GORHAM — Throughout the course of a trying regular season, the Cheverus field hockey team learned to play under heavy pressure. That lesson paid off Tuesday afternoon.
Emily Michaud set up a goal in each half to lead No. 10-seed Cheverus to a 2-0 upset victory over No. 2 Gorham in a Western Class A quarterfinal.
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The game, played in a steady, driving rain, was moved from Gorham High’s grass field to the artificial surface of Hannaford Field on the campus of the University of Southern Maine.
The Stags (7-7-2), who beat Portland 5-1 in a prelim on Oct. 18, move on to a regional semifinal Saturday against No. 3 Marshwood (13-2) in South Berwick. The Hawks, who advanced with a 4-3 win over No. 6 Sanford, beat the visiting Stags 5-1 on Sept. 26. Gorham ends the season at 13-2.
After opening the season 5-0, Cheverus endured a nine-game winless streak comprised of seven losses and two ties. Five of those losses were by a goal, including a 1-0 setback against Gorham on Sept. 23.
“We’ve been under a lot of pressure all season,” said senior back Kelsey Masselli, who put the Stags up 1-0 with 19:13 left in the first half. “I think we realized when we’re down, we need to do whatever we can to light our fire and just fight back.”
That didn’t look likely as the Rams kept the Stags pinned in their end for the opening 10 minutes. Gorham’s Charlotte Smith, Mary Adams, Andrea Stemm and Anna Grant pressed hard but couldn’t beat Stags keeper Casey Simpson (14 saves).
With 24 minutes to play, Cheverus Coach Amy Ashley called a timeout.
“I told them it would be OK,” Ashley said. “If you’re not playing well and still tied 0-0 against a team like Gorham, then anything can happen.”
Anything, including Masselli scoring on the Stags’ first penalty corner – and their first foray into the Gorham half of the field.
“We’ve been practicing new corner formations,” Masselli said. “I play defense so I was pretty shocked to be placed on post.”
The Rams held a 25-17 edge in shots. The teams were tied on shots on goal (14) and penalty corners (8).
Becca Archer iced the game with 6:44 to play, collecting Michaud’s long drive at the goal crease and slipping it past Megan Baker (12 saves).
“Any given day, it could be your day,” Ashley said. “Coming off our performance against Portland, we knew we had a really good shot today. When we felt we were close, we gave a little bit more.”
The result was a shock to Gorham, which had not lost since Sept. 23. After the final whistle Tuesday, the Rams huddled in the rain for several long minutes.
“One team won, one team lost. That was it,” Gorham Coach Becky Manson-Rioux said.
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