Cheverus/Yarmouth player celebrate after a goal by Hakon Yeo during its 5-0 win over Cape Elizabethi n a Class B South quarterfinal game on Tuesday in Portland. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

One play late in Tuesday’s Class B South quarterfinal boys hockey game at Troubh Arena in Portland sort of symbolized everything Cheverus/Yarmouth has been trying to do this season.

With a minute left in Cheverus/Yarmouth’s 5-0 win over Cape Elizabeth, junior Will Redfield was sprinting down the ice, trying to get to a loose puck before a Cape defender.

For Cheverus/Yarmouth (16-2-1), repeating as Class B state champion starts and ends with hustle and grit. That has been the biggest key this season for the No. 1 seed in the South, who will face the winner of Tuesday’s game between No. 5 Poland/Leavitt/Oak Hill/Gray-New Gloucester and No. 4 York.

“We really just need that attitude. Go out there and give it our all,” said Quinn McCoy, a senior captain from Cheverus who had a goal and an assist Tuesday night. “Because we’ve got the skill. We just need to have the grit.”

Entering the season, coach David St. Pierre’s biggest question about his team was its mental toughness. Did it have the capacity to do the hard things it takes to repeat as state champion?

“That’s the area of the team I think’s been growing the most this year. Going into the season, we lost six seniors who mentally kind of (were) the cornerstone of our organization,” St. Pierre said. “The kids, to their credit, knew that was going to be an area they had to fill in. They dedicated themselves to playing the way we need them to play. They found that extra grit. Every time we’ve had to rise to an occasion, they’ve done that. They’re starting to prove to themselves that they can find that level.”

Tuesday’s game was one of those times. The No. 8 seed, Cape Elizabeth (2-16-1), entered the playoffs only because the Mt. Ararat co-op cut its season short in the wake of an investigation into bullying by team members. That meant the Capers slid up a spot in the rankings and into the tournament. After earning a pair of one-goal wins over Cape in the regular season, Cheverus/Yarmouth knew it had its hands full, particularly against the Capers strong goalie Nate Hanisko, who made 29 stops Tuesday and kept the game close for two periods.

“We knew their energy was going to be high. They had nothing to lose. They weren’t supposed to be here. To their credit, they showed up and played hard,” St. Pierre said of Cape Elizabeth.

Hakon Yeo scored the first goal for Cheverus/Yarmouth, knocking home a rebound at 13:14 of the first. The team has been working on scoring on rebounds, Yeo said.

“I had a feeling we were going to get the first goal. I didn’t know it would be me. I’m glad it was. It definitely gave us some energy,” said Yeo, a Yarmouth junior. “As we’ve gone along, we’ve gotten more tenacious. It’s really paid off, because winning those battles, getting those pucks in the corners, helps us score goals.”

Colby Carnes’ power-play goal gave Cheverus/Yarmouth a 2-0 lead 1:39 into the second period. In the third, McCoy scored on a breakaway 47 seconds in to make it 3-0. Goals by Matthew Paradis and Charles Hughes rounded out the scoring. Ethan Tucker made 13 saves for the shutout.

“Ethan made a couple big saves when he had to. It was a matter of, we wanted to grind and make sure we got the puck in dangerous places on their end. We wanted to keep the puck on their end, and I thought we did a really good job cycling and forechecking and that ended up finally breaking the game and getting us going,” St. Pierre said.