READFIELD -- For more than 59 minutes, it looked like an overtime game. That was about the last thing Maranacook wanted.

"They were dead (tired)," Maranacook field hockey coach Nancy Martin said. "I don't think it would have been good if we'd gone into overtime."

Fortunately for the Black Bears, they were able to avoid overtime at almost the last possible second. Sarah Maxwell, Hayley Pierce and Nicole Castonguay hooked up on a goal with 16 seconds left to give Maranacook a 3-2 victory against Winslow on Saturday morning.

Each team had taken and quickly lost the lead in the first half, and the 2-2 halftime score lasted most of the second half. With less than a minute left, Maranacook goalie Megan Dood made a save, and the Bears (5-1-0) were able to control the ball a short time later.

Maxwell sent a long pass ahead to Pierce, who was sprinting down the right side.

"I knew she was going to send it, because she's really good at sending those big hits," Pierce said. "I was ready, and I was running up the side, and I got right to it."

The successful pass meant Winslow (3-3-0) was forced to play defense in transition, and the desperate Black Raiders converged on Pierce. When they did, Pierce dropped a pass to Castonguay, who knocked in a straight-on shot for the goal.

"Hayley was dribbling it up and had this perfect assist," said Castonguay, who splits time between varsity and JV for Maranacook. "I was trying to get up to the circle. I got as low as I could and shot on goal."

Pierce and Castonguay also combined on Maranacook's first goal, as two Winslow defenders whiffed at the ball, and Pierce pushed a pass to Castonguay for a goal just 1 minute, 34 seconds into the game.

Winslow has shifted players around recently to ratchet up its offense, moving Christine Parrilli from center forward to left wing, Rebekah Raymond from left wing to midfielder and Michelle Greene from midfielder to center forward. Those moves paid off as it took Winslow barely a minute to tie the score, with Sarah Pelletier scoring off a lead pass from Parrilli.

Parrilli gave Winslow a 2-1 lead with 3:41 left, but Maranacook's Meghan Surette tied it up with exactly two minutes to go in the half.

After Maranacook's Hannah Criss made a defensive save early in the second half, the Bears used nice passing and Maxwell's smart drives to create space and opportunities. That finally paid off in the waning seconds, and that win put Maranacook atop the Western B Heal point standings.

Winslow, meanwhile, is a deceptive seventh in the Eastern B standings. The Black Raiders' three losses have each been by one goal, and coach Mary Beth Bourgoin is optimistic.

"The last two games we made position changes," Bourgoin said. "They are playing with more confidence, and they seem to be working much better as a team and communicating better. Things that we've been working on in practice are starting to work."

Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com