Cheverus girls beat Gorham, return to state final

PORTLAND—Undeniable and nearly unbeatable, Cheverus’ girls’ hockey team is now just 45 minutes from a repeat state championship.

Wednesday evening at Troubh Ice Arena, the top-ranked Stags got tested by the second-ranked Gorham co-op team and couldn’t get its high-scoring offense in gear in the first period, but you can only hold this team at bay for so long.

Senior standout Mikayla Talbot put Cheverus on top to stay at 3:42 of the second period and junior goal scoring machine Lucy Johnson doubled the lead at 9:24.

The Rams, who fought hard throughout, then made things interesting when senior standout Emerson Homa scored on the power play at 10:58, but just over two minutes later, Johnson restored a two-goal lead and it was 3-1 heading to the third period.

There, the Stags put it away, as freshman Caroline Rousseau and Talbot scored three minutes apart and after Homa scored one final time for Gorham, Johnson completed her hat trick to slam the door on a 6-2 victory.

Cheverus improved to 17-1, ended Gorham’s season at 14-7 and in the process, set up a second consecutive state game showdown versus Yarmouth/Freeport (17-4) Saturday at 6:10 p.m., at the Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn.

“This is always special,” said Stags coach Scott Rousseau. “It’s hard to win games. Gorham’s a really good team and Mary (Vaughn) is a great coach. She had a lot of wrinkles to throw at us and it bottled us up for a period. Luckily, we have mature kids who could make some adjustments. They responded really well and showed a lot of composure.”

Undaunted

Cheverus was the state’s best team a year ago, edging Yarmouth/Freeport, 3-2, in a memorable final.

The Stags entered the 2023-24 campaign as the favorite and passed every test but one (see sidebar for links to previous stories) and also played some strong out-of-state teams in exhibition games to be even more battle tested for the playoffs.

As the top seed in the South Region, Cheverus earned a bye into Saturday’s semifinals, where it handled No. 4 Falmouth/Scarborough, 8-2, to advance.

“We had to work hard to get here,” said senior captain Lily Johnson, a top defender for the Stags and Lucy Johnson’s older sister. “There was some pressure on us, but we came in super-confident.”

Gorham, which lost to Cheverus in last year’s regional final, won 12 of 18 regular season games, capturing four in a row in one stretch and three straight on a couple of occasions.

As the No. 2 seed in the region, the Rams, who also feature players from Bonny Eagle, Fryeburg Academy, Lake Region, Massabesic and Westbrook, ousted No. 7 Greely (8-0) in the quarterfinals and downed the Portland/South Portland/Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete Beacons in the semifinals, 5-2.

The Stags won both regular season meetings this winter, 7-0 Dec. 20 in Gorham and 3-0 Feb. 1 at home. In the first encounter, Lucy Johnson scored three goals, Talbot added two and Caroline Rousseau finished with four assists. In the second contest, Johnson, Talbot and sophomore Ashley Cloutier all scored, while senior goalie Ella Lemieux shut the Rams out for the second time.

Cheverus had also beaten Gorham in each of the past two postseasons (see sidebar).

Wednesday, the Rams managed to fluster the Stags for stretches, but their top scorers eventuall found the mark and propelled the team within one victory of the pinnacle.

Cheverus had some great looks in the first period, but Gorham junior goalie Emily Beal denied shots from senior Maddie Doherty, Lucy Johnson, senior Brynn McKenney and sophomore Briella Doherty.

The Rams had chances to get the all-important first goal as well, but Homa missed just wide on a rush, Homa had a shot saved by Lemieux, then Lemieux turned away a shot from freshman Azalea Grant with her pad.

The Stags had a 7-4 edge in shots on goal, but after 15 minutes, had nothing to show for it.

“When you’re supposed to win and it’s 0-0 after one, there’s pressure,” Scott Rousseau said.

And then, Cheverus came to life in the second period.

After Beal twice robbed Lucy Johnson on the doorstep, the Stags got the jump at 3:42, as Beal saved a shot from Rousseau, but the rebound sat free just in front of the goal line and Talbot banged it home for a 1-0 advantage.

“(Gorham) definitely came out with a lot of fire and we just had to get the puck moving and get in the groove,” Talbot said. “In practice this week, we worked on crashing the net.”

