CHAPEL HILL - The Wildcats of East Chapel Hill staked their claim to the top of field hockey's pecking order last week with a 3-2 overtime victory over Carrboro.

East Chapel Hill head coach Susan Taylor was pleased, not only with the win that avenged a loss less than a week before at Carrboro High School, but also with the way her Wildcats got it done.

"This is the first time we've ever had a win coming from behind," Taylor noted.

The win was a confidence booster for the Wildcats, the three-time defending state champions who found their confidence a bit shaken, Taylor said, after the 1-0 loss at Carrboro. East Chapel Hill senior co-captain Julie Canon said the Wildcat players held an impromptu team meeting the day after the loss, seeking a way to get back on track.

"We kind of bonded together as a team after that," Canon said. "We may be the three-time state champion, but this was still a big reality check for us. Carrboro is a great, great team. This win means a lot to us."

The prospects of an East Chapel Hill win looked bleak after one half last Tuesday at Wildcat Stadium. Carrboro's Neela Mahanty got off a good shot within the first 60 seconds -- saved by East's starting goalkeeper, Katie Watts -- and then the Jaguars scored 3:21 into the contest on a goal by Katie Wilson as she deflected in a shot from the wing by Maddie Smith.

Carrboro scored again with 6:15 left in the first half on one of its first two penalty corners; Smith sent the ball from the endline to Mahanty at the top of the circle, and Mahanty side-stepped one on-rushing defender before slapping a hard shot from inside the arc for a 2-0 Jaguar lead.

East Chapel Hill (10-2) kept pressure on Carrboro (10-3) continually in the second half. East's Sydney Holman got off a shot in the first minute after halftime and the Wildcats followed that with a succession of penalty corners; the sixth resulted in the 'Cats first score. Margo Richardson got East's first goal off a rebound of a Canon shot, making the score 2-1 with 18:55 to play.

The Wildcats tied the game 6:20 later, as Calleigh Reardon fed a long pass from midfield to the fast-breaking Canon, who played it forward. Marissa Creatore got the ball one-on-one with the goalie and scored from almost point-blank range.

East dominated the last 10 minutes of regulation and the first 10-minute, sudden-death overtime but could not get the go-ahead goal. One apparent score in OT by Canon was waved off for an infraction in the circle, and another of her shots sailed just wide of the goal mouth.

The 'Cats finally scored again 4:05 into the second OT, when Canon centered the ball to Rebecca Halter, who fired in the game-winning goal as Carrboro's goalkeeper came off line to challenge.

Needing two overtimes to win was something that just told the Wildcats what they already knew after their team meeting, Canon said.

"We know we're not unbeatable. We know we're not unstoppable," Canon said. "We know we'll have to play our best in every game if we're going to win another state championship."