OAKLAND — It was a little over a year ago, as the Winslow High field hockey team accepted its runner-up plaque at the regional championships, when the players vowed 2019 would be different.
And it is.
Winslow rolled to the Class B state championship Saturday afternoon, getting four unanswered goals in the second half to beat York 7-2 at Messalonskee High. It was the most goals ever scored in a field hockey state championship game.
Sisters Silver and Sage Clukey each scored two goals, with Silver getting the first and the last, as the Black Raiders (16-2) won their eighth state title overall. It’s their first since 2014 when they won the Class C title.
“Senior state championship is crazy, it’s surreal,” said Silver Clukey, a senior forward. “Having the opportunity to share that with my sister means the world. We came to play today.”
Winslow coach Mary Beth Bourgoin agreed.
“It feels good to be back,” she said. “I’m so happy for these girls. They came in after losing to Gardiner last year in that great Northern Maine game, they were focused. They came in during the summer, raring to go and ready to go. They set this goal. And they reached it. And it ended as we’re one of the three teams that ends its season with a win.”
It was the first loss for York (17-1), which was making its seventh consecutive appearance in the state game –and 14th in 16 years. The Wildcats had beaten Winslow 3-2 in the 2015 Class B state game.
“I think they got us,” said York coach Nora Happny. “They played an incredible game today. They have a lot of talent on that team, speed and just shut us down.”
Winslow came out fast, twice moving to a two-goal lead in the first 14 minutes of the first half. Winslow goalie Leah Pelotte then made a save on Sage Works on a penalty stroke with 10:07 remaining in the first half to keep it at 3-1.
“It was so unexpected and I just stepped on the line and didn’t think at all,” said Pelotte, in just her second year as a goalie. “I was just ready for it.”
York controlled the final 10 minutes of the first half, pulling within 3-2 when Bailey Oliver swept in a pass from Works at the left post on a penalty corner with 2:41 remaining. But Winslow came out hard in the second half.
Just 3:48 in, Taylor Rodriguez knocked in a rebound of a Bodhi Littlefield blast that York goalie Kate Nowell (10 saves) knocked down to make it 4-2. “That took some definite momentum out of our sails,” said Happny. “At 4-2 it starts getting into your head. And they just continued to pressure”
Sixty-eight seconds later, Littlefield put in a drive from the top of the circle through a screen. It was suddenly 5-2 with 25:04 remaining.
“I think at halftime we had a lot of talk that this is our year,” said Littlefield, a junior midfielder who has committed to play at Ohio University. “We’ve got to come out, we want this more. And I think we proved it in the second half.”
Sage Clukey, a sophomore midfielder, made it 6-2 with 16:56 remaining and Silver Clukey completed the scoring with a rebound at the right post with 2:13 left.
“We knew we had to shut them down as best we could,” Bourgoin said of the second half. “We talked about executing our game and playing our game and don’t panic. …We just had to play what we know how to play.”
And doing that completed a year-long journey for the Raiders.
“It’s kind of like a big relief,” said Littlefield. “You work so hard all season and your hard work pays off and it’s just a great feeling. I can’t explain it.”
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