SKOWHEGAN -- Skowhegan coach Paula Doughty wanted to use senior sweeper Melissa Hancock on penalty corners in Wednesday afternoon's Eastern A field hockey final. But Doughty had one condition.

"She loves to diddle with it, play with it," Doughty said. "I told her, 'I'll leave you there, as long as you shoot. When you start diddling around and doing your little passes and being fancy, you're going back.' "

When Hancock got the chance on Wednesday, she delivered. Hancock scored two goals off penalty corners in the first 71/2 minutes, and Sam Gifford added two late goals as Skowhegan won its seventh straight regional title with a 4-1 win.

The Indians (16-1), who have won the last six Class A state championships, move on to the state championship game at 10 a.m. Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland. This run was not quite the foregone conclusion of some Skowhegan teams, as the Indians returned only four starters from last year's team.

"We're all very dedicated, and we get along great," Gifford said. "It makes it easy, when we all get along good, to work hard together."

The final score is more than a little misleading, as the game was in serious doubt until Gifford scored her first goal with 9 minutes, 13 seconds to play. The Indians had edges of just 13-11 on shots and 8-7 on penalty corners.

Skowhegan scored an amazing four goals on those eight corners, and that was what won the game for the Indians. Just 4:15 into the game, Hancock let loose on a corner shot and nailed a drive inside the left post. Just 2:15 later, she did the same thing on another corner to make it 2-0 Indians.

"Actually, our corners haven't been really going that great lately, so I kind of got reamed out in practice a couple times," Hancock said. "I figured I'd better put some in."

With 521/2 minutes still to play, Gardiner set about attacking a defense that had allowed only two goals all season. The Tigers knocked on the door for several minutes, finally breaking through when Kristyn Seymour pushed one over the line after a long scramble with 5:38 left in the half.

"I think any team could have folded against Skowhegan, but I was real proud of the way the kids came back," Gardiner coach Moe McNally said. "We were right in that ballgame."

Doughty thought that Seymour's goal was the turning point because it served as a wake-up call for the Indians. After the break, Skowhegan outshot the Tigers 8-1. While Gardiner had numerous opportunities between midfield and Skowhegan's 25-yard line, the Tigers couldn't push through and put enough pressure on the Indians inside the circle.

Gifford made it 3-1 when she set up on the left post and deflected in a goal despite being well-covered on the play.

With 2:11 left, Gifford turned her stick the right away again and redirected a shot by Kylie Damon.

The game marked the fourth time in the last five years that Gardiner has lost to Skowhegan in the regional final. In some of those years, the Tigers were probably the second-best team in the state, and that could very well turn out to be the case again this season.

"This whole team set a goal at the end of last season that they were going to some things in the offseason to get here," McNally said. "Every single one of them came through. You set that goal, but you can't take away from where they've been and what they've done.

"This is a tremendous season -- one of the best seasons I've ever had with Gardiner field hockey."

Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com