FALMOUTH—If you thought for a minute that Wednesday evening’s Class A South field hockey final was going to be the final game of Cheverus senior Lucy Johnson’s nonpareil high school career, you don’t know Lucy Johnson.

Johnson, the Stags’ singular sensation, and her teammates knew that they would get a mighty battle from rival Biddeford on the stadium turf at Falmouth High School.

They also knew they weren’t about to leave without a victory.

A victory they achieved.

Even if they had to sweat for it for 60 exhilarating minutes.

Unlike the teams’ two regular season meetings, top-ranked Cheverus wasn’t able to strike in the first quarter, but with 4:57 to go in the second, Johnson banged home a rebound and the Stags held a 1-0 halftime advantage.

Three minutes into the third period, Cheverus doubled its lead, as off a penalty corner, junior Jordan Drouin crossed the ball and senior Lillian Magda finished.

The Stags were far from home free, however, as the second-seeded Tigers answered with 4:53 to go in the frame, off a corner of their own, as senior Hannah Sonne-Loranger banged home her own rebound.

Biddeford had ample chances to even things up, but Cheverus’ defense and junior goalie Ellie Skolnekovich held firm and with 7:15 to play, Johnson ripped home a backhanded blast off a corner to seemingly put it away.

But the Tigers refused to fold and with just 29.6 seconds remaining, their freshman standout Mia Mariello scored to make it a one-goal game again.

Biddeford was never able to get possession in the Stags’ end again, however, and for the fourth straight season, Cheverus captured the regional title, 3-2.

The Stags won their 35th consecutive game overall, their 68th straight in Class A South over the past four years, improved to 17-0, ended Biddeford’s fine season at 14-3 and advanced to the Class A state final, where they won’t take on familiar foe Skowhegan, but instead Brewer (15-2) Saturday at a time to be announced at Edward Little High School in Auburn.

“I just want to win so badly,” said Johnson, who is already the state’s all-time leader in goals scored. “I told everyone to play for the seniors tonight. It could be our last game. We didn’t know what was going to happen.”

What we’ve been waiting for

The 2024 season to date has been a mere appetizer for this showdown.

Cheverus knew that to repeat as champion, it would have to go through Biddeford and the Tigers have been eying the Stags since taking the field for preseason practice in mid-August.

The teams met for the first time in the regular season opener, Sept. 6 in Biddeford, a 2-0 Cheverus win.

The rematch came Oct. 2 in Portland, where in a similar contest, the Stags prevailed again, 2-0.

Those victories were part of a fourth consecutive undefeated regular season for Cheverus (see sidebar for previous results) and after barely getting past No. 8 Massabesic in the quarterfinals (2-1), the Stags blanked No. 4 Thornton Academy (5-0) in Saturday’s semifinal round.

The Tigers’ only losses came to Cheverus, as they won their other 12 contests by a composite 77-8 margin. After a 4-1 win over No. 7 Windham in the quarterfinals, Biddeford ousted No. 3 Gorham, 2-0, in Saturday’s semifinals.

Prior to last year, the teams had never met in the postseason before, then the Stags went out and blanked the Tigers, 5-0, in the Class A South Final.

Last week, Johnson and Biddeford’s Ayla Lagasse were named the two finalists for Miss Maine Field Hockey, an award won by Johnson’s older sister, Lily Johnson, last season.

Wednesday morning, Lucy Johnson officially committed to joining her sister at Boston University in a ceremony in the Cheverus gymnasium.

“Best week ever and it’s not done yet,” Johnson said.

A huge crowd was on hand for this one and on an unseasonably warm November evening (72 degrees at the start), the fans weren’t disappointed by what ensued over 60 memorable, hard-fought moments.

Which culminated with a familiar result.

The Tigers hoped to strike first, just 90 seconds in, after taking a long hit from sophomore Emily Hussey, Mariello put a shot on goal, but Skolnekovich, who sang the national anthem just minutes earlier, made the stop.

The Stags then went on the attack, but off a cross from sophomore Sydney Brunelle, senior Sophia St. John was denied by Biddeford junior goalie Mariah Villandry, a Cheverus corner didn’t result in a shot and a bid from Brunelle was deflected wide.

With 2:40 to go in the first quarter, the Tigers earned their first corner, but Johnson broke it up.

