SCARBOROUGH—After pushing league powerhouses Cheverus and Biddeford to the brink, only to wind up with no Heal Points to show for it, Gorham’s field hockey team was eager to get back into the win column when it traveled to take on longtime rival and nemesis Scarborough Thursday evening at the Kippy Mitchell Sports Complex.
And even though the Red Storm rallied valiantly in the waning moments, the Rams managed to prevail.
And make some history in the process.
Neither team registered a shot on cage in a scoreless first quarter and despite three shots in the second period, Gorham couldn’t finish and the game remained 0-0 at the half.
Finally, with 6:13 to play in the third period, off their first penalty corner, senior Abby Chamberlin scored out of a scrum and the Rams were on the board.
Early in the fourth quarter, Gorham appeared to put the game away, as Chamberlin and junior Annabelle Collier scored in a 90-second span, but Scarborough refused to go quietly.
With 4:11 to go, junior Laine Niles scored to give the Red Storm life and they nearly made things very interesting on an apparent goal two minutes later, but it was waved off and the Rams went on to a 3-1 victory.
Gorham snapped a two-game skid, improved to 6-4 on the season, dropped Scarborough to 5-5 and in the process, prevailed in Scarborough for the first time in nearly two decades.
“It’s huge to win this,” said Rams coach Becky Manson, who is in her 16th season. “I didn’t want to say anything to the girls before the game, but I wanted to capitalize on the opportunity to pull out a win on their surface. I hadn’t won here as a head coach. We’ve beaten them on grass, but it’s been years and years since we won here.”
First time in a long time
Both teams have shown steady improvement this fall.
Scarborough opened with a 5-0 home win over Kennebunk, then lost at reigning Class A champion Cheverus (8-0) and to visiting Biddeford (7-0) before rattling off four wins in five games, downing host Bonny Eagle (3-0) and Noble (1-0) and after losing a close one at Windham (4-3), edging visiting Westbrook (2-1) and Massabesic (3-2) before playing visiting Cheverus much closer in the rematch before going down to a 3-0 defeat Tuesday.
Gorham, meanwhile, started with a 3-0 victory over Noble, but lost back-to-back to Biddeford (3-0) and Cheverus (4-1). The Rams then rattled off four consecutive wins: 2-0 over Falmouth, 2-0 over Sanford, 4-1 over Marshwood and 3-0 over Thornton Academy before last Friday’s memorable 1-0 overtime home loss to Cheverus. Tuesday, Gorham lost another close game to a powerhouse, 4-3, to visiting Biddeford.
Last year, Scarborough lost at Gorham, 2-1.
Thursday, on the coldest day of the season so far (54 degrees and dropping with a bitterly cold wind), the Red Storm hoped to get a signature victory, but instead, the Rams prevailed on Scarborough’s field for the first time since a 2-1 victory Sept. 27, 2005, their first in 10 visits.

Scarborough senior Ruhee Patel and Gorham sophomore Sydney Quimby (1) and senior Emily Fadrigon battle for a loose ball during the Rams’ 3-1 victory Thursday. Hoffer photos.
The Red Storm earned a penalty corner with 9:20 to go in the first quarter, but couldn’t manage a shot.
Gorham’s lone scoring chance in the frame came five minutes later, but a shot from junior Reece Leclerc was blocked and eventually cleared by Scarborough junior defender Abby Denbow.
The Rams then came out strong in the second period, but Collier backhanded a shot high and after a turnover, Quimby had a good look, but Red Storm junior goalie Avery Ingersoll made the stop.
After Scarborough junior Sabrina Ocampo was just wide on a rush, Collier made a nice move and fired a shot, but Ingersoll kicked it away.
With 2:18 to go before halftime, a Collier shot deflected wide and a minute later, Collier appeared to break the scoring ice, but the goal was waved off.
Gorham eventually got a goal that counted in the third quarter.
The Red Storm got the first chance in the second half, earning a penalty corner a minute in, but despite some good pressure, they couldn’t produce a shot.
At the other end, Collier set up senior Emily Fadrigon for a great look, but Ingersoll stopped her cold and a rebound went just wide.
Then, with 6:30 to go in the third, the Rams got their first penalty corner and 17 seconds later, it resulted in the game’s first goal, as Chamberlin was able to get to the ball in a scrum and sent it into the cage.
“We all got on the same page at halftime,” said Chamberlin. “We realized time was running out in a game that was really important to us. We love to play on turf, so we had more fun and loosened up. After the first goal, it all fell into place after that.”
Late in the quarter, Ocampo had a great look at a tying goal, but Scarborough’s first shot was denied by Gorham senior goalie Madison Tibbals.
The Rams then got some breathing room in the fourth period.
With 11:18 to play, Chamberlin scored for the second time, redirecting a cross from Leclerc past Ingersoll and into the cage.
“A hit-and-run game is fine sometimes, but once we connected, we kept possession and that boosted our energy,” Manson said.
It took just 90 seconds for Gorham to strike again and this time, off a corner, Collier took a pass from junior Grace Cunningham and ripped a shot into the cage to make it 3-0.
Scarborough first-year coach Kyla Wigant called timeout and her team responded.
With 4:11 to play, on a rush, Niles passed to senior Hailey French, got the ball back and sent it home to give the Red Storm life.
Then, with 2:07 on the clock, a long Ocampo shot deflected high into the air and off the outstretched stick of Tibbals and in, but Scarborough’s celebration was short lived, as it was ruled the shot came outside the circle and went off a defender, not an offensive player, and the goal was disallowed.
The Red Storm had two more corners and on the first, a Niles cross went just wide and on the second, the Rams managed to clear the ball and they ran out the clock on their 3-1 victory.
“We played really well against Biddeford and Cheverus, so it’s nice to come out on top today,” said Chamberlin. “Those games showed we can work really well as a unit and hold strong with the really tough teams and we won’t back down. That gave us confidence for sure. It feels good to win. It was a really competitive game.”
Gorham finished with an 11-2 advantage in shots and got one save from Tibbals.
Scarborough got eight saves from Ingersoll and had a 6-3 edge in corners, but its comeback fell short.
“It was a great game all around against a good team,” said Wigant. “When we give up goals one after another, it’s hard to come back from that, but we fought until the end.
“You can just tell we’re a different team than we were at the beginning of the season. We’ve fought really hard and worked really hard and we’re just hoping that shows.”
Much at stake
Gorham (currently ranked third in the Class A South Heal Points standings) has games remaining at Noble and Windham and at home versus Massabesic and Portland/Deering.
“We need to hold ourselves with confidence,” Chamberlin said. “We just need to go into every game and give 100 percent and remember we’re Gorham and we’re a tough team too. It’ll come down to our drive and how badly we want it.”
“We don’t take any of these teams lightly,” Manson said. “We have a couple home games and it’s always tough at Windham. Everyone’s improving.”
Scarborough (which is sixth in Class A South) is on the road for three games next week: at Falmouth Monday, Sanford Wednesday and Marshwood Friday before closing the regular season at home Oct. 21 versus Thornton Academy.
“I think we’ve already surprised some teams that expected to come in here and blow us out of the water, but that’s not the case because we fight every single day and we’ll fight the rest of the season until playoffs,” said Wigant. “We just have to execute and get shots off quicker in the circle.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.
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