“We had to crash for rebounds,” said Scott Rousseau. “We weren’t going to get through in transition. We had get pucks on goal. We had to get to the net. Ugly goals count too.”

After Homa had a bid to tie the score denied by Lemieux, the Stags went on the power play at 8:44 and 40 seconds later, Johnson doubled the lead, converting a rebound off a shot from Talbot (McKenney also was credited with an assist).

“It was definitely important to crash the net,” Johnson said. “We couldn’t rush. All the credit goes to my teammates because they worked hard to create pressure.”

But just when it appeared Cheverus was primed to pull away, junior Zoey Radford was sent to the penalty box and Gorham cashed in.

At 10:58, Homa got the puck from sophomore Carlin Galligan and finished on the doorstep to cut the deficit in half.

Homa then nearly tied the score off the subsequent faceoff, but Lemieux got a piece of the shot, then cleared the rebound just before Galligan got to the puck.

Then, at 13:06, the Stags went back in front by two goals, as again Johnson did the honors, this time from McKenney and Caroline Rousseau, as Beal got a piece of the shot but couldn’t keep it out of the goal.

“We took a bad penalty when we could have blown the game open there, then, we steadied ourselves and got that third goal at the end of the period,” Rousseau said. “That’s what we do.”

Cheverus then went on the power play with 25 seconds to go in the second period, but couldn’t score and carried over the power play to the third period.

The Stags couldn’t add to the lead, as Beal stopped a shot from Talbot, denied Johnson on the rebound, then McKenney was thwarted as well.

Finally, with 11:30 to go, Rousseau opened it up, as she got the puck from McKenney, skated around the goal, then fired a blast that Beal couldn’t stop, making it 4-1.

At 6:41, Talbot then scored through traffic (from Rousseau) to essentially salt away the victory.

Homa kept faint hope alive with a goal at 10:26 (from Grant and sophomore Marissa Payne), but 57 seconds later, Talbot set up Johnson for her third goal.

“I didn’t expect it, but it was a good feeling to get a third goal,” said Johnson. “It was in the back of my mind.”

After Lemieux saved late shots from Homa and sophomore Natalie Wilkins, the final horn sounded at 7:04 p.m., allowing the Stags to celebrate their 6-2 victory.

“It’s a great feeling,” Lucy Johnson said. “I was a little nervous before this game. It’s been tough this year, but we took it one game at a time. It was good to have some close games.”

“It feels awesome,” said Lily Johnson. “We practiced really well all week and that really prepared us.

“It was a battle,” Talbot said. “We’ve had a lot of big games. We get everyone’s best game, but in the long run that makes us better.”

“We’re really lucky,” added Scott Rousseau. “We have some really talented, mature players who have won multiple state championships.”

Cheverus finished with a 26-20 advantage in shots, went 1-for-2 on the power play and got 18 saves from Lemieux.

“We did a really good job defensively today as a unit,” Lily Johnson said.

“The defense is amazing and Ella is the best goalie in the state,” said Lucy Johnson.

Beal made 20 saves for the Rams, who converted their lone power play opportunity.

Here we go again

It’s no surprise that Cheverus will face Yarmouth/Freeport in the state final and the game appears to be a coin flip on paper.

That’s because the teams split this year, each winning at home. Cheverus prevailed, 3-0, Dec. 9 and Yarmouth/Freeport returned the favor Jan. 12, 2-1.

Last year’s state game showdown was the lone prior playoff meeting between the teams.

The Stags expect a battle and they also expect to end up celebrating another title.

“Obviously, a win would be great, but it will be special,” said Lily Johnson, who will play in her final high school ice hockey game before playing field hockey next year at Boston University. “We just have to stay focused and play our game. WWe’re super-excited and super-ready for Saturday.”

“We’ll take this game very seriously,” said Lucy Johnson. “They’ll be a good test for us again. Losing to them in the regular season was a good thing because we have the experience of how they play when we lose and when we win. I would love to win it again with Lily.”

“It’s definitely exciting and it’s going to be a challenge,” said Talbot. “We just have to keep working as a team, moving the puck and having faith in ourselves and we’ll have a good chance.”

“You have to beat us, we don’t beat ourselves,” Scott Rousseau added. “Lily Johnson is going to be cool. Brynn is going to be cool. I expect Saturday to be an amazing environment and an amazing hockey game. We just have to play our best fundamental hockey.”