The Pilgrim field hockey team would edge Cranston in a shootout in the Division II Quarterfinals last week, setting up a semifinal matchup against the unbeaten, top-seeded Lincoln Lions.

After a scoreless four quarters, the two teams battled through two overtime periods. Riley Rastella and Kayley Legault would score goals for the Pats in the shootout to beat Cranston’s one goal from Mia Santomassimo to get the win. The Thunderbirds had a goal called back after the clock failed to start the 10-second countdown.

Pilgrim was led by goalie Valerie Landry, who had 13 saves, including four in the overtime periods, before coming up with four big stops in the shootout.

“Coming into the game I didn’t know if we’d be able to do it but we pulled it off. We did it as a team and came through. It was scary to be in that position but it felt amazing to pull it off. I can’t wait for the next round,” said Landry.

It was Landry’s first-ever shootout in net. The Pats practiced shootouts leading up to the playoffs and she stopped every shot she faced, giving her confidence heading into it.

“I just tried to keep pushing. Last year we lost and missed out (on the playoffs), so we worked really hard. That really prepared us. In practice I really worked on clearing the ball as far as I could which helped here too,” said Landry.

Down the street, Toll Gate would win in similar fashion in a shootout victory over Classical.

The two teams were also scoreless after regulation and two overtime periods, but the Titans outscored the Purple 2-0 to seal the win. Ayla Paley scored on the team’s first shot while Amanda Preston added the second. Goalie Abby O’Connor stopped all five shootout goals faced to go along with seven saves prior to the extra period. It, too, was O’Connor’s first career shootout experience.

“(Ayla’s goal) was huge, it took a lot of pressure off of us which helped. Abby was awesome, too. The pressure is a lot different in shootouts and they handled it very well,” said Toll Gate coach Jim Areson.

The Titans took on Chariho on Wednesday night on the other side of the semifinals. The two teams split the season series a game apiece and Areson expected another close battle with a state title appearance on the line.

“It’s going to be a competitive game. The team that is the toughest mentally is going to win. Everyone is going to be amped up, it’s going to be cold,” Areson said. “We won because we were prepared and focused on the things we needed to do to win. If we do that again, we’ll have a real good chance at winning.”

As for Cranston, the loss wrapped up a surprising season in which it earned a winning record and playoff berth. The Thunderbirds were one of the youngest teams in the state heading into the year.

“We entered the season with only four returners, 15 underclassmen on the roster, very little experience. We practiced hard and climbed the ladder. They finished 5-5-1 which is a winning season and they played their hearts out. We just ran into a good team and gassed out. I couldn’t have asked for anything more from the girls. They played their hearts out and lost in a shootout. That could have gone either way,” said coach Matt Davis. “We were taking it quarter by quarter. We were winning every quarter, we dominated every quarter, we just couldn’t get the ball to go in.”

The team is slated to return most of its roster next season and Davis expects the expectations to be elevated.

“Next year we aren’t going to be starting from the bottom, we’ll be halfway up that ladder. Hopefully this will motivate the girls and make them work even harder,” said Davis. “Our girls played great tonight, we had all those freshmen starting. We just couldn’t get the ball in the back of the net.”