LITCHFIELD — The final horn couldn’t come soon enough for Oak Hill in its Class C South field hockey quarterfinal Wednesday against Sacopee Valley.

The Raiders had to sweat out a surge by the Hawks that lasted much of the second half, but the Oak Hill defense stood strong and held on until that final horn blew in a 1-0 victory at Carrie Ricker School.

The third-seeded Raiders (10-5) scored late in the first half on a goal by Kylee Veilleux, assisted by Abby Asselin.

“I was just in the middle of the circle, and the ball came to me,” Veilleux said. “I just saw the cage wide open and I just shot it as hard as I could, and just praying that it went in.”

Veilleux’s goal, as is the case for many field hockey scores, came in the middle of a scrum in front of the goal. It was one of just a few scrums in the first half, which was mostly played between the circles. Officials awarded Oak Hill five penalty corners — the first coming 12 minutes in — and the Raiders outshot the sixth-seeded Hawks 8-3 in the first half.

Sacopee Valley flipped the stat sheet in its favor in the second half, out-cornering Oak Hill 9-2 and putting four shots on goal to the Raiders’ one.

“We talked about the importance of passing, and the importance of getting it down into the circle and finishing our plays,” Sacopee Valley head coach Jaci Ritter said. “I think that’s what caused a couple of those corners, is finishing it and moving our feet to the ball.”

All but two of those corners came in the final 16 minutes, and they all came within three minutes of each other, forcing the Oak Hill defense to be on standby in the second half.

“That second half was very nerve-wracking. The girls just went into the defensive mode and they just wanted this game,” Oak Hill head coach Betsy Gilbert said. “Our defense was just solid. Defense is what wins game, and our girls really showed that today.”

Gilbert pointed out senior sweeper Brooke Surette’s ability to come out of the circle with the ball to try and start counter-attacks, as well as a strong defensive effort from junior sweeper Lexi Fuller.

The Raiders’ coach said she was hoping her team would attack more with the one-goal lead in the second half, but the players’ game plan ended up working out in their favor.

“They pulled together as a team and they just kept working and communicating with each other that that is their plan,” Gilbert said. “They’re out there playing it.”

The Hawks nearly scored the equalizer off a penalty corner with eight minutes remaining, but a would-be goal was waved off because the ball went off a Sacopee Valley player.

It was a play that could have ended the Hawks’ hopes, but Ritter said that wasn’t the case.

“Not at all,” Ritter said. “If anything they were like, ‘We can do this, we did get it.’ They just fell short.”

Oak Hill goalie Abby Fuller made four of her seven saves in the second half, while Sacopee Valley goalie McKenzie Cormier stopped eight shots — including seven in the first half.

The Raiders now advance to the semifinals for the second year in a row, and will host No. 7 Traip Academy.

“We’re just going to keep peaking and tweaking,” Gilbert said. “Each day it’s all about getting better.”

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

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