FARMINGTON – This, aspiring athletes, is why you pay attention to the little stuff at practice.

Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School played a controlled field hockey scrimmage Saturday. Rather than run it like a regular game or glorified practice, however, the coaches took a different approach.

“We went over all the overtime rules and regulations and practiced as many corners as we did today,” said senior tri-captain Hannah Strauss. “I can’t say that we weren’t nervous the whole time, but it felt good to use it.”

In an Eastern Class A quarterfinal that went the distance through regulation, two eight-minute overtimes and six sets of penalty corners, Strauss set up classmate Kaitlin Crockett’s second goal of the day to give No. 5 Oxford Hills a 2-1 victory over No. 4 Mt. Blue.

The dress rehearsal benefited Oxford Hills (10-4-1) both with their feet facing the goal and with their backs turned. Before breaking through with the game-winner, the Vikings fought off 11 Mt. Blue corners and seven shots on goal in the untimed, extra session.

“I was pretty scared the whole time,” Crockett admitted. “I was ready to be done.”

Crockett took advantage of a second chance to send home the bipartisan crowd.

Her initial shot on Oxford Hills’ third and final try in the second round of corners was stopped by Mt. Blue senior goaltender Amanda Deschenes (nine saves). In the continuing action, the Vikings earned another opportunity.

Strauss served up another low, rolling stroke from the end line. Deschenes charged to contest the expected shot from Teira Durgin. The ball took a funny hop to the goalmouth, though, and Crockett and Strauss both stood there, uncontested.

“It was a mess-up, actually. It was supposed to go over to Teira,” Crockett said. “It came back over to me, and I just did a reverse stick and hoped for the best.”

Mt. Blue (9-4-2) lost in the quarterfinal round for the fifth straight year, in the most heart-breaking fashion yet. Armed with 11 seniors to the Vikings’ three, the Cougars enjoyed a 17-11 advantage in shots on goal.

Counting overtime, Mt. Blue took 25 penalty corners.

“I haven’t seen that done in a long time,” said Mt. Blue coach Jeannine Paradis. “I remember when I was a senior (at Biddeford), and that’s how we ended a game. We lost in the Western Maine final when it went off a girl’s foot. But you can’t ask for a playoff game to be more exciting.”

Both teams settled in nicely after a tentative first half that featured only four total shots.

Kaitlyn Bullen cashed in on a corner 6:51 after intermission to put the Cougars on top. Crockett answered for the Vikings just over two minutes later.

Oxford Hills fought off four corners in the final 90 seconds of regulation, backstopped brilliantly by junior Aleksys Pike (16 saves).

“That’s such a well-played game that you hate to see it come down to that,” said Oxford Hills coach Cindy Goddard. “You know, is it luck? Is it talent? I don’t know. It just comes down to who can put the last one in. We can practice them, but I don’t think you practice how that one was scored.”

The Vikings advance to a Saturday semifinal at No. 1 Skowhegan, the team that eliminated them in last year’s Eastern A final and prevailed 1-0 in their lone meeting this fall.

Deschenes, Niki Grant and Meaghan Robinson were among the seniors shining brightly on the defensive end in their parting shot for Mt. Blue.

“Each year we’ve gotten better and more competitive, and hopefully we continue,” Paradis said. “This group of girls have a lot to do with continuing that on, and so do the younger kids.”