NEWPORT — The Cony field hockey team had a recent scrimmage, and coach Holly Daigle put a new item on the agenda.
Overtime corners. You know, just in case.
“I’m so glad that we did,” Daigle said.
Practice made perfect Tuesday afternoon. Sierra Prebit scored off an assist from Tatiana Roque, on Cony’s second overtime corner attempt, giving the fifth-seeded Rams a 2-1 victory over No. 4 Nokomis in a tight, suspenseful Class B North quarterfinal that went the distance — and then some.
“When we played them in the regular season, we ended in a double-overtime (1-1) tie. We knew exactly the kind of game it was going to be,” Daigle said. “They just kept digging deeper. I couldn’t be prouder and happier for these girls. They earned this win today. It was hard, and they earned it.””
Even from the other side of the score, Nokomis coach Shaunessy Saucier had similar takeaways.
“It was exactly like when we played them the last time,” she said. “I loved playing in that game, I thought that it was a really exciting game. I think our players all stepped up, we played really well. … We could have done some things better, but I think we had some good chances. I like how we played today.”
Cony’s Tatiana Roque, left, and Nokomis’ Ava Lovely battle for the ball during a Class B North field hockey quarterfinal game Tuesday in Newport. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
Both teams — primarily Nokomis early, then mostly Cony late — had plenty of chances through a fast-paced regulation, which saw goals from the Rams’ Abby Morrill with 5:52 remaining in the third quarter and the Warriors’ Maddi Hook with 13:29 to go. After two frenetic 7-on-7 overtime periods, the quarterfinal went to penalty corners, where both teams came up with a stop to set up Cony’s second chance.
Nokomis held firm on the try, but got called for a foul trying to clear the ball out. That set up a free hit, with the ball going over to Roque, who quickly smacked a pass through the Warrior defense to Prebit in front of the cage.
“I was a little nervous, I’m not going to lie. But I knew that it had to be done,” Roque said. “Me and Sierra have been practicing that in our 2-vs.-1s, and I knew that she would be able to make that goal. I knew right in that moment I should get it and get rid (of it).”
Prebit knew what to do, quickly firing a shot on goal that found its way into the cage.
“It felt really good. We’ve been working on our corners all season, it’s about time it pays off,” Prebit said. “We practiced that after practice a few days ago. We’ve been working hard for it.”
Daigle said that the goal reflected those practice sessions.
Cony’s Caroline Hendrickson, left, and Nokomis’ Maddi Hook watch the ball during a Class B North field hockey quarterfinal game Tuesday in Newport. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
“That’s something we’ve been talking about,” she said. “Looking across the circle, and just making sure we get a stick on it. Quick shots. Don’t play around with the ball, don’t try to do anything fancy with it.”
Nokomis’s Ava Lovley had a shot on the Warriors’ follow-up corner chance, but Taylor Prebit steered it aside and Cony held from there for the win. Saucier said her team was confused after the awarding of the free hit to Cony.
“There was a little miscommunication,” she said. “It was a really good heads-up play by Cony to win it.”
Both teams had cracks at ending it in the overtime periods. In the first, the Rams earned back-to-back corners in the first two minutes after Maci Freeman brought the ball up, and Sierra Prebit sent a great pass down to Morrill on the left doorstep who couldn’t control it enough to get a shot on net. In the second overtime Nokomis’ Brianna Townsend tried to score up close but Taylor Prebit knocked a loose ball out of the air, and toward the end of the period Townsend had the ball in a good position off a corner but Roque broke up the possession.
“I’m running up and down the sidelines. It’s a roller coaster,” Daigle said. “These are the games that are so fun to be a part of. You want to walk out with a ‘W’ at the end of it, but this is what playoffs are all about.”
Cony struck first, when Madison Veilleux — gashed by a stick earlier in the game — sent a pass by a Nokomis defender to a wide-open Morrill, and the freshman calmly fired the shot in near the end of the third. Undaunted, the Warriors came out aggressively in the fourth, and evened it up when Lovley passed down from the top of the circle and Hook redirected the ball into the cage from the left side only 1:31 into the quarter.
“I was really confident that we were going to answer,” Saucier said. “I thought we could get another one in before the end of the game, but they had a lot of chances too. It was a super-even game, the perfect 4-5 game.”
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