The rematch of last year’s D2 field hockey state championship game was a battle to the end Wednesday night when Chelsea and Dexter finished in a 2-2 draw. 

The longtime rivals met for the first time since Dexter took down the Bulldogs 3-0 in the state finals last year for the Dreadnaughts second straight state title.  

The game was scoreless until the final seconds of the first period when Allie St Amour ripped a shot into the net just before time ran out in the period for a 1-0 Dexter lead. 

Chelsea did not wait long to even things up when the Bulldogs took the opening draw and moved down field and centered a pass to Hayley Hopkins who knocked it home just 20 seconds into the second period to tie the game at 1-1. 

The Bulldogs took the lead later in the period on a corner. After a couple of passes, the ball made its way to the stick of Azlyn Eckert who knocked it into the net to put Chelsea up 2-1. 

Dexter evened it at two when Claire Dubuque stole a clearing pass in front of the Chelsea net and drove in on goal. Her shot was partially blocked, but it trickled just inside the net for a goal to tie it at two. 

The defenses dominated from there with neither team finding the net the rest of the way and the game finishing tied 2-2. 

Chelsea improved to 3-0-1 on the season and Dexter saw its record move to 2-0-1. 

Photos by Dawn McCann