Erica Dorso turns in another hat trick as St. Dom’s win its first-ever regional title.
By Bob McPhee
Staff Writer

AUBURN – Erica Dorso was at a loss for words following the Saint Dominic’s first-ever Western Class C regional field hockey championship Thursday afternoon.

She proved to be an offensive force again by scoring her second-straight hat trick in the past two games. And there was a bit of redemption for the Saints who were playing in their third-consecutive regional final.

St. Doms unleashed its trademark aggressive style to take a 2-0 lead in the first half and then received a strong defensive effort from goalie Ilissa Vallee and sweeper Becky Lewis en route to a 3-1 win against determined Jay.

It will be a battle of the unbeatens when St. Dom’s takes on three-time defending state champ Dexter in the title game Saturday at Gorham High School.

“Words can’t describe how we feel at this point,” Erica Dorso said. “We’re laughing and crying at the same time, but this team has finally won the regional. We didn’t do any thing different in the game because we just continued to play the way we have all season.”

The game started out as a defensive battle as each team kept the ball out of its respective zones. Jay, which concluded its season at 11-5-1, saw defenders Sara Fetterhoff and Heather Johnson step forward several times to intercept passes. The Tigers received a scare when Jenna Lord was accidentally hit in the head by a teammate’s stick and was sidelined for most of the game.

The Saints finally converted on a breakaway as Elisha Dorso passed to her older sister, Erica, who poked it past Tiger freshman goalie Kaylie DeMillo. Elisha Dorso (two assists) rushed down the left side and sidestepped Fetterhoff with 13:57 remaining in the first half.

“It was noisy on the field with the crowd,” Saints’ midfielder Catlin Rutt said. “That made it harder to communicate, but this team has been playing together for so long, that we (instinctively) know every one will be on the field.”

St. Doms received a free hit and Rutt flicked the ball to Erica Dorso who was positioned by the left post. It proved to be the eventual game-winner as the Saints led 2-0 with 5:35 left in the first half.

Jay was unable to get its offense on track as passes couldn’t get advanced to Courtney Gould and Rachel Gagnon.

“We knew when it was 2-0 that we had to come back and tie it up,” Jay coach Sandy Morin said. “Our adjustments (included) marking up better and try to get our diagonal passes working.”

Jay didn’t take a penalty corner until 13 minutes into the second half. Jaclyn Lautz scored off a rebound to avert the shutout.

“I thought I’d be busier in goal today,” Vallee said. “Instead, we were able to control the play because the defense was able to get the ball ahead to the forwards.”