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NAPLES – Skye Dole said her teammates kept telling her in practice Monday that a tip would be the winning goal.

“That’s the tip that’s going to score, that’s the tip that’s going to win it. That’s what we kept saying,” said Dole, a Fryeburg Academy field hockey forward.

“And it did.”

Dole was in the right spot with 8:36 left Tuesday to tip in a penalty corner cross by Ellen Bacchiocchi and give the Raiders a 1-0 victory that ended Lake Region’s bid for an undefeated Western Maine Conference regular season.

It was also the only shot on goal the Raiders, who finished 12-2 and entered as the fourth-ranked team in Western Class B, had the entire game.

Lake Region (13-1), which likely will keep the top spot for the regional tournament, had 12 shots, 11 in the first half, and a 15-2 edge in penalty corners.

Earlier this season Lake Region beat Fryeburg 1-0 in a game in which Fryeburg held large statistical edges.

While the Lakers had a huge edge in the first half, the game settled into a close second half.

“Our speed kind of let up a little bit and I don’t think we were cutting quite as quickly to the ball, and I give Fryeburg credit because they were definitely picking up their speed,” Lake Region Coach Lisa Shane said.

Fryeburg Coach Dede Frost said Christina DiPietro, her senior center-forward and captain, “kind of lit the Fryeburg girls on fire,” with her play, both hustling back to be more active on defense and then making several key rushes up the field.

A DiPietro shot less than a minute earlier than Dole’s goal just went wide, with Dole a fraction too late for a tip-in.

In the first half, it was the Fryeburg defense led by Makayla Frost that was able to weather the storm.

Lake Region forward Lucy Fowler was a near constant threat.

She had several shots stopped by Fryeburg goalie Sage Antolin (12 saves) and a couple of crisp crosses that just missed connection with Elizabeth Schreiber on the far post.

Schreiber did knock one ball into the cage but it was ruled a non-goal, in part because she had her stick at roughly shoulder level when she connected.

“It’s a good lesson for them and for me: One goal is the game and it doesn’t matter how hard you played. A goal is what matters in these types of games,” Shane said.

Kristina Morton, the Lake Region senior captain, said the Lakers had wanted to finish off the regular season without a blemish but the loss will “make our team come together even more for the playoffs and we’ll be even more hungry to want it more.”

Both teams are expected to earn a bye out of Saturday’s preliminary round when the playoff brackets are announced, and will be home for quarterfinal games Tuesday or Wednesday.

Staff Writer Steve Craig can be contacted at 791-6413 or at:

scraig@mainetoday.com