The Boothbay Region High School field hockey team had the top team in Class C North on the ropes Oct. 22, but failed to deliver the knockout blow. The Seahawks took a 2-1 lead early in the second half against Maine Central Institute on a Riley Sullivan goal, but the lead was short-lived. MCI responded with five goals in defeating No. 5 Boothbay 6-2, in the regional semifinals.

It seemed the weekend’s wet weather played a factor in the game. The contest originally scheduled for MCI’s grass field was moved to Thomas College’s turf field in Waterville. MCI officials feared Friday’s and Saturday’s rain would make the grass field unplayable.

The Huskies took an early lead with a goal by Addi Williams three minutes.18 seconds into the contest. It seemed the Huskies were better prepared for playing on the quick artificial turf than Boothbay.

“We started out playing more of a grass game than a field game. We played the ball too far off our sticks. We called a time out and tightened up our game. And we were in it, but just lost our steam in the end,” said Boothbay coach Donna Jordan.

Her strategy worked as Boothbay neutralized the powerful MCI offense. The Seahawks also capitalized on a great scoring opportunity late in the first half. Forward Sydney Meader tied the game at the 16-minute mark with a goal.

Boothbay took the lead one minute. 41 seconds into the second half. And it seemed the Seahawks were in position to knock off the Huskies. But a deluge of MCI goals quickly put the defending state champs into the lead for good. Williams tied the game by putting her own rebound into the cage. Allison Hughes countered with a goal giving MCI a 3-2 lead. The Huskies widened their lead with consecutive goals scored 88 seconds apart.

With MCI leading 5-2, Keely Manzo scored the game’s final goal with five minutes, 34 seconds remaining.

MCI is the same team which eliminated Boothbay in last year’s Class C North tournament. MCI defeated Boothbay, 4-0, in the quarterfinal round. Despite Saturday’s loss, Boothbay’s Page Brown was proud of her team’s performance and the region’s top team.

“We played well and had them on their toes. We had the lead for 10 minutes in the second half and competed hard the whole game against the No. 1 team,” Brown said.

Meader thought the biggest difference between the two teams was  MCI’s depth and speed on the artificial turf.

“It’s a different game on turf. It’s faster and they have a lot of  fast, skilled players who can all score,” Meader said.

Boothbay ends the season 9-6-1. MCI (14-2) plays No. 3 Winthrop (13-2-1) on Oct. 26 at Hampden Academy in the Class C North regional final.