AUGUSTA – Sometimes the clock just doesn’t move quickly enough.

Edward Little scored early in the second half of Tuesday’s Eastern Class A field hockey quarterfinal at Buker Field. Maybe too early.

No. 4 Cony patiently played out the remaining 28 minutes, nine seconds as if it were eternity. Or at least ample time for senior Stephanie Hinds to weave a natural hat trick, each goal courtesy of Brittany Ford, and give the Rams a 3-1 win over the No. 5 Red Eddies.

“We were a little worried,” admitted Hinds, “but we knew we had enough time to step it up again.”

Cony (12-3) backed up its prior 2-0 triumph over EL in Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference play on Sept. 18 and ended the Eddies’ six-game winning streak. The Rams will meet top-seeded Messalonskee in a Saturday semifinal.

Emily Ranucci put the Red Eddies (8-5-1) in position for the upset, scoring the team-leading 11th goal of her sophomore season at the end of a breakaway.

Katie Williamson flagged down a pass near midfield and left the Cony defense in her footprints. Rams goalkeeper Felisha Taylor kicked away Williamson’s offering away from the right post, but Jess Campbell redirected the carom to a wide-open Ranucci along the left side.

“We made it exciting until the last 15 minutes,” said EL coach Greg Perkins. “Cony kept putting on the pressure. I think they wore us down.”

Kayla Cummings made 14 saves for EL. Hinds scored her three goals in a span of under seven minutes.

Cony notched the equalizer on its ninth penalty corner of the second half. Jessica Brox fed Ford the ball at the top of the circle. Ford’s centering pass gave Hinds the angle she needed to knot the game with 10:08 to play.

“There was a lot of traffic,” Ford said. “I was just trying to keep the ball in the circle.”

Hinds followed Ford’s shot and punched in the go-ahead tally with 7:22 remaining. Cummings was in ideal position to make the initial save, but the ball took a tricky hop and left Hinds chasing an open cage.

The classmates collaborated again for the insurance goal on a bang-bang play that left Hinds one-on-one against EL defender Katherine Harmon at the far post.

EL couldn’t cash in any of eight corners in the scoreless first half. Josie Lahey lost out on what seemed a sure goal when her blistering shot was deflected wide left by a whisker in the late stages.

Taylor made five of her 11 saves before the break.

“I thought we had a lot of great opportunities to score in the first half,” Perkins said.

Lahey and Karen Leary disrupted numerous Cony corners to protect the Eddies’ brief advantage.

Those two played heir final field hockey game for EL along with Diana Kruszewski, Morgan Wilkins, Sarah Faulkingham and Elizabeth Barclay.

“It’s a mix. There are six seniors, but we also have a lot of younger kids,” Perkins said. “We had a good season.”