By TOM EVANS

Hour Staff Writer

SOUTHINGTON — For 60 scoreless minutes of regulation play and three 10-minute overtime sessions Wednesday afternoon, the No. 12 Norwalk High field hockey team had nothing to show for dominating much of the Class L first-round matchup with fifth-seeded Southington at raw, drizzly Fontana Field.

Suddenly the Bears' season — and the careers of 10 players — had come down to strokes.

So it was fitting that senior forward and co-captain Leanne LeBlanc stepped up to the ball for the final attempt in the five-shot session with her team trailing 2-1.

LeBlanc snapped a low shot past Jackie Laramee into the right side of the net, matching a score by senior midfielder Laura DiScala two rounds earlier and forcing another round of strokes.

Norwalk goalie Kim Stow stopped three of five shots to keep the Bears, 7-3-4-2, alive. Senior forward Alexandra Garry and senior midfielder Catherine Pomposi netted the two goals for the Blue Knights.

In the second set of stroke shots, now sudden-death, the goalies traded saves before DiScala beat Laramee low to the left side. But Pomposi went the same direction for a shot past Stow to prolong the contest for Southington, 9-4-1-1.

LeBlanc then clanged a shot off the right post, putting the pressure on Stow to come up with a save. Stow was equal to the task, stretching far to her right to deny senior midfielder Melissa Albiach and putting two more shooters on the line.

Another senior, midfielder Kelly Bassford, stepped up and flicked the ball inside the left post for the lead. When Stow snapped her leg pads together to stuff the final shot by senior midfielder Eileen Carabetta, the Bears were moving on to face No. 4 New Milford (12-2-1) in a quarterfinal contest Friday at 2 p.m. in New Milford.

"It's amazing, I can't believe it," Bassford said. "(Through such a long game) we were able to keep ourselves pumped up and the girls on the sideline were 100 percent supportive. I knew Kim could do it, too. She always brings her game all the way."

Stow, who made 10 saves in the game, also came up huge in the first overtime. She stopped sophomore Colleen Roarty from the right side with three minutes to go in that period, then stoned senior midfielder Natalie Ruch from point-blank range 30 seconds later to preserve the scoreless deadlock.

"It wasn't the prettiest game I ever saw but it was a great game of guts on both sides," Norwalk head coach Kyle Seaburg said. "There was no problem keeping them up. We have 10 seniors. We always say we're here to play, we get to play a game. Some people play their whole lives without getting to experience a game like that. It's the state tournament. Some of my players have tasted success beyond the first round so they want more."

Norwalk had chances to end this game much earlier but Laramee, who recorded 12 saves, made two big saves in each of the final two overtimes.

In the second overtime Laramee denied LeBlanc from close range, then stopped a combined effort of senior midfielder Sarah Laverty and junior forward Allie LeBlanc. The goalie twice made saves on Laverty in the closing minutes of the third extra session.

Senior defender Kenzie Harrick was also a force late in regulation and on through the overtime periods. Harrick made five steals in the final 30 minutes of play, and made a tremendous effort to break up a rush by Roarty — who had broken free down the left wing — in the first minute of the second overtime.

Harrick's backline mates, senior Amy Oman and sophomore Maria Bajnoczi, were also solid throughout the game. Oman even had to leave the game when she re-injured her right knee at the 17:54 mark of the second half but returned a few minutes later to help stifle the Blue Knight attack.

"In a game like this it gets more and more intense the longer it goes," Harrick said afterward. "We really wanted it. It's so exciting to get to the next round. (Those plays) were really about hustling back. One of the things we try to do is keep running. We want to be able to make those plays. That's what sprints (after practice) are for."

Norwalk had two golden opportunities to put the game away, one in the first overtime and one in the third.

A penalty corner taken by Bajnoczi was deflected just out of the reach of Laverty on the doorstep with 4:30 remaining in the first overtime. Leanne LeBlanc, on the right post, also had the rebound of a Laverty shot on her stick as time wound down in the final overtime, but she somehow sent a shot wide right.

"This is our last time playing in the state tournament, and this could have been our last game," Leanne LeBlanc said. "We just wanted to keep playing. To tie the game (in the first strokes) was an awesome feeling."

Southington head coach Doreen Leahy was disappointed with the outcome but was not surprised a 12th seed from the FCIAC came ready to play.

"That game absolutely should have been over earlier," Leahy said about Norwalk's multiple scoring chances. "Didn't (Laramee) make some great saves? There was awesome hockey today, we all played awesome. I'm proud of everybody on my team. We knew Norwalk came from a very strong league with a lot of great teams. We're happy we advanced this far."