WINSLOW – The Greely High girls’ hockey team lost one game to Winslow and tied the other in the regular season.
So when Winslow went on a power play down a goal with 56 seconds left, Greely made sure to not let a victory slip away.
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It worked. The third-seeded Rangers killed off the penalty without a shot, then celebrated on the ice after a 3-2 victory in an Eastern Maine semifinal Friday night at Sukee Arena.
“We were all scared out of our minds. That’s the hardest shift we’ve ever played,” said Greely’s captain, Michaela Finnegan.
Greely (12-6-1) will meet top-ranked St. Dominic (18-1), a 4-2 winner over Leavitt/Edward Little, in the regional final Wednesday at Portland Ice Arena.
Just before the Greely penalty, second-ranked Winslow (10-4-3) pulled goalie Jessica Cain for an extra skater. But with Casey Benner of Greely in the box for checking, Winslow Coach Eric Lachance chose to put Cain back in the game.
“We figured it would be better keeping (Cain) in. They’ve got the speed so with one little fumble, it would be an easy goal for them,” Lachance said. “We felt confident with our five skaters against their four. We just couldn’t settle it down.”
The teams went into the third period tied at 1-1, but the Rangers scored two quick goals.
Shannon Donovan went high to beat Cain just 2:10 into the third. At 4:36, Finnegan scored her second goal of the game to give the Rangers a 3-1 cushion, pushing home the rebound of a Donovan shot.
“Everyone was pushing at it. It was everyone’s goal, really, not just mine,” Finnegan said.
Lachance felt his team came out flat in the first period, but the Black Raiders kept the game scoreless until Finnegan scored a power-play goal in the final minute of the period.
“I think the biggest difference in this one was we didn’t come and skate in the first period,” Lachance said.
Winslow tied it 1:28 into the second when Reagan Cain poked the puck past Greely goalie Emma Seymour. Emily Caron and Sarah Fowler assisted.
Winslow cut it to 3-2 at 5:38 of the third when Fowler’s wrist shot from the left circle slipped out of the reach of Seymour’s glove.
Seymour made 16 saves. Jessica Cain had 22 saves for Winslow.
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