FALMOUTH—Look out, Scarborough, Gorham and Windham, two other Class A South teams are hot on your heels.
The Cheverus Stags and the Falmouth Navigators, who Thursday evening in Falmouth showed why they feel they’re ready to take the next step, even if they couldn’t produce any resolution in a compelling early-season showdown.
The Stags had several golden scoring opportunities in the first half, but couldn’t finish.
Then, with 14:28 left in regulation, the Navigators pounced, as senior captain Mackenzie VerLee buried a beautiful 35-yard free kick.
Cheverus refused to buckle, however, and five minutes later, off a corner kick, were able to answer, as senior captain Jillian Foley converted senior captain Sophia Monfa’s serve.
Neither team could score from there and the game ended, fittingly, in a 1-1 tie, and both squads are now 2-0-1 on the young season.
“I wish we’d finished a few opportunities in front of our net and I’m sure they would have loved the some thing,” said Falmouth coach Ben Johnson.
“We’ve talked about resilience,” Cheverus coach Craig Roberts said. “We’ve talked about there will be moments when things don’t go your way and how are you going to respond? Today I thought that was a really good response by us. Our body language was good. We played hard. It was encouraging to see us play with grit.”
Fit to be tied
While Class A South has long been the domain of two-time reigning state champion Scarborough, Gorham and Windham (one of the three has represented the region at states every year since 2010), Cheverus and Falmouth both believe they can break into that upper echelon this season.
The Stags, who reached the semifinals last season, losing to Scarborough, 2-0, to wind up 11-4-2, opened with a 5-1 victory at Marshwood and a 5-0 home win over Biddeford.
The Navigators, who went 10-4-2 in 2023, losing to Windham, 2-0, in the quarterfinals, shut out host Portland (4-0) and Deering (3-0) to begin the 2024 campaign.
The teams didn’t meet a year ago and have a relatively short history. The first meeting came in the playoffs a decade ago and the regular season series began in 2017.
Thursday, on a comfortable 68 degree evening, neither team could earn a victory.
In the game’s fifth minute, the Stags set the tone for the early action, as Monfa eluded a defender and fired a shot which Navigators senior goalkeeper Madison VerLee saved.
Seconds later, Monfa tried again on the run and VerLee had to tip the ball over the crossbar for a corner kick.
In the ninth minute, junior Rachel LaSalle sent a long free hit into the box which senior captain Finley Brown reached and poked just wide with her left foot.
After Foley was denied, senior captain Annie Vigue spun and shot, but VerLee stopped that shot as well.
Cheverus kept the pressure on and junior Alaina Holmes got the ball from Brown but missed just wide.
After Brown shot high, LaSalle sent a long free kick over the bar.
In the 29th minute, Falmouth got its first good look, as junior Afton Mick got the ball to senior captain Gwen Long, but Long was just off the mark.
After a long LaSalle free kick deflected to Vigue, who headed it just wide, the Stags got their best chance of the first half, as with 4:59 remaining, VerLee robbed Monfa on the doorstep and Holmes was poised to bury the rebound, but at the last moment, a defender cleared the ball off the line.
In the waning moments of the half, a LaSalle corner kick was saved by VerLee and Brown missed on the rebound and at the other end, Mackenzie VerLee sent a blast just wide to send the game to the break still scoreless.
After failing to put a single first half shot on frame, the Navigators tilted the field in the second half.
Three minutes in, Mackenzie VerLee launched a long shot which was saved by Stags senior goalkeeper Evelyn Rush.
After junior Ella Morse missed just wide, freshman Charlotte Talmadge shot on the run forcing Rush to make the save.
With 14:28 remaining, after a foul, Falmouth broke through.
Mackenzie VerLee lined up a free kick from 35 yards and struck the ball perfectly, lofting it over the outstretched hand of Rush and into the net.
“(Mackenzie’s) done that for us for two years and we’ll rely on her to do it again this year, every opportunity, everything within range of the net,” said Johnson.
The Stags were staggered, but refused to concede and roared right back.
With 9:40 to go, Cheverus earned a corner kick, Roberts told Monfa to take it and Monfa served the ball in front where Foley was somehow waiting untouched. Foley settled the ball, then beat Madison VerLee to the far corner to make it 1-1.
“It’s a play we work on in practice,” Foley said. “I just thought, ‘This is what I do in practice.’ I knew where she places it. I found a gap and I took it. I just shot. I was trying to place it on the side.”
“With the parity in the league, I think free kicks will be important,” Roberts said. “In the past, I wouldn’t necessarily work on them every day, but we have been. That right there shows the work Jill and ‘Monf’ put into their game and it paid off. I’m happy for them.”
“I think we had a communication error in the middle and she got free,” lamented Johnson. “It was a great finish. Credit to her.”
Late in regulation, Falmouth junior Margo Hesson sent a beautiful cross through the box only to see it go untouched and at the other end, a long shot from Brown was saved by Madison VerLee, sending the contest to overtime.
Ten minutes of sudden victory OT wouldn’t produce a winner.
In the first five-minute session, a Navigators’ corner kick was cleared and Holmes found Brown at the far post, but her shot was saved.
In the second OT, a long free kick from Mackenzie VerLee landed in the box, but was cleared and a shot from Vigue was saved as the contest ended 1-1.
“It was a good result,” said Foley. “We worked really hard for it. In past seasons, we struggled with getting scored on and not coming back from that. It showed our resilience as a team.”
“We’re on turf, on a bigger field,” Roberts said. “Falmouth plays physical. They play a unique formation. In the first 30 minutes, we played the way we wanted to play against them, then we got a little tired. We adjusted and adapted and countered.”
“It was two good teams playing and for it to be decided on set pieces is very common,” Johnson said. “There was nothing in the run of play really. It took us 40 minutes to get settled in. We hadn’t played a team the same caliber as Cheverus.”
The Stags finished with an 11-7 advantage in shots on goal, got six saves from Rush and took three corner kicks to the Navigators’ two.
Falmouth got 10 saves from Madison VerLee.
Buckle up
Falmouth stays home to welcome Windham next Tuesday and Kennebunk Thursday of next week.
“It’s a great group,” Johnson said. “We’re junior- and senior-heavy. We still have a long way to go if we want to compete next week against Windham. I would say they’re probably the favorite in the state in Class A. They play a different style than any team in the league. I’m excited to see how it goes.”
Cheverus returns to action Tuesday of next week, at home versus Portland. The Stags then travel to Westbrook next Thursday.
“We have to keep intense practices and keep lifting each other up,” said Foley. “We have a bar we set early in the season and we want to make sure we meet it. I think we’re really strong. I think we’re going in the right direction and I’m really excited.”
“I love coaching this group of girls,” Roberts said. “I think our best soccer is ahead of us. We can attack in different ways this year. It’s early, so our conditioning isn’t where it’s going to be. There’s not any easy teams on the schedule.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.
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