AUBURN – Stopping the St. Dominic Regional High School field hockey team is a little bit like gambling on a thoroughbred race.

Teams typically wager their defensive capital on the trifecta of No. 6 (Mary Lewis), No. 1 (Colleen Rideout) and No. 10 (Eliza Dox).

For one fateful heartbeat Thursday afternoon, Sacopee Valley forgot about the darkhorse dressed in No. 7. Senior Pressley Lawrence scored a rare goal with under nine minutes remaining in the first half, setting the table for the Saints’ 3-1 win.

How rare?

“It’s my first goal of my whole entire life, seriously, so it’s exciting,” said Lawrence, alluding to her varsity career with the Saints. “It was one of those things where I wasn’t planning on it.”

Lawrence’s goal escalated from a luxury and a surprise to a lifesaver when the Hawks’ Julia Finkle knotted the game prior to the half.

That didn’t stall the Saints’ momentum, though. Dox and Lewis delivered the go-ahead strike and an insurance tally early in the second half to seal the seventh straight win for St. Dom’s (7-1).

Sacopee Valley (5-2) downed St. Dom’s in overtime at the first installment of the annual Western Maine Conference home-and-home series on Sept. 5.

“I think that’s a big thing that we can all work together to score,” Dox said. “It’s not just certain, set people. It’s everyone that can do it.”

Lewis had a stick in all three goals. She teamed up with Dox to set up Lawrence’s unprecedented moment in the spotlight.

Both second-half goals stemmed from penalty corners.

Dox stuffed home the rebound from Rideout’s bid, courtesy of Lewis, after Sacopee goalkeeper Erin Hartford stymied the first try with a kick save. Lewis later followed her own shot in the same scenario, with Rideout notching another assist.

“It was a slow start. We knew the intensity would be up there and they would be pumped up for us the second time around,” said St. Dom’s coach Brian Kay. “Our forwards got their goals when they had to get them. That third goal was huge.”

Sacopee nearly cut the lead in half with 7:28 remaining, but Brittany Sterling’s apparent goal was disallowed because the shot came from outside the scoring area, untouched.

The Hawks intensified the pressure with several corners and point-blank shots in the waning moments, but St. Dom’s goalie Kelsey Murphy (12 saves) and defenders Hannah Wiley, Julia Richardson, Lawrence and Hilary Gove were up to the task.

“This is the kind of game where you hold your head high and you don’t feel bad about losing,” said Sacopee Valley coach Terry Barnes, who returned to the bench this fall for her second tenure and 18th season overall after spending the last three years as an official. “I thought it was a beautiful game of field hockey. I can’t say we’ll get them next time, because you don’t know (if the teams will meet in the playoffs). I would love to find out.”

St. Dom’s is likely to be ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in Western Class C when next week’s Heal Point standings are published. Sacopee seems destined to finish among the top four in the region, as well.

“That was a tough win. It was major for our record and for Heal Points,” said Dox, one of six St. Dom’s seniors. “It’s really going to help us out during playoffs. I don’t think we could have asked for anything more at this point.”