AUBURN – Sam Whiting has an odd habit of closing her eyes prior to penalty shots – not out of nervousness, but for the sake of preparation.
Twice Saturday the Livermore Falls field hockey netminder had to close her eyes on St. Dom’s forwards. Twice she stared them into submission, helping the Andies upend the Saints 2-0 in the teams’ Western Class C field hockey semifinal.
“She was just awesome,” said Livermore Falls coach Julie Parker of Whiting. “She hadn’t touched the ball much because the defense was there, but they all played an incredible game out there.”
St. Dom’s had its first penalty stroke opportunity with 1:25 to play in the first half, already trailing 1-0. Freshman Mary Lewis toed the line and lifted a solid shot to Whiting’s right.
“I opened my eyes,” said Whiting. “When I start on those I close my eyes and then open them. The ball looks bigger to me that way. On (the first) one, I opened my eyes and the ball was coming at me.”
“That one, the first one, she stopped with her stick,” said St. Dom’s coach Brian Kay. “It was going in. It’s just one of those things where the goalie won the battle.”
The Saints (13-3) had another penalty stroke opportunity with 19:47 to play in the game, this time after Whiting covered the ball on a scrum in front. Elisha Dorso took that shot, but pushed it wide left.
From there, the Livermore Falls defense hung tough, limiting St. Dom’s opportunities and keeping the ball away from Dorso, the Saints’ senior sniper.
“Our big thing today was shutting down Dorso,” said Parker. “We knew if we could cut her off, and they were going right to her every hit down the middle of the field, we could get in her passing lanes and turn it around and go the other way.”
The Saints were not without opportunity, though. In the opening half, St. Dom’s had eight penalty corners to the Andies’ three, but didn’t manage a shot on goal until there were less than two minutes left.
“We had a good chance on corners again,” said Kay. “They’re a good team, they’re an offensive team and it was a great, great game.”
This is the second consecutive year Livermore Falls has eliminated St. Dom’s in the playoffs. Last year, the Andies defeated the Saints 5-2 in Auburn.
“This year was a lot more intense,” said Kay. “Last year they scored first then we got one and they got going after that. This year was a lot closer the whole way.”
On offense for Livermore Falls, Taryn Flagg had both goals. The first one, with 8:22 to play in the first half, proved to be the winner.
“We made a nice drive down the field,” said Flagg. “Erica (Gats) sent a pass and it was going out, so I reverse-sticked it and put it in behind the goalie and it went in. We all went crazy.”
Flagg’s second sealed the game with 15:22 to play and came after a long free hit by Jenika Kelley from the left alley.
Livermore Falls (14-2) advances to the Western Class C regional final on Wednesday, where it will face No. 1 Telstar, which upended Sacopee Valley 3-0 Saturday.
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