Scarborough, Cheverus both shine in midseason tie

SCARBOROUGH—Two things were evident Tuesday afternoon at Boulos Stadium.

Cheverus’ girls’ soccer team has achieved its goal of going toe-to-toe with the elite of Class A South, but the Stags are still seeking that signature victory.

And the two-time reigning state champion Scarborough Red Storm might be a little more vulnerable than in years past, but they still refuse to lose.

The two contenders produced 90 minutes of drama in a terrific midseason showdown, but ultimately there was no resolution.

Scarborough needed only 51 seconds to take the lead in stunning fashion, as senior captain Delia Fravert wouldn’t be denied, fighting her way past a defender and firing a shot into the net.

That goal awakened Cheverus, but despite some great opportunities, it couldn’t equalize the remainder of the first half.

But the Stags stayed on the attack and 12 minutes into the second half, drew even, as junior Rachel LaSalle set up senior Sophia Monfa for the tying tally.

Neither team could score from there and the contest wound up tied, 1-1.

Cheverus is now 6-0-2 on the year, while the Red Storm are 5-0-2.

“I think the girls are extremely happy with the resilience and the result even though they wanted to win,” said Stags coach Craig Roberts.

“I think this game had more growing pains than we’ve had, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” Scarborough coach Mike Farley said. “It gives us something to build on. We were in a battle and didn’t give up the decisive goal to take the loss.”

Biggest test yet

Cheverus came into the season believing it was ready to take the next step and join Scarborough, Gorham and Windham at the top of Class A South and other than one relative minor stumble, the Stags have excelled in the first half of the schedule.

Cheverus started by beating host Marshwood (5-1) and host Biddeford (5-0) before settling for a 1-1 draw at Falmouth. The Stags then blanked visiting Portland (9-0), won at Westbrook (7-1) and beat both visiting Deering and host Kennebunk by 3-0 scores.

Scarborough, which has a very different look this year now that standout and goal-scorer extraordinaire Lana Djuranovic is playing at the University of Miami in Florida and much of its back line has also graduated, settled for a 1-1 home draw versus Gorham to open the year, then defeated host Marshwood (3-0), South Portland (2-1) and Deering (5-0) and blanked visiting Portland (7-0) and Sanford (1-0).

Last year, the Red Storm beat the Stags twice, both times in Scarborough, 3-0 in the regular season and 2-0 in the Class A South semifinals.

Tuesday, on a seasonably crisp (and breezy) 60-degree afternoon, Cheverus looked for its first win over the Red Storm since a 1-0 home victory Oct. 22, 2019 (see sidebar, below, for previous results), but instead, each squad came away with a share of Heal Points.

Cheverus sophomore Addison Rush boots the ball away from Scarborough junior Maya Taylor during the teams’ 1-1 draw Tuesday. Hoffer photos.

The Stags weren’t able to clear the zone in the game’s early going and Fravert made them pay, stealing the ball from a defender, then ripping a shot past Cheverus’ senior goalkeeper Evelyn Rush to make it 1-0 just 51 seconds in.

“It was a great start,” Farley said. “When we pressure backs, a lot of good things happen. (Delia) stole the ball and was right by the penalty spot and could score.”

“We weren’t prepared, calm or composed at the start, but we will be in the future,” said Monfa.

The Stags were staggered, but knew there was plenty of time to counter and the hosts quickly tilted the field in their favor.

Cheverus’ first opportunity came in the fourth minute and saw junior Alaina Holmes get into the box, only to have the play broken up by Red Storm senior back and captain Megan Rumelhart.

In the fifth minute, sophomore Maddie Smith, who was tenacious from start to finish, got the ball after a turnover and ripped a shot that Scarborough senior goalkeeper and captain Sophia Rinaldi had to boot out of harm’s way.

The Stags came within inches of drawing even in the eighth minute, as senior captain Jill Foley got a look in the middle of the field, from 25-yards out, and her rising blast forced Rinaldi, who was already hampered by having to look into the sun, to leap and poke the shot over the crossbar at the last possible second.

In the 12th minute, Rinaldi saved a shot from Smith.

Three minutes later, Rinaldi went sprawling to deny Monfa.

With 22:35 on the first half clock, Monfa took a shot on the run which Rinaldi bobbled, then snared with sophomore Taylor Hoglund bearing down.

Senior captain Annie Vigue then attempted to pull her team even in the 25th minute, but Rinaldi saved that bid as well.

Late in the half, Scarborough went back on the attack, but a free kick from Fravert was blocked by Cheverus’ defensive wall, junior Hope Melevesky’s rebound was saved by Rush, a floater from senior Emmie Flaker was knocked down by Rush and the rebound was cleared, and a long shot from the side off the foot of sophomore Maggie Booth was saved by a sprawling Rush, keeping the Stags’ deficit at one at the break.

“I didn’t feel we started the game at a level we needed to be at for a game like this,” said Roberts. “Our strength of schedule picks up the second half of the year and it started today. That’s a tough transition. That and we didn’t come locked in. Their goal was deserved. We managed to get through the first half, which you have to do sometimes.”

Cheverus continued to push for the equalizer when the second half commenced and it would soon be rewarded.

Cheverus senior Sophia Monfa races up the field as Scarborough senior Grace Carlista and junior Maya Taylor try to cut off the angle.

The Stags earned a corner kick three minutes in, but LaSalle’s serve was snared by Rinaldi.

The Red Storm then looked to extend their lead, but after taking a pass from senior Emma Blanchette, Fravert sent a one-timer just high, then junior Paige Garlock was off-target following a turnover.

