They’ve been the state’s juggernaut for three years, with three championship game appearances, two state titles, and only one loss in that stretch.

It’s a time of transition, though, for the Cheverus field hockey team as it looks to continue that run.

There’s a new coach running the show. The player who was the backbone of those championship teams is gone. The defending Class A champions are plenty stocked for another run, but as the first practices kick off the season this week there’s a sense of new that hasn’t been there in recent years.

“Everyone is definitely out to play us, always,” senior forward Lucy Johnson said. “But I definitely think no one’s really going to expect our new team this year. … We have new players, and (those) players have been working really hard over the past year at developing new skills and gotten a lot better.”

Freeport players sprint on the field to celebrate the Falcons’ first state title with a 2-0 win over Cony on Nov. 4, 2023. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

It’s a different story 15 miles north, where southern Maine’s other state champion, Freeport, got going with as much continuity as a team could hope for. All but two players are back for a team coming off two straight trips to the Class B final, and the first title in program history last season.

“I said to them, I’m usually not a big fan of preseason day one, because it’s the end of the summer and blah, blah, blah. But this year, I’m really looking forward to it,” Coach Marcia Wood said. “(I said) ‘I missed you guys,’ they played so well in summer, I can’t wait to see what (they) do. … I was more excited and jacked up for this season.”

Excitement was high as well at Cheverus, where the Stags – with players like Johnson, the state’s all-time leading scorer, midfielder Joey Pompeo, forwards Zoey Radford and Sydney Brunelle and junior goalie Ellie Skolnekovich back – plan to be the same formidable team they have been.

“We have that state championship from last year on our backs, and we’ve been a great team for the last three or four years,” Johnson said. “I think that we’ll set expectations for ourselves, new expectations, but I definitely think we’re going to be the same team we’ve been mentally.”

But as the fall arrives, there are winds of change. Theresa Arsenault is out as coach after taking the head job at St. Joseph’s College, and Andrea Musante, a former assistant, is in. Midfielder Lily Johnson, the Miss Maine Field Hockey winner a season ago, isn’t around to both anchor the Stags’ defense and spearhead their transition.

“It’s different without Lily here, she was a huge aspect of the team,” said Pompeo, a junior. “We have a lot of new, good players. It’s just putting the pieces together. … We’re going to keep figuring it out.”

Pompeo, though, said “vibes are high,” and a reason for that was the picking of Musante to take over. Musante has been on field hockey sidelines as an assistant since 2008, and built a rapport with Cheverus juniors and seniors by coaching them in 2021 and ’22.

“There’s a lot of anticipation building up to the season, and it’s just fun to get the girls back together,” Musante said. “I think we have a really unique situation here at Cheverus, where the girls don’t all live in the same town. There’s no feeder program. For them to reunite with each other and catch up is probably the most exciting part for me.”

That bonding element worked itself into the early practices. In addition to drills and scrimmages, Cheverus players also took part in orientation exercises, even playing a “would you rather” game to build camaraderie.

“We focus just as much on team chemistry and team bonding as we do the physical aspect,” Musante said. “I’ve found that that has produced some really great results. If the girls are bonded, if they know each other really well off the field, then they’re going to play even better on the field.”

Cheverus senior Lucy Johnson takes a shot during a scrimmage Tuesday. Johnson scored 41 goals as a junior and has a career total of 118, the highest in state history. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

There’s no need at Freeport. With so many players back, the Falcons all know each other, and more importantly, know how to play with each other.

“We don’t have to spend a lot of time going over things. We could just start where we left off, and up our game even more,” Wood said. “I don’t have to spend all this time going over how to play defense, how to play this, how to play that. We jumped right into it (Monday) and (Tuesday) and started playing.”

All of the key contributors from last year’s team are back, so Wood had a message for her players as school finished in June: If you want to play, you’ll have to beat out good players.

“I scared them,” she said. “I put up tick marks of all the starters from the (final) last year, and I put tick marks for the subs. I was like ‘I technically have a team.’ … I made it sound like, just because you were on varsity last year, doesn’t mean you’re going to be on it this year.”

The result is practices that have been competitive and intense.

“You can tell a lot of the freshmen and sophomores and people who were on JV last year are really stepping up,” junior forward Emily Groves said. “That’s something that’s been preached a lot. You have to work really hard, because it’s very competitive.”

That’s only one motivation. Defending a state title, and weathering the attempts of opponents to take them down, provides another.

“It’s brought a lot more intensity to our practices, what we’re doing and how we’re thinking about the whole season,” junior midfielder Lizalyn Boudreau said. “It’s even more intense this year, just because we know we can actually do it this year. … We might have a target on our backs a bit, but I think we’re ready for it.”