TOPSHAM — The Mt. Ararat field hockey team went into its Class A North quarterfinal with a three-game winning streak.
Messalonskee, by contrast, lost its last three games of the regular season, getting outscored 11-4.
The fortunes were reversed Wednesday, as fifth-seeded Messalonskee knocked out No. 4 Mt. Ararat with a 6-2 win.
Messalonskee (9-6) will face top-seeded Skowhegan on Saturday. Mt. Ararat finished 9-6.
Messalonskee’s six goals surprised Coach Katie McLaughlin, considering her team scored just once in its final two games.
“It’s something we’ve really worked on a ton. We haven’t had a game in a week, and our last couple of games we’ve really struggled to score,” McLaughlin said. “So we’ve worked on it, worked on it, and worked on it. It’s definitely an area of focus, so we’re really happy to see them pull that together and have it happen today.”
Autumn Littlefield netted a pair of first-half goals and completed hat trick early in the second half.
Littlefield struck for the game’s first two goals – the first off a penalty corner. Emily Crowell soon gave Messalonskee a 3-0 lead.
“Messalonskee possesses such strong stick skills that in the end, those fundamentals matter,” Mt. Ararat Coach Krista Chase said.
Brea Holtet set up speedy Wyley Fitzpatrick for Mt. Ararat’s first goal, but Olivia Saucier answered for Messalonskee late in the half.
Littlefield and Francesca Caccamo tacked on second-half goals, sandwiched around a goal by Mt. Ararat’s Hannah Huston.
YORK 2, YARMOUTH 1: Bailey Oliver scored twice, including the go-ahead goal off a rebound with 16:58 remaining, as the top-seeded Wildcats (11-3-1) fended off the eighth-seeded Clippers (7-8) in a Class B South quarterfinal in York.
Emlyn Patry assisted on Oliver’s first goal about three minutes into the second half. Yarmouth tied it less than two minutes later on a goal from Lydia Guay.
LAKE REGION 2, GREELY 1: Paige Davis assisted on a first-half goal, then scored the go-ahead goal with 20 minutes remaining to lift the fourth-seeded Lakers (10-5) past the fifth-seeded Rangers (10-5) in a Class B South quarterfinal in Naples.
MOUNTAIN VALLEY 5, TRAIP ACADEMY 1: Rylee Sevigny scored twice and Leigha Carrier got the tiebreaking goal early in the second half as the top-seeded Falcons (12-3) pulled away from No. 8 Traip (1-14) in a Class C South quarterfinal in Rumford.
The teams were tied 1-1 at halftime on goals by Traip’s Elly Young and Mountain Valley’s Ariana Viger.
Avery Sevigny added a goal and two assists for the Falcons, who will host No. 5 St. Dom’s, the reigning state champion, in the semifinals.
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