At the other end, Rumelhart broke up a rush from Vigue, then junior back Shay Charsky blocked a shot from sophomore Addison Rush in the box.

Finally, with 27:59 remaining in regulation, Cheverus broke through.

The goal came off a free kick from LaSalle just inside midfield. LaSalle served the ball just over the defense, on to the foot of the racing Monfa, who sent the ball past Rinaldi and into the net to make it 1-1.

“We definitely out-shot them and we knew if we didn’t get down on ourselves, eventually the ball would go in,” Monfa said. “I knew it would go over (the defense’s) heads there. I just ran on to the far side and one-touched it. I knew I hit it well. It was a nice angle.”

“What can I say about Rachel?” Roberts said. “It’s her first game back from being injured. She played the whole game and struck that ball right where we like it. Annie dummied it, ‘Monf’ got in behind and it was a nice, legitimate goal. Second half, we talked about having an opportunity and having to take it. We could play scared or play with urgency and like we’re capable and they chose the latter. We started hitting the ball to dangerous spots. We starting winning 50-50 balls.”

“To be fair, once they settled down, they put a lot of pressure on us,” said Farley. “Coach Roberts does a good job organizing them. He tried to expose the space in front of our outside backs. They did a good job which made me change as well to try and stem that. We have one back from last year. When balls are driven in, someone has to put their name on it and win it up the field. When you let the ball bounce, they’ll have momentum coming in and that’s never where you want to be as a defender.”

Scarborough nearly countered seconds later, but Fravert tapped a Booth cross just wide of the mark.

After Fravert missed high on a free kick, Holmes’ shot deflected to senior captain Finley Brown, who was denied by Rinaldi.

With 18:01 to go, Smith had a great chance to put the Stags in front, when a Monfa cross deflected to her by the back post, but she sent the ball just high.

After Booth sent a long shot wide, Evelyn Rush saved a long shot from senior Grace Carlista and Fravert’s corner kick serve was headed high by Charsky.

Cheverus then controlled the final minutes of regulation, only to be stymied, as Foley sent a blast high and a last minute corner saw the ball come to LaSalle, whose shot was saved by Rinaldi.

The contest would be determined by 10 minutes of “sudden victory” overtime and despite chances, the Stags couldn’t win it.

In the first five-minute OT, just 30 seconds in, Cheverus, for a split second, thought it was going to get a gift when a collision in the box led to a stoppage of play, but instead of earning a penalty kick, the call went against the Stags.

Undaunted, Cheverus stayed on the attack and earned a corner kick with 3:40 on the clock. LaSalle served the ball in, but it was cleared.

A minute later, the Stags got another corner kick and Monfa’s serve was headed away by a defender.

Cheverus kept possession and got another corner with 2:10 to go. This time the ball came to Vigue, who served it in, but it was cleared by Scarborough junior back Payton Crosby.

With just 19.7 seconds on the clock, Vigue got the ball to Monfa, who floated a promising shot toward the goal, but it sailed just over the crossbar.

In the second overtime, with a minute to go, Monfa tried to win it with a long left-footed shot, but the ball sailed wide.

The Stags then earned one more corner kick as time wound down, but a nice serve from Vigue was grabbed by Rinaldi and that made the 1-1 tie official.

“This is monumental,” Monfa said. “It shows we’ve improved as a team. We had a lot of chances. We just need to execute. This is our best result so far.”

“We had good chances,” said Roberts. “We didn’t convert, but they were dangerous opportunities. I like where we are as we get to the tough part of our schedule. This is a huge confidence builder in the sense we had opportunities and played really well in the second half and really well in overtime. Well enough to win. We were resilient. Alaina played the entire second half. Addie Rush played great minutes in the midfield so we could push Annie up top. When she got tired, Maddie Smith came in as a wing and played so well on both sides.”

Cheverus finished with a 12-6 edge in shots on frame, got five saves from Evelyn Rush and had a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks.

Scarborough got 11 saves from Rinaldi and did just enough to get out of town with a result.

“I think it was a good game,” Flaker said. “Both teams played all out. It was a fight to the end. Our defense is definitely really strong. We used to play with four in the back and now, we play with three in the back and they did a great job staying solid. We had our wings play more defensive because of their lineup.”

“I think the last five minutes and both OTs, we had to hold on,” said Farley. “We took the sun in the first OT, but the ball was in our end the whole time.”

Heavy lifting to come

The teams were tied for second in Class A South Heal Points standings at press time, behind Gorham.

Cheverus next travels to Massabesic Thursday and to Windham Tuesday of next week. The Stags still have to play at Thornton Academy and host Gorham in a makeup game as well.

“We have big games coming up,” Monfa said. “We just need to keep what we’re doing. We know we’re good. Today proves we can play with the top teams.”

“We have Windham on the horizon and they’re tough and physical,” Roberts said. “They’re the favorite. We’ll take it one practice, one game at a time and hopefully build on our momentum. The seniors are motivated. They have excellent leadership. The younger players really enjoy playing for them. They want to send them out on a high note and I want to send them out on a high note. They’ve been an important part of our program for four years.”

Scarborough is idle until Saturday when Noble pays a visit. The Red Storm go to Falmouth next Tuesday and will welcome Windham in a showdown Thursday of next week.

“I think we’re doing pretty good,” said Flaker. “We’ve been growing as a team and learning each others’ strengths. We have a great bond. We’re working on weaving passes together and finishing.”

“The girls have done a great job,” Farley said. “I’ve changed our shape and how we play to hopefully fit this group of players better. We have to get better at the little things because that’s what separates the best teams. If we want homefield advantage for playoffs, we have to win the big games coming up. The margin of error is a lot less than it was.”