The Stags then raced upfield and junior Joey Pompeo set up senior Zoey Radford for a good look, but Villandry stopped her cold.

Cheverus got another corner and Johnson set up Brunelle for shot, but it went wide and after 15 minutes, the contest remained scoreless.

The Stags eventually broke through in the second period.

Early on, a Johnson rush produced a shot that Villandry saved and sophomore Caroline Rousseau’s rebound was blocked by a defender.

After Pompeo set up Rousseau for a promising backhander which was saved by Villandry, Hussey missed just wide for Biddeford with Skolnekovich down.

Cheverus then opened the scoring with 4:57 on the first half clock, as Rousseau sent the ball in, Radford sent it toward the goal, it was blocked by a defender and the rebound sat free for Johnson to rip into the cage for a 1-0 lead.

“Caroline hit it and we’ve been working on tipping the ball,” Johnson said. “Zoey executed that well and I just hit it in. It was huge to get that first goal.”

“It was really good to play from ahead,” said Skolnekovich. “We built momentum from there. That’s what we needed. I love Lucy. She’s an amazing player and has so many amazing people surrounding her.”

“A first goal in any game is huge, especially this one,” added Stags’ first-year coach Andrea Musante. “We wanted momentum. Our goal in every single game is to get the first goal. I felt great when it went in, but I knew it wasn’t enough.”

Mariello then tried to answer for the Tigers, but Magda broke up her rush.

After Villandry saved a shot from Rousseau, the game went to the break with Cheverus clinging to a 1-0 advantage.

The Stags then went in front by two early in the third quarter.

After Johnson was tripped up on a rush, producing a corner, Magda inserted the ball up top to Johnson, who fed it to Drouin to the right and after Drouin’s shot was deflected, the rebound sat free and was knocked home with 11:59 on the clock.

Both Magda and Brunelle believed they had scored initially, but the goal was ultimately credited to Magda, with Brunelle and Drouin getting assists.

Regardless, Cheverus had a two-goal advantage.

“That was really, really big,” Musante said. “The girls knew we needed another goal and they were right.”

After Brunelle and Radford both tried to extend the lead further, only to be denied by Villandry, Biddeford got back in the game.

After a pair of corners didn’t result in shots and Sonne-Loranger was robbed by Skolnekovich, with Drouin breaking up a rebound opportunity, the Tigers cut the deficit to 2-1 with 4:53 to go in the third.

Off a corner, Sonne-Loranger had an initial shot saved, but she got to the rebound and sent it into the cage, giving Biddeford its first goal against the Stags since Sept. 8, 2021, a span of seven meetings.

In the final minute of the frame, Biddeford had another corner opportunity, but Johnson broke it up, then Cheverus nearly answered at the other end, as Johnson fed Pompeo for a breakaway opportunity, only to have her shot blocked.

The Tigers had some great looks at the start of the fourth quarter.

After Villandry robbed Brunelle, off a feed from Johnson, Biddeford earned a corner and Lagasse ripped a shot that Skolnekovich kicked aside and a bid from Sonne-Loranger was blocked by Stags’ junior defender Anna Kennedy-Jensen.

With 8:29 to go, junior Corinne Ramunno took a pass from Lagasse and tried to tie the score, but again Skolnekovich made the huge save when she had to.

“I go into every game thinking I’ll see shots,” Skolnekovich said. “I thank my defense every day. They played amazing. When I dove, they were there to stop the second shot.”

Cheverus then went back in front by two, seemingly icing the win.

Off a corner, Magda inserted the ball to senior Samantha DeGeorge, who stopped it so Johnson could take possession. After eluding one defender, Johnson found room to fire a backhanded blast and Villandry had no chance as the ball rattled the cage for a 3-1 advantage with just 7:15 remaining.

“That was supposed to go from me to Joey, but it was bouncy from the insert, so I just pulled it and took it right away,” said Johnson, about her 32nd goal of the season and record 150th of her career. “I’m blessed it went in.”

“(Lucy’s) known for her scoring, but she comes up big when we need her to,” said Musante. “It’s not just her numbers, but when she scores that makes her so special. It’s been amazing to inherit a player like her. I think tonight was her best game to date. She played with heart and led her team.”

The Stags tried to put it away off a corner with 2:30 left, but after Pompeo set up Johnson for a shot, Villandry made the save.

