BETHEL – After having come so close in the past, the Telstar field hockey team wasn’t about to be denied again.

The Rebels erupted for two goals in a five-minute span, including the eventual game winner by Danna Wilson, in a come-from-behind 3-1 triumph over Livermore Falls to capture the Western Class C regional championship.

The huge crowd witnessed a fast-paced game, but the Rebel defense, led by sweeper Jillian Kimball and halfback Lindsay Hart, proved to be the difference.

No. 1 Telstar (14-1-1) advances to the state game Saturday against Stearns at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland. It’s the Rebels first regional crown since 1996.

The score was knotted 1-1, but Telstar had the momentum and was on the attack. The Andies dodged a bullet when a penalty stroke went wide right, but moments later Wilson was rushing in near the left post and redirected a ball beyond Livermore Falls goalie Sam Whiting.

Kayla Mills assisted on the play with 4:38 left in the first half.

“Kayla had taken a shot first,” Wilson said. “The ball deflected out to me and I was able to send it in. Still, we were only ahead by one goal, so at halftime we agreed that we had to keep our heads in the game and communicate.”

No. 6 Livermore Falls (12-5) had actually gained the upperhand early. Rebecca Leclerc dribbled in on the right side and sent a shot past goalie Stephanie Tripp in to the far corner of the cage. The unassisted goal at 15:04 was the only shot the Andies had in the first half.

“It was an unbelievable season,” Livermore Falls coach Julia Parker said. “To come from 0-12-2 a year ago to playing in the regional final is no small feat. These girls certainly don’t have any thing to be ashamed of.”

The Rebels beat the Andies twice during the season, but their slim lead after the first 30 minutes hadn’t settled anything.

Telstar applied pressure, but the Andies Jenika Kelley and Baylee Grant cleared balls out of the zone. The Rebels were awarded a free hit at the top of the circle and Liz Rosenberg hit a shot off Whiting’s left-leg pad. Mills, playing with a broken finger, redirected the rebound into the right corner with 20:20 left.

“We knew Telstar had a good cross-passing game,” Parker said. “So, we worked on trying to stop that in practice. A few of them got through. I thought Jenika (Kelley) had a strong game at fullback and so did Marjorie DeBrosky.”

Telstar goalie Heather Gionet stopped three shots in the second half and Caiti Shimamura provided some quality minutes. Jen Farrington and Kara Jacques sealed off the Andies advances.

The Rebels’ Stephanie Bennett had scored off a Mallory Brown pass with 9:32 remaining in the first half.

“We played aggressive on defense,” Kimball said. “The difference was that we were able to step up and send some long hits down the field.”