Pony field hockey team rallies

DOVER-FOXCROFT  — Alli Bourget’s goal on the eighth set of overtime penalty corners lifted Foxcroft Academy to a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Belfast in their Class B North field hockey quarterfinal on Oct. 21.

The victory advanced the third-seeded Ponies (13-2) to a semifinal at No. 2 Winslow, which edged Oceanside of Rockland/Thomaston 2-1 in overtime in its quarterfinal. No. 6 Belfast finished with an 11-4 record.

The game-winner came just after Ponies’ coach Stephanie Smith switched Bourget’s twin sister, Abbi, with Avery Carroll positionally along the edge of the circle, primarily to get Carroll’s strong shot in position to challenge the Belfast goal.

But the ball made its way to Abbi Bourget to the left of the cage, and she crossed it to Alli Bourget, who quickly redirected the ball past Belfast goalie Morgan Fernald.

“Coach mixed us around,” said Abbi Bourget. “She moved me to the corner, and the ball came there, and we sent it across, and Alli popped it in.”

The celebration that ensued seemed unlikely after Belfast scored twice unanswered in the first half, the first goal by Kylie Nelson 8:16 into the match and the second when Anna Baiungo redirected a Sabrina Wood shot off Chadbourne’s left leg pad with 9:07 left before intermission.

“I was nervous and I’m pretty sure everyone else was,” said Alli Bourget. “But we just stepped it up and gave it all we had.”

Smith also made a strategic change during the break that not only helped Foxcroft tie the match but held Belfast without a shot in the second half.

“In the first half we were being more aggressive offensively, we had an extra offensive player,” she said. “In the second half we did the reverse. We put a defensive player back.

“What was happening in the first half was they had a player up and we kept getting beat, but we eliminated that, and it also gave more free rein to our center mid [Becca Anderson] to play more offensively minded.”

Sophomore Emily Curtis got Foxcroft on the board after a restart with 19:10 left in regulation. Abbi Bourget sent a long pass across the field to Alli Bourget, and she stickhandled past two defenders before centering the ball to Curtis, who one-timed it inside the left post.

“All I was thinking was that I saw Alli on the other side, and it was coming across, and I just had to be there on the post like I always am,” said Curtis. “I was thinking to myself that if I miss this I’m going to be so upset, but I was happy.”

The equalizer came with 4:31 left when freshman Kylie Dow redirected a shot by Alli Bourget home from just in front of the cage.

“We just had to stay strong and keep the intensity up and keep pushing and pushing,” said Abbi Bourget. “We really wanted this one.”