Biddeford then made things most interesting down the stretch.

With 1:10 to go, the Tigers had a corner and Lagasse fired a shot, but Skolnekovich kicked it away.

Biddeord got one more chance and off a corner, senior Eliza Doyon set up Mariello for a backhander which sailed high and into the net to make it 3-2 with 29.6 seconds remaining.

Musante called timeout to ensure everyone was on the same page entering the game’s most pivotal stretch.

“It was definitely nerve-wracking, but Coach called timeout, which was smart, to make sure we were in the right head space,” Johnson said.

“I was confident,” Skolnekovich said. “We knew what we were doing out of the timeout. We just had to get it in the offensive zone.”

“I said that it’s a good, old-fashioned playoff game and it’s not surprising it came down to the end,” Musante added. “I told them to maintain possession and focus on game management. I didn’t need to say much. They knew exactly what to do. They were so composed and fired up at the same time.”

Johnson took possession and dribbled into Biddeford territory. She wasn’t able to keep the ball long enough to run out the clock, but the Tigers never generated a rush and at 6:29 p.m., the horn sounded and Cheverus was able to celebrate a very hard-fought 3-2 victory and another regional title.

“It gets better and better every time,” Johnson said. “We had an intense pep talk before the game. We played our game and played to our potential. We gave people what they want, a more intense game. That’s more fun to watch and more fun to play.”

“It was a huge weight off my shoulders and I jumped as high as I could and celebrated with my closest friends,” said Skolnekovich. “It’s a feeling I’ll never forget. It felt absolutely amazing. We practiced how we were going to play. We had confidence in each other. Having tough games is a great experience. We’re confident in close games and we know we can hold it together.”

“It’s so gratifying,” added Musante. “Beating a team three times is really hard, especially Biddeford. We’re so well-matched. It took a lot of heart for us to win this game. This experience has been amazing. I’ve inherited an amazing team and that’s not lost on me. (Former coach) Theresa (Arsenault) set them up for success. My coaches have been amazing. The girls have just put it all together at the right time.”

The Stags had a 13-9 advantage in shots and got seven critical saves from Skolnekovich.

Biddeford got 10 saves from Villandry and took seven corners to Cheverus’ five, but even though they got on the board this time, the Tigers still couldn’t solve their nemesis.

“It was a good game,” said Biddeford coach Caitlin Tremberth. “There were three-minute spans of one team controlling the game, then something would happen, a momentum shift, then the other team would control it. It never really felt like we were down by two. We did make it interesting at the end. Against a good team like that, you just keep fighting. We didn’t play the small-ball game we’ve been playing, getting multiple touches. Their defense and goalie did a really good job. It stinks we didn’t execute when we needed to. We got into the circle, but I think we were just waiting for a perfect shot opportunity and they put pressure on our sticks. If you wait, someone will sweep in and get the ball.

“It’s bitter because for the last four years, since Lucy Johnson’s been there, we’re just trying, trying, trying to beat them. Kudos to her, she’s a great player and a great kid. She had a great support staff.

“We have a lot returning next year. It’s going to be amazing season. Thank God for our seniors. They put us in a place we need to be.”

A new wrinkle

Cheverus has played in four previous state games (winning twice), but in all four of those games, Skowhegan, the state’s most storied program this century, awaited the Stags.

Not this time.

Wednesday, the River Hawks were knocked off their perch and had their 22-year regional title run end courtesy Brewer, by a surprising 3-0 score.

Cheverus and Brewer have no playoff history and the Stags will have to do some homework over the next couple of days, but they believe if they go in and play their game, another coronation will be the end result.

“I’m so excited for Saturday,” said Skolnekovich. “We’ll take it one practice at a time and continue to prepare. We’ll play our game. Play as a family. That’s what’s going to get us through.”

“We have no experience with them, so we’ll just have to play our game,” Johnson said. “We’ll just focus on our corners, our circle play and our passing.”

“We’ll just focus on ourselves,” Musante added. “We play our game no matter what. It’s bittersweet. I love these girls. They love each other. We’ve focused a lot this year on team chemistry. We’ll just savor every single minute. This senior class put Cheverus on the map. They’ve done huge things for field hockey in Maine and Cheverus specifically. I want to dedicate the game to them. I’m excited for Saturday.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.