WATERBORO — In what could be a preview of the Class A South field hockey finals, the Scarborough Red Storm and Massabesic Mustangs put on a show Wednesday night as the two powerhouses went back-and-forth in the steady rain in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd in Waterboro.

In the end it would be the visiting Red Storm picking up a hard-fought 4-3 victory over the Mustangs.

“It was a heavyweight fight. It was literally a heavyweight fight. One would punch, the other one would duck, come back with a punch … it was crazy,” said Massabesic coach Michele Martin-Moore of the showdown.

Scarborough connected with the first punch of the game when Cat Taylor scored just over four minutes into the contest.

Massabesic’s counter-punch came from Emma Rutledge who scored with 15:07 left in the opening period to make it 1-1.

The Mustangs took their first lead with 9:12 remaining in the half when Camryn Champlin beat the Scarborough goalie to make it 2-1.

The Red Storm came storming back with 5:20 left in the period as Hannah Dobecki rattled the back of the cage to make it 2-2.

Rutledge responded for the Mustangs as the senior scored a goal off a penalty corner with 2:42 left in the half to give the home squad a 3-2 lead.

The Red Storm had a chance to tie the game heading into halftime when they were awarded a penalty shot, but Massabesic goalie Mady Pomerleau stood strong and the shot would clank off the left post with 11 seconds left.

“Mady P. is big. She’s little, have you seen her, she’s that big around, but she comes up big in big moments, she really does,” said Martin-Moore of her goalie.

It would be all Scarborough in the second half — and the Red Storm didn’t wait too long to tie the game.

Lauren Topchik scored on a breakaway just 56 seconds into the second period to make it a 3-3 game.

The Red Storm regained the lead when Julia Booth-Howe scored with 14:38 off a penalty corner to make it 4-3.

Massabesic had a couple chances in the final minute of the game, but Scarborough was able to hang on for the victory.

“I told my girls, we just ran out of time. If we had another minute or so,” said Martin-Moore. “That was a great game. Both teams played their hearts out, played hard, I mean what more could you ask for.”

Scarborough coach Kerry Mariello was thrilled to walk out of Waterboro with a win.

“Excellent game. I knew it was going to be a back-and-forth type of battle. For us to come out on the winning side of things is a great confidence boost going into the playoffs,” Mariello said.

While it was a big win for the Red Storm, it was also a milestone victory for the Scarborough coach, who won her 200th career game.

“I mean what better way to get it with this group of girls at this facility with the top two teams battling it out and having as close of a game as you could imagine,” said Mariello.

Despite the loss, Massabesic (12-2) will head into the postseason with the top seed in the Class A South playoffs. Scarborough will be the second seed with a record of 13-1, while Cheverus is in third place and Biddeford is the fourth seed.

With these two teams on opposite sides of the playoff bracket, another showdown like fans got to witness on Wednesday evening could come in a couple weeks.

— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at [email protected] or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.