FARMINGDALE — Halfway through overtime, the sun broke through cloudy skies and over the fields of Hall-Dale High School.

The sun is still shining on the season of the Hall-Dale field hockey team.

Faith McDougal rebounded a Torie Tibbetts shot into a wide open cage to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 win over St. Dominic in a Class C South semifinal on Saturday afternoon.

“It feels amazing, we worked so hard for this,” said McDougal, a senior forward. “We really put everything into practice. It’s just a dream come true.”

Hall-Dale (13-3-0) will meet defending Class C champion Winthrop, which beat Spruce Mountain 7-1 on Friday, in the regional final Wednesday. The Saints finish 8-6-1.

Tibbetts, a senior forward, started the play at the top of the circle, and sent a hard reverse hit toward Saints goalkeeper Maia Cote. McDougal was in perfect position for the rebound, and took advantage, promptly knocking her shot in before she was immediately mobbed by her teammates.

“Tori reversed it and I just finished it off,” McDougal said. “It went straight into the corner (of the cage), I almost missed it… I was just locked in. Look at the ball, connect with the ball (for the shot).”

“That reverse was going right to (McDougal),” Tibbetts said. “She better have been ready to smack it in that corner, and she did.”

Hall-Dale took two leads during regulation which were answered back with goals from St. Dom’s. Sidney Keleher put Hall-Dale up 1-0 midway through the second quarter. The Saints responded a minute later with a goal from Madeline Andrews.

Tibbetts then scored on a rebound with 1:07 left in the second quarter to give Hall-Dale a 2-1 lead at halftime. The Bulldogs kept the lead through most of the third quarter, but St. Dom’s was awarded a penalty corner as time expired in the period. The Saints took advantage, as Emily Andrews slipped a shot past Hall-Dale goalie Jade Graham to tie the game 2-2.

The win continues a strong turnaround for the Bulldogs, who reached the semifinals last year despite barely having enough players to field a full roster, before being knocked out by Winthrop.

“We’ve come such a long way,” said an emotional Tibbetts. “We work so hard in practice. We’ve come from the no-sub (days). It’s great to know there’s three subs on the bench (now) who may not get a lot of minutes, but if they get those minutes, they’re going to put everything they can into it.”

“It’s kind of surreal,” Hall-Dale head coach Amber Estes said. “The emotions are all over the place. It’s hard to put into words.”

Winthrop (16-0-0) beat Hall-Dale 4-0 in the season opener on Sept. 6. But Hall-Dale gave the Ramblers a better game in the Mountain Valley Conference championship on Oct. 23, a game Winthrop won 1-0.

The Bulldogs are ready for the rematch.

“When we played Winthrop in that MVC game, that was the turning point for us,” Estes said. “I think the girls realized, ‘OK, we got this.’ They have confidence in themselves and their team. I’ve never seen this team play as well as they did in that MVC game… I know some of the Winthrop girls were here watching (Saturday). Hey, keep watching. We’re coming.”