey cages at Fitzpatrick Stadium and said what almost everyone thought as regulation expired in Saturday afternoon’s Class C state championship game.

“I didn’t think we could [come back], either,” said the senior captain.

But Central did, and in dramatic fashion.

Rachel Trafton’s goal with no time left in regulation tied the game and Hilary Haney’s overtime score with about 50 seconds remaining lifted coach Diane Rollins’ Devils to a stunning 2-1 victory over defending champion Telstar of Bethel.

“We put so much heart into it at the end, and to score with no time on the clock and to go into overtime …” Elliott said. “We knew [Telstar] was good, they were physical, but we showed that we wanted it more.”

Central (16-1) last won a state title in 1983 and was making its first appearance in the state final since 1984.

Telstar (16-2) beat EM champ Stearns of Millinocket 6-0 last year and looked dominant again early in Saturday’s game.

Although the Rebels maintained possession, goals were hard to come by. Danna Wilson finally scored for Telstar with 6:23 left in the second half and that’s where things stood as time expired.

But Central was awarded a penalty corner as the clock wound down. A field hockey game cannot end on a penalty corner, so the corner had to be played out.

With no time left, Courtney Hersey inserted the ball from left of the goal. It rolled to Traci Underhill at the top of the circle and she tapped it over to Elliott, who slapped the ball across to Trafton. Trafton was camped on the right side of the cage, and the freshman poked it past Telstar goalie Stephanie Tripp.

“We had practiced that the weak side had to go down and put it in,” said Trafton. “When it came across I just shot it … I couldn’t believe it. We were just telling each other that we couldn’t let the ball out of the circle.”

Rollins allowed Elliott to decide which penalty corner setup the Devils would use for their last hope in regulation.

“Coach looked at me and said, ‘Whatever you want.’ I didn’t know what to do, because we had tried everything,” Elliott said. “So I called one that goes to me. … [Rollins] looks to me for my leadership and I had to show it today.”

Nearly eight minutes later, Beth Dauphinee passed the ball from about the 25-yard line to Haney, who pushed in a shot from near the penalty stroke mark for the winning goal.

“I didn’t think it was going to go in,” Haney said. “My coach is always telling me to put it on the goalie’s pads so we can deflect it and put it in that way, but it went in.”

Central goalie Kara Voisine kept the Devils in the game with four saves on seven shots. Tripp finished with five saves on seven shots.

Telstar had an 11-9 edge in penalty corners.