LAWRENCE – Longtime Winchester field hockey head coach Michelle White focuses on the matchup, not on seeds.

With a 3-2 upset win over sixth-seeded Central Catholic in the Div. 1 state tournament second round Tuesday night, the No. 11 Red and Black (14-6) backed White’s belief this is the division’s most wide-open title race in recent history, too.

All three of Winchester’s goals came from different players in the first quarter, pairing with a standout defensive performance to shut out the Raiders (16-3-1) in the second half despite a relentless rally attempt.

The Red and Black advance to the Div. 1 state quarterfinals for a third time in four years. They await Wednesday’s winner between No. 3 Algonquin and No. 14 Concord-Carlisle.

“I feel great about it,” White said. “I’m not surprised, and I don’t mean that like we came in this cocky or anything like that. I knew it was going to be a great game. … This is a weird year, where I would say anything can happen with the top-12.”

“We just (knew) coming into it our warmup needs to start strong,” added sophomore defender Addison Aufiero, who impressed all game. “Our first quarter, we need to come out intense, hot. And I think we did that. And I think that we maintained it throughout the game … just keeping our energy high, wishing the best.”

Central Catholic showed its offensive firepower early, building a 1-0 lead in the game’s opening two minutes with one of All-Scholastic senior Kerri Finneran’s two goals on the night.

It didn’t take long for Winchester to respond, though, evening the score on a goal from fellow star senior Julia Legere midway through the frame. Junior Sam Gal gave the Red and Black the lead with 4:39 left in the first on a penalty stroke, and junior Julia Fredey finished off the 3-1 advantage two minutes later to wrap up all the scoring they needed.

“A few things, here or there, one way or another, was going to make the difference,” White said. “We gave up a goal two minutes into the game and we came right back from that. I think that was probably the difference; is being able to bounce back right away and then keep pushing.”

As Winchester struggled to generate more activity on net until the fourth quarter, the defense played tough to maintain the lead.

Central Catholic got one of the goals back in the first couple minutes of the second quarter when Finneran blasted a goal on a penalty corner. But for as many times as Finneran, Caitlin Milner and Franchesca Thurston helped create opportunities on the offensive end for the Raiders afterward, Aufiero, Madelyn Rabinovich, Madison Von Mering, Gal and Stella DeCristoforo anchored the Red and Black in limiting shots on goal.

Aufiero stood out in particular, disrupting three corners in the third quarter, and clearing a bevy of dangerous opportunities after Finneran and others sometimes weaved through the defensive layers in front of her.

Goalie Isabella Bogovich took care of the rest with four saves in the second half, including a highlight-reel save with 4:22 left on a shot Finneran belted at her chest high.

“We just all went to ball when we needed to,” Aufiero said. “We kept high pressure on (Finneran) at all times. We doubled when we needed to. We just tried to tackle outside of the circle, outside of the 25, and I think we did a good job of adjusting to that when we needed to without letting her into the circle because their corners were very strong.”

“The ability to make adjustments with what (Central Catholic) had and what they were giving us, I think, was a big deal,” White added. “What a great game.”

Winchester controlled much of the fourth quarter to ice the game, out-shooting the Raiders, 4-1.