Late goal sends Timberlane field hockey past Manchester Central to D1 final

EXETER – Scoring big goals in the postseason runs in Tori Rothwell’s family.

Seven years after her older sister scored late in a semifinal game to send the Timberlane Regional High School field hockey team to the final, the younger Rothwell did the same Tuesday in the Division I semifinals at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter.

Rothwell found the back of the net with 8:45 to play and the No. 6 Owls held on to the lead for a 3-2 win over No. 2 Manchester Central.

The win sends Timberlane (11-5-1) to the title game for the first time since the Owls won the Class L title in 2009. That year, Timberlane advanced to the championship when Nicole Rothwell scored the only goal in a 1-0 semifinal win over Exeter.

Timberlane will take on No. 1 Winnacunnet, the defending champion, which defeated No. 5 Pinkerton 2-0 in the other semifinal. The title game is scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday at Bedford High School.

Scoring against Central (13-2-1) was like a dream come true for Tori Rothwell.

“I had a dream like a week ago about the whole play and it came true,” she said. “I just had a shot at the top of the circle and I took it. I was just trying to get it in the circle and when I scored, I was just aiming for the net.”

The Owls also got goals in the first half from Kylie Fitzpatrick and Sarah Padellaro, as they twice rallied from a one-goal deficit to tie the game 2-2 going into halftime.

“That’s not normal. I figured this would be a one-goal game, like 1-0, not 3-2,” Timberlane coach Mim Ryan said. “We put some good shots on their goalie and they ended up making some good saves. We hit the post once or twice. I’m proud of my kids. They fought hard the whole way.”

Central got goals from Abigail Conrad and Caroline Carle and Jenna Chrabolowksi added an assist.

“Our goal was here, but it was a reach goal,” Central coach Bill Larkins said. “It’s setting a new standard and setting a new bar. Easily this game could have gone either way. Calls, balls, things that hit people in the circle, it could have gone either way.”

Conrad put Central up 1-0 off a corner less than six minutes into the game, as she knocked in a pass by Chrabolowski. It looked like the Little Green had taken a 2-0 lead moments later, when the ball found its way into the goal off an errant pass, but officials ruled it had been put in from outside the circle and was waved off.

That seemed to wakeup the Owls, as they controlled possession and were rewarded with five corners in a seven-minute stretch, finally capitalizing on the last one when Fitzpatrick tied the game with 13:21 left in the half.

But a breakdown in the Timberlane defense allowed Carle to get behind the Owls and chip a shot off Timberlane goalie Makayla Livingston and into the top of the goal, putting Central up 2-1 with 8:12 to play until halftime.

“They converted off their corners,” Ryan said. “The first corner, it was kind of like slow motion and we just couldn’t get it out. The second one was a miscommunication. We came back.”

The Little Green continued to control possession, but the Owls were able to tie it when Taryn Mackinnon sent a ball from just inside midfield to Padellero in the Central circle. The Timberlane sophomore went in alone on Central goalie Heather Richardson and beat her to the short side to tie it 2-2.

The second half was more like the defensive game that both coaches expected it to be going in, with neither team getting many opportunities.

Central’s best one came with about 11 minutes to play off a corner. The ball came toward a Little Green player with no one between her in the net, but the officials whistled the play dead, saying the ball hit her foot.

Timberlane went downfield and received a corner of its own, and although Central was able to clear it, the Owls kept the pressure on to set up Rothwell’s goal.

“We definitely stuck with it and stayed strong throughout the whole game,” she said. “It was very important. We wouldn’t have won if we hadn’t stayed strong.”