GORHAM—Taking care of business.

Like a champion.

That’s the best way to describe the performance of Cheverus’ juggernaut field hockey team Tuesday afternoon in a Class A South semifinal at Hannaford Field on the campus of the University of Southern Maine.

The Stags, the reigning regional champions and top seed, shut No. 4 Scarborough down for 60 minutes, not allowing a single shot on goal, while doing plenty of cage rattling themselves.

Junior Zoey Radford put Cheverus on top to stay less than five minutes in, but Red Storm senior goalie Jamila Mohamed kept her team close.

Radford added a second goal early in the second period, but the Stags weren’t able to put the game away before the half.

Cheverus’ lead was just two with time winding down in the third quarter before freshman Caroline Rousseau scored with 43 seconds left to provide some breathing room.

The Stags then left no doubt in the fourth period, getting a second goal from Rousseau, a third from Radford and two more from junior standout Lucy Johnson to close out an emphatic 7-0 victory.

Cheverus improved to 16-0, ended Scarborough’s season at 9-7 and in the process, advanced to take on Biddeford (12-4) in the Class A South Final Thursday at Fryeburg Academy at a time to be announced.

“Every girl contributed today, which is exactly what you want, especially at this point of the season against great teams,” said Stags coach Theresa Arsenault. “They worked together and made good things happen.”

Plenty of history

For the past 15 years, Cheverus and Scarborough have pretty much cornered the market on dominance in Class A South (formerly Western A) and playoff showdowns have been frequent.

This season, the Stags have lived up to billing as the team to beat in the region. The reigning Class A South champions beat their 14 regular season foes by a composite 84-3 margin (see sidebar for links to previous stories) and came alive in the second half to oust No. 8 Massabesic in last week’s quarterfinal round tilt, 3-0, in a game in which Johnson scored her state record 112th career goal.

The Red Storm, meanwhile, were up and down, starting the year 3-1, losing five out of six, then closing on a four-game surge. Last Wednesday in the quarterfinals, Scarborough survived No. 5 Falmouth in overtime, 2-1, on senior Maggie Pendergast’s penalty stroke.

On Sept. 11, Cheverus rolled at Scarborough, 7-1, behind two goals apiece from freshman Sydney Brunelle, senior Lily Johnson and Lucy Johnson.

Entering play Tuesday, the Red Storm had won three of five prior playoff encounters (see sidebar), but the Stags took the most recent, a 2-1 decision in the 2021 regional final.

With Cheverus’ field unplayable due to Monday’s rain, the contest was moved to the turf field at the University of Southern Maine.

“We practiced on turf yesterday, so it was kind of meant to be,” Radford said.

“It’s super-fun to play here,” Arsenault said. “Scarborough’s a turf team and that’s something we thought about. Being on campus right after school would have brought a lot of fans, but the girls love to play on turf. We played at St. Joe’s this year and to play at USM was really fun.”

It took awhile, but the Stags would gradually pull away.

A little over a minute in, Lucy Johnson nearly gave Cheverus a quick lead, as she eluded the defense and Mohamed, but her shot sailed a fraction too high and hit the crossbar.

Mohamed then dove to rob Johnson on a backhand, Lily Johnson had a shot blocked off a penalty corner, then Lucy Johnson had two more shots denied with Radford also getting stopped on a defensive save from Scarborough junior Ava Eccles.

But with 10:48 remaining in the first quarter, Radford broke the ice, redirecting a pass from Lucy Johnson past Mohamed for a 1-0 advantage.

“A fast start was super-important because Scarborough’s a really strong team,” said Radford.

The Red Storm’s best chance in the first quarter came late off a penalty corner, but dangerous senior Caroline Hartley couldn’t get a shot off due to a nice defensive play from Lucy Johnson.

The second period was more of the same.

With 11:37 to go, off a corner, Radford made it 2-0, with junior Lillian Magda getting the assist.

“I think it gets in the other team’s heads if we score a couple of early goals,” Rousseau said. “That was really good for us.”

The rest of the half saw Mohamed frustrate the Stags, denying Magda off a corner, saving a rebound bid from Brunelle and robbing junior Sophia St. John in front.

Scarborough tried to answer, but senior captain Taylor Krieger broke up a rush from senior Emma Lally and Cheverus sophomore Anna Kennedy-Jensen cleared a loose ball from the circle.

The Stags earned a corner as time expired, but couldn’t score and the game remained 2-0 at the break.

For much of the third quarter, Cheverus couldn’t add to its lead, as Mohamed denied senior captain Mackenzie Cash, Rousseau missed just wide and Mohamed robbed Lily Johnson on a corner while lying on the ground.

After Lily Johnson single-handedly broke up a Red Storm corner, the Stags made it 3-0 with 43 seconds remaining, as Rousseau rebounded a shot from sophomore Joey Pompeo off a corner.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” said Rousseau. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a couple years now. It’s really fun to be on the team with all my friends.”

Cheverus broke the game open for good in the final stanza.

After Lucy Johnson had a couple shots saved by Mohamed, then missed wide, she scored the 113th goal of her illustrious career with 9:32 on the clock, taking a pass from Pompeo, eluding a defender to her right, then firing the ball into the cage.

After Lily Johnson twice broke up Scarborough corners, Rousseau got her second goal, off a rebound of a shot from senior Mikayla Talbot with 6:39 to go.

“That was honestly all my teammates’ hard work,” Rousseau said. “Mikayla kept that one in and if she didn’t, I wouldn’t have had that goal.”

Down the stretch, Lily Johnson set up Radford for her third goal with 4:40 to play, as Johnson’s cross found Radford all alone at the far post, and with 2:38 remaining, Lucy Johnson flicked a high shot into the net to bring the curtain down on the Stags’ 7-0 victory.

“Everyone was working hard,” said Radford. “It’s not a one-person show.”

“The girls are just continuing to be coachable,” said Arsenault. “Everything we do in practice, they showed today and at this point of the season, that’s all we can ask. We keep getting better together.”

Cheverus put 24 shots on cage and had a 10-4 advantage in penalty corners.

Scarborough got 17 shots from Mohamed, but couldn’t put a shot on cage as it’s run came to a close.

“We can last for so long, but their skill offsets ours and it showed after awhile,” said longtime Red Storm coach Kerry Mariello. “Our inexperience was exposed again. We hung tough. We had nothing to lose and we gave it everything we’ve got. It would have been a fairy tale ending to beat them, but the reality is that Cheverus is a darn good team and they deserve to be where they’re at.

“The score wasn’t an indication of how our season was. I thought we became the best version of ourselves. I think we exceeded a lot of what I expected and what the league expected of us. I hope the girls loved being part of a team and learned the lessons they needed to learn along the way. These girls gave me everything they had every minute of every day and that’s all you can ask for as a coach. They dug deep.”

Scarborough loses some key contributors, but this year’s experience should serve it well going forward.

“We graduate five, but the team’s future is very promising,” said Mariello.

Thursday thriller

Cheverus blanked host Biddeford, 6-0, back on Sept. 30.

The Stags and Tigers have no playoff history.

“We just need to keep working hard and play our game,” Radford said.

“We can’t be fazed by our opponents,” Rousseau said. “We just have to play to our level.”

“We’re just really talking at this point on focusing on ourselves and the little things that we’ve got to keep doing and one of those things is getting everybody involved,” Arsenault added. “This group is extra-special. I’m blessed for every day I get to be with them. I’m excited for Thursday.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. For game updates and links to game stories, follow him on Threads: @foresports2023

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