AUGUSTA — Revenge Tour ’23 continues for the Cony girls lacrosse team, as it avenged one of its only two losses this season Thursday night.

No. 3 Cony served up its first dose of payback with an inspired 12-10 win over sixth-seeded Camden Hills in a Class B state quarterfinal at Fuller Field. Junior Maci Freeman celebrated her 17th birthday with three goals and three assists, including the game-winning goal with 4:27 remaining in regulation.

“This is great,” said Freeman, who snapped a 10-10 tie after two point-blank stops by Camden goalie Roo Boetsch nearly thwarted the Rams — and her birthday celebration. “This was the best (birthday) game.”

Cony (13-2) will play No. 2 Brunswick in a state semifinal scheduled for Tuesday.

The victory was the Rams’ eighth straight dating to an overtime loss to the Windjammers (10-5) on May 8. 

Now Cony sets its sight on Brunswick, the only other team to beat the Rams this season. The Dragons scored a 14-4 home victory in mid-April. 

“This is definitely a ‘revenge tour’ because that last game (against Camden) didn’t end the way we wanted it to,” said Cony senior defender Jasmyne Mills. “We were all really hungry to come out here.”

Cony and Camden raced out to fast starts Thursday, combining for seven goals in the first 5:24 of the first half. Cony freshman Casey Monson scored three times during the barrage, with Britta Denny adding a pair for the Windjammers.

Cony took a 6-3 lead into the break and kept up the momentum, scoring three goals in a span of 1:47 midway through the second half to build its largest lead of the night at 10-5.

The Windjammers, led by junior Bella Ward, who had missed all but the first eight-plus minutes of the first half with an injury, roared back and scored five straight goals to tie the game at 10-10 with 6:43 left to play.

Ward finished with three goals and four assists in the losing effort.

The Rams, pressed into a corner, were unfazed.

“Unfortunately, we’ve allowed teams to come back when we’ve had three-, four-, five-goal leads,” Cony coach Gretchen Livingston said. “But we’re gritty and we dig deep, and try to find ways.”

“I feel like it wouldn’t have been a good enough win if that hadn’t happened,” Mills added. “There was obviously panic, but we put a real emphasis on not getting too high or too low. I think voicing that is what really helped us in a moment like that.”

It took Freeman less than two minutes to give Cony the lead back for good, and Azabell Asaf (two goals, one assist) added insurance with the Rams in a player-up situation only 33 seconds after Freeman’s go-ahead tally.

“Our team has a great bond. We all keep our composure really well and talk to each other after every goal to sort of ‘reassemble,’ “ Freeman said. “I think that really helped us.”

As Cony had done throughout the night — the lone notable exception begin the Windjammers’ five-goal barrage late — it buckled down over the final four minutes. That type of defensive effort was what Livingston had seen from her squad over the second half of a season that now stands just one win from the program’s first appearance in a state title game.

“I think defensively (is where we’ve grown the most), our confidence, and our trust in one another,” Livingston. “Composure, for sure, is something we’ve talked about. There’s so many things you can’t control, you can only control how you react. Keeping our level head … and just keep playing the game we know how to play.”

Abby Morrill added a pair of goals and an assist for Cony. Senior goalie Madison Chavarie finished with nine saves.

Denny scored three goals for Camden Hills, with teammate Jaden Johnson added a pair. Boetsch had 16 saves.