BETHEL — Mallory Brown scored the eventual winning goal and had two assists as Telstar used a total team effort in a 3-0 shutout against Lisbon in a Class C field hockey semifinalfinal.
The defense turned in a stellar performance, led by sweeper Jillian Kimball and halfbacks Lindsay Hart and Jen Farrington. Rebel goalie Heather Gionet had five saves.
No.1 Telstar (14-1-1) will host No.6 Livermore Falls in the regional final game Wednesday. The Rebels beat the Andies twice during the regular season.
Telstar came out on fire and it paid off, with two penalty corners. Brown blasted a shot in to the left side of the cage, three minutes and 39 seconds in to the game.
“I was thinking that I had to score,” Brown said. “This team plays better when we get an early lead. As you can see, it worked out for us today.”
A shot by Emily Polquin was kicked out by Gionet as time ran out in the first half.
“The score was still close,” Lisbon coach Mark Stevens said. “It was any one’s game at that point and our girl’s had picked up the pace.”
The Rebels controlled the play and Liz Rosenberg scored on a slap shot to make it 2-0. Brown had fed in the pass, on a PC, with 21:08 left in the game.
“A key was the Telstar pressure,” Stevens said. “They didn’t allow us any quick releases. We thought we could get in to a passing game, but Telstar did a good job dribbling the ball.”
Telstar made it 3-0 on Mills’ score with 12:59 remaining in the game. Brown had drawn the defense over and passed to Brown on the right.
Lisbon (11-5) called timeout, but it was to little too late.
“We played much better today,” Telstar coach Gail Wight said. “The defense had some long hits to clear shots away. They took some better shots in the circle and spread the field.”
Comments are no longer available on this story