AUBURN – The chances kept piling up for St. Dom’s in Wednesday’s Western Class C field hockey quarterfinal with Freeport, but the goals would not. Finally, the Saints went to a chip off the old block to continue the defense of their regional crown.

Moments after missing on a couple of golden opportunities to break the scoreless tie, Mary Lewis chipped in the game-winner off a pass from Katie Landry with 3:08 left in the second overtime to give No. 4 St. Dom’s a hard-fought 1-0 victory over the No. 5 Falcons.

“Katie drove it up to me, and I had my backhand. I didn’t have time to pull it back because the defender was coming up, and I just hit it and chipped it just right so it came up and over her glove,” Lewis said.

“We just had so much intensity in the last couple of minutes and we kept getting closer and closer, and eventually Mary came through,” Landry said. “She was awesome.”

The Saints, who are unbeaten at home this season, outshot Freeport, 21-6, and held a 19-7 advantage in penalty corners. But outstanding defensive efforts by Hannah Goodenow, Stephanie Cushing and Lauren Parker and aggressive goal-keeping by Hannah Schuchert, particularly on numerous breakaways by Lewis in the second half and overtimes, kept the Falcons (10-4-1) in the game.

“We just had to finish that play,” said St. Dom’s coach Brian Kay. “Their goalie is outstanding. I’ve got to give her credit. But I knew eventually it was going to come. It was just a matter of time.”

“I think we have a pretty strong defense, and I’m confident in them in every area,” Freeport coach Eliza Damone said. “Even though we had a lot of corners, I knew they’d move it out.”

To the Saints’ credit, they kept their intensity up through the second half and overtimes despite the mounting frustration over not being able to capitalize on their chances. They consistently beat the Falcons to the ball and got it to Lewis behind the defense for several one-on-one chances.

“I had been working so hard and the team had gotten me the ball so many times up there, it was just frustrating,” Lewis said. “Hannah’s a great goalie. She comes out like she’s supposed to… and I really appreciate playing with her.”

Freeport’s offense seemed sluggish for much of the game, probably because they were short-handed on the left side of their front line. Whitney Scott (charley horse) and Kathryn Blenk (knee contusion) were sidelined for much of the second half.

“When we lose that on the front line, it’s tough,” Damone said. “They’re our big push.”

The Saints had a dozen penalty corners in the first half, but not an overwhelming number of shots off them (nine). Their best chance came with six minutes left, when Schuchert kicked out a bid from Landry.

“In the playoffs, it’s a totally different mentality, a totally different game, and every team comes out to play,” Lewis said. “They’re playing do or die, and we really proved that we really wanted it today.”