Cheverus’ Lucy Johnson, right, and Brunswick’s Natalie Perham look towards the puck after a faceoff during a game earlier this season. The Stags are 14-1-1 the No. 1 seed in the South region. Brunswick is 14-4 and No. 2 in the North. Cooper Sullivan/The Times Record

The girls hockey playoffs open Wednesday night, and there are plenty of intriguing matchups in the North and South regions.

“I was an assistant coach for a few years — this is my first year as head coach — but this is the first year where it really feels like any given day anyone can win,” said Gorham/Bonny Eagle/Massabesic/Fryeburg/Lake Region/Westbrook coach David Grant. “I mean (there are) the obvious strong teams that are doing really well. But we’ve had some really good outings against the really strong teams. We tied Cheverus — in the beginning (of the season) — and we lost to Yarmouth 2-0 recently.”

Cheverus/Windham/Medomak Valley (14-1-1) is the top seed in the South and Yarmouth/Freeport (14-3-1) is No. 1 in the North. Gorham, the South’s No. 3 seed, also defeated second-seeded Portland/Cape Elizabeth/Deering/South Portland/Waynflete 3-1 on Jan. 27.

“Gorham seemed to be kind of a bit down, but they’ve just gotten hot the last two weeks, and just had a big win against Biddeford and obviously beat the Beacons without Marina (Bassett) (last) week,” Cheverus coach Scott Rousseau said.

The Rams aren’t the only team in the South to watch for.

“(Falmouth/Scarborough) is a decent hockey team,” Rousseau said of the region’s fifth seed. “It’s not fair … they’ve had a really hard schedule. You look at the number of one-goal losses or games that they’ve been really close with. They were one goal down to the Beacons two weeks ago before an empty netter. That team is still dangerous.”

Advertisement

The North also has dangerous teams behind Yarmouth/Freeport and No. 2 Brunswick (14-4).

“It’s going to be a really tough conference in the North,” said Yarmouth/Freeport coach David Intraversato . “… If we see (Edward Little), it’s going to be a tough one. We tied them earlier in the year. We won the second game with them, but they forced me to call a timeout late and settle my girls down because they gave up a goal late in the third.”

Leksi Langevin, center, of Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland/Monmouth/Oxford Hills and her teammates celebrate during a game earlier this season. Edward Little is the third seed in the South. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland/Monmouth/Oxford Hills is the third seed in the North, but has a tough quarterfinal matchup against sixth-seeded Winslow/Gardiner/Cony/Messalonskee/Lawrence/Erskine/Maranacook/Mt. Blue.

“You never know what Winslow’s going to bring,” Intraversato said. “Katie Berard is quite a player. And, you know, she turns it on you, and your defense is having a bad day — they can upset anybody. … Penobscot’s playing really good right now. They’ve been getting some good goaltending and playing some good defense. You know, and EL’s just been playing solid the whole year.”

Brewer/Bangor/Hampden/Hermon/John Bapst/Old Town/Orono, which goes by the Penobscot Pioneers, is the fourth seed in the North. To face the No. 1 Clippers in the semifinals, they’ll have to get past Lewiston/Oak Hill/Mt. Ararat.

The top seeds have earned quarterfinal byes as has Brunswick due to St. Dom’s/Lisbon ending its season early due to a lack of healthy players.

Advertisement

Another state title rematch?

There could be history in these playoffs as Cheverus is looking to be the first team to win three straight state titles in girls hockey. Also, if the top seeds advance, it will be the first time the state final features the same two teams three years in a row. (Cheverus beat Yarmouth/Freeport 3-2 in 2023 and 4-0 in 2024).

Both coaches said their teams are a little different than in past years.

“It’s hard for people — they see our uniforms and jerseys, and they know that we’ve won the last two years, but this team is so different from the team that’s played the last two years,” Rousseau said. “We only have four returning players from last year. It’s been a really pleasant surprise how good we’ve been.”

The Stags are young with a 15-player roster that includes eight underclassmen, and after a 3-1-1 start they’ve won their final 11 regular-season games.

Intraversato said he’s been impressed with how quickly the younger Yarmouth/Freeport players came together with the two-time defending North champion Clippers’ junior-heavy roster.

“I got a lot of young talent — I can’t say that I was surprised,” Intraversato said. “We have some really good juniors right now and a really tough sophomore, Erica O’Connor, and a good freshman came in, (Maya) Nasveschuk. She put up 13 goals so far.

“So, you know, I knew she was coming in, and I knew I had these juniors returning. So I can’t say I’m surprised where we’re at. They just matured faster than I thought. So I’m pretty happy to see that, and I think we can roll with that the rest of the way.”

The Portland co-op is the only team to defeat Cheverus, and Brunswick, the two seed in the North, ended the regular season with a 3-2 win over Yarmouth/Freeport.

Join the Conversation

Please sign into your Press Herald account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.