Poppy Lambert scored her second goal of the game with 1:53 remaining in overtime, lifting the #6 seed Maine Black Bears to a 3-2 upset win over #3 New Hampshire in the America East Field Hockey quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon at Wicked Blue Field in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Lambert opened the scoring off a penalty corner, assisted by Eloise Penty and Madisyn Hartley 6:42 into the first quarter. UNH tied it late in the first on a rebound that was put in by Kathelijne Knuttel at 14:01. A breakaway goal by Maine scored by Kate Richardson who beat America East Conference Goaltender of the Year Jemma Woods 4:14 into the second period had the Black Bears up 2-1 at halftime. The Wildcats kept battling and would send the game to overtime when Nicole Poulakis dribbled near the post and fired a shot into the back corner of the cage past Jayde Temby with 6:30 left in regulation. The Black Bears had two of the better chances before finding the game winner in the extra session. Mallory Mackesy had a loose ball on her stick in front of Woods 5:00 in, but couldn’t get a shot off as the defense cleared it away. After the Wildcats had a good look on a shot by Lindsay Lee that was kicked out by Temby, Mackesy had a step on her defender after a pass from Richardson for a one on one chance against Woods that was also stopped. Maine would get a penalty corner opportunity though on the play. Penty took the corner and got it to Lambert in the middle of the circle, and Lambert passed it to the right side to Mackesy who quickly returned it to Lambert who sent a low sweeping shot from the same spot in the middle of the circle that beat Woods to end it.
Temby made eight saves in the win, as the last seed into the postseason Maine (8-11) advances to the semifinal round. Mackesy also had one assist on the day with the setup to Lambert to win it. Woods made five saves in the loss for New Hampshire, who ends their season with a record of 12-7. The Wildcats had beaten the Black Bears 6-0 in Durham in the regular season meeting back on October 13. Maine takes on Albany (12-5) in that semifinal round on Friday at 3 p.m. The Great Danes also won that lone meeting between the two teams 3-1 on September 29.
Recap by Chris Lessner
