A perfect save followed by a perfect goal capped a perfect regular season for the Cheverus girls’ soccer team.
Highlighted by an early save from goalkeeper Neve Cawley and a goal from Riley O’Mara, the Stags shut out two-time Class A South champion Scarborough 1-0 Tuesday afternoon at Boulos Stadium.
Cheverus finished 14-0 for the first time in program history and will be the top seed for the upcoming playoffs.
“We never really focused on being undefeated, even coming into this game today,” said Stags Coach Craig Roberts. “It was more about focusing on the opponent in front of us.”
Scarborough had a golden opportunity to strike first. Just 51 seconds into the game, a feed from Ashley Sabatino to freshman phenom Ali Mokriski got through the Cheverus defense and allowed Mokriski to break free on goal, but Cawley came out and made a big save.
“I had to make sure I covered as much ground as I could, so I sprawled out and was able to deflect it,” Cawley said. “I just had to keep the ball out of the net. My adrenaline shot up. It was super-satisfying.”
Cheverus managed just one shot in the first half, but certainly made the most of it, as in transition, Mia Kratzer passed to O’Mara on her right. After taking a touch, O’Mara blasted a shot past Red Storm goalkeeper Nikki Young into the upper right corner of the net.
“That was a beautiful ball from Mia,” said O’Mara. “I made my run and she just passed it to me and I was just trying to shoot away from the middle. It felt good off my foot.”
Scarborough had its offensive chances, but Sarah Callahan missed just wide late in the first half and in the second half, Sabatino missed just high. Grace Pettingill sent a promising shot just over the crossbar and Sabatino sent another shot just wide of the mark.
“The girls are really happy about beating Scarborough because they’re well-coached and they have good players,” Roberts said. “You have to put forth a really strong effort to beat them and today, we did.”
Cheverus had a 4-3 edge in shots and got three saves from Cawley.
The Red Storm, who had a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks and got three saves from Young, suffered their second consecutive loss and finished the regular season 12-2.
“Good teams, if you make one mistake, they’ll bury a shot and that’s what (Cheverus) did,” said Scarborough Coach Mike Farley. “We just have to refocus and start over.
“I don’t suspect we’ll cry over spilled milk. We’ll get right after it. The next game will be hard. Anybody can beat anybody now. It’ll be a tough road.”
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