PORTLAND—Late in the first half of Friday afternoon’s Class A South preliminary round playoff game at Boulos Stadium, the 12th-ranked, visiting Kennebunk Rams had to feel pretty good about their chances.
While host Cheverus, seeded fifth, did open the scoring in the seventh minute on a goal from sophomore Jillian Foley, the Rams had shut them down from there and appeared primed to enter the break only down by one.
But then, the Stags completed turned things around in the blink of an eye and that opened the game up and allowed them to go on to a relatively comfortable victory.
With just 5 seconds left before halftime, sophomore Annie Vigue set up freshman Jaelyn Jensen for a momentum-changing tally.
Then, just 90 seconds into the second half, sophomore Finley Brown headed home a corner kick and in a matter of less than two minutes of game time, a 1-0 lead had turned into a 3-0 advantage.
Midway through the second half, Vigue added a goal of her own and that was more than enough to send Cheverus on to a 4-0 victory.
The Stags got goals from four different players, improved to 11-4, ended Kennebunk’s season at 3-10-2 and in the process, advanced to face No. 4 Marshwood (12-2) in the quarterfinal round, likely on Tuesday.
“We didn’t want to do too much and make the game bigger than it was,” said Cheverus coach Craig Roberts. “I thought for the most part, we played within ourselves today. It’s hard to move the ball around during the playoffs, but we did that.”
Next step
Cheverus came into the season an unknown entity, but managed to win 10 games, a most successful campaign by any measure (see sidebar for links to previous stories).
The Stags began with a 5-0 home victory over South Portland in the opener, then suffered a 4-2 loss at longtime nemesis Gorham. Cheverus then found its stride, beating visiting Bonny Eagle (1-0), host Noble (6-2), visiting Kennebunk (4-0), host Westbrook (13-0) and visiting Deering (3-1) before falling at home to Falmouth (2-0) and at Windham (2-1). The Stags returned to form by blanking visiting Marshwood (3-0), host Sanford (1-0) and host Massabesic (7-0). After a 3-1 home loss to Portland, Cheverus finished the regular season by beating host Biddeford (6-1).
“That (Portland) loss made us realize that nothing is promised and we have to work for everything,” said senior captain Maddie Hom. “We have to be willing to work for the win.”
“After the Portland loss, we went down to Biddeford and played really well, moved the ball well and kind of emphasized doing the things we did there, the simple things, and taking that into today,” said Roberts.
As for Kennebunk, it lost its first five games, but went 3-4-2 down the stretch (beating South Portland, Westbrook and Biddeford and tying Deering and Sanford) to earn the final playoff spot in the region.
In the teams’ regular season encounter, Brown scored twice, while Foley and senior captain Caoilinn Durkin added one apiece.
The teams were meeting for the third time in the postseason (see sidebar) and on a chilly afternoon (57 degrees), the Stags stayed perfect all-time versus the Rams in the playoffs, thanks to key contributions from veterans and younger players as well.
Cheverus senior captain Maddie Hom goes to head the ball as Kennebunk freshman Anna McCarron defends during the Stags’ 4-0 victory in Friday’s Class A South preliminary round. Hoffer photos.
Cheverus got a couple early chances, but a shot from sophomore Sophia Monfa was saved by Kennebunk senior goalkeeper Isabella Crowe, then Vigue missed just wide.
With 33:19 left in the half, the Stags went on top to stay, as Monfa served up a corner kick that was deflected out to Foley, who ripped a high blast over Crowe and in for a 1-0 advantage.
Cheverus then was frustrated for most of the rest of the first half as it tried to build on its lead.
Crowe saved a header from Brown, another header from Brown, a shot from Monfa and a blast from Durkin.
But with the clock about to expire, the Stags completely turned the game around, as Vigue served the ball on to the head of Jensen, who sent it into the net with just 5.6 seconds showing to make the score 2-0.
“I just knew that being up one wasn’t much and we needed another goal to get us going,” Vigue said. “I was looking for Jaelyn or Finley.”
“We scored that first one and we didn’t play poorly after that,” Roberts said. “Kennebunk picked up their effort because they wanted to score, but at the end of the half, we sensed we had some momentum. I don’t know how else to describe that but as a hustle goal.”
Cheverus senior captain Caoilinn Durkin boots the ball away from a Kennebunk defender.
If that last-second goal wasn’t big enough for Cheverus, it struck again just 90 seconds into the second half, as off a corner kick, LaSalle’s serve found the head of Brown and Brown sent the ball into the net for a commanding 3-0 advantage.
“We got the ball wide and served it into the box and scored off a couple set pieces, which we’ve worked on a lot because we hadn’t done a lot of that this year, so it was nice to see that happen,” Roberts said. “We came out strong in the second half and we’ve done that this year. We can score goals in bunches. We pushed forward. We didn’t sit back and let them take it to us.”
The final goal came with 21:29 to play, as Brown passed to Vigue, who ripped a shot past Crowe to make it 4-0.
“I just wanted to make a near post run and get there before the goalie and that’s exactly what I did,” Vigue said.
All four Stags’ goals Friday came from either sophomores or freshmen.
“I see myself as one of the leaders for the younger kids,” Vigue said. “I feel the freshmen this year have been a big part of the team.”
“Our team has come together really well,” Hom said. “We’re young, but we’re energetic and motivated. It’s big for the senior leaders to show the younger players the way. Our team is really close and we’ve come together and put in the work.”
“It’s always a Catch-22, playing younger players because they don’t have experience, but they can’t get experience without playing,” Roberts added. “At this time of year, the fact they’ve played so much, they know what to do. I thought they played really within themselves.”
Cheverus slammed the door from there, never giving Kennebunk a spark of life, and went on to close out its 4-0 victory.
Cheverus sophomore goalie Evelyn Rush is congratulated by her teammates at the final horn.
“That (Portland) loss made our win today mean a lot more,” said Vigue. “We had to work hard to get it and we did. ”
The Stags out-shot the Rams, 18-0, and took 10 corner kicks to Kennebunk’s one.
Sophomore keeper Evelyn Rush didn’t face a shot for Cheverus.
Crowe made 14 saves for the Rams.
On to South Berwick
Cheverus had its way with the Hawks at home on Oct. 7, as Brown, Durkin and Monfa all scored and Rush saved nine shots.
The Stags won just one of five prior playoff meetings with a 4-0 setback in the 2015 Class A South preliminary round the most recent.
Cheverus will head south feeling no pressure and hopes to make noise and keep its season going.
“We just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing because it’s obviously been working,” Vigue said.
“It’s nice to know we beat (Marshwood) during the regular season, but in the end, it’s a playoff game and they’ll want it just as much as we do,” Hom said. “The next couple practices will be really important for us.”
“We’ll take a couple days and prepare for Marshwood,” Roberts added. “The challenge doesn’t get any easier, but we had some success against them and hopefully, we’re battle-tested. I don’t think anybody thought we’d be one of the double-digit win teams and a five seed. This game, the pressure was on us, on our homefield. We answered the call. Now, we want to go and put pressure on Marshwood. We’re in a good spot, but we can’t rest on our laurels. Marshwood’s a good team and earned their bye. We’ll have to be at our best to keep our season rolling.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.
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