St. Mary's Academy's Stephanie Guglielmo was just looking for an opening Wednesday in the Wildcats' state semifinal field hockey game against top-ranked Smoky Hill.

And with 3:13 to play in overtime, she fired the ball home for the winner in a 2-1 victory against the Buffaloes at Denver's All City Stadium.

Guglielmo received an assist from Ellen Hackstaff after a flurry of action in front of the Smoky Hill goal. With it, Buffs goalie Lindsay Hinton was caught too far out in front to make a save.

But the first overtime in field hockey is not sudden death, and St. Mary's still had to hold off a flurry from the Buffs at their end of the field before claiming the win.

The Wildcats advance to Monday's championship game, their 11th appearance in a title contest, with a 12-4-1 record. Smoky Hill's season ends at 15-2-1.

"I just wanted to do it for the team and to do it for Annie Scott, who got hurt," Guglielmo said. "I was just trying to go to the corner on the shot. I got the ball from Ellen, there was an opening and I went for it. This is great. Hopefully, we will get No. 1. We played hard and it came from the gut."

Smoky Hill's Natalie Foester scored the first goal with 7:54 to play in the first half on an assist from Shelby Stillwagon. But St. Mary's tied the score on a penalty-stroke shot by Hackstaff with 10:09 left in the second half.

"I was so nervous on the stroke shot," Hackstaff said. "We practice these so much, and I knew I had to get it in. I was listening to my coach in the back of my mind, and I got it."

St. Mary's had an opportunity with 19:33 left in the second half to tie the game, but the penalty stroke by Natalie's twin sister, Ellen, was stopped by Smoky Hill goalie Lindsay Hinton.

Scott was injured in the first half when she was hit in the cheek by a hard shot from a Smoky Hill player. She was out for the rest of the game and will have stitches in her cheek.

"This win is thrilling, to say the least," St. Mary's coach Marcene Murphy said. "We have had an up-and-down season, with injuries, mono and other things. But we have been talking about state nonetheless. The girls played great."

Smoky Hill coach Brad Bryant said he didn't see what occurred that caused the tying stroke shot.

"We had a bad angle, but the ref said we were back tackling and we've got to trust them," Bryant said. "It is a heartbreaking way to lose. The girls played tremendous. We missed Kellen (Morrissey) today, our leading goal scorer, as she had a red card in our previous game."

St. Mary's Academy0 1 1 - 2

Smoky Hill1 0 0 - 1

First half - SH, Natalie Foester, 7:54 (Shelby Stillwagon).

Second half - SMA, Natalie Hackstaff, penalty stroke, 10:09.

Overtime - SMA, Stephanie Guglielmo, 3:13 (Ellen Hackstaff).