Cheverus edges Scarborough in another OT classic

SCARBOROUGH—Freshman Lily Johnson is making quite an impression for the Cheverus field hockey team.

Johnson, who scored two goals in the Stags’ season-opening win last week, got her third goal of the season in the most memorable way possible Thursday evening against rival Scarborough at the Kippy Mitchell Sports Complex.

In the second overtime.

Giving Cheverus, which let a late two-goal lead slip away, an inspirational victory over its biggest rival.

The Stags got a second quarter goal from senior standout Lucia Pompeo and another in the third period from senior Grace Foster, but the Red Storm, who only managed one shot on goal in the game’s first 56-plus minutes, saved their best for last, as junior Lili Stone scored with 3:04 to go to give her team life, then again with 22 seconds remaining, improbably forcing overtime.

After the first eight-minute, “sudden victory” extra session didn’t produce a goal, it took Cheverus just 45 seconds of the second OT to finally end it, as Johnson scored on a rebound to give the Stags a 3-2 triumph.

Cheverus won in overtime at Scarborough for the second year in a row and improved to 2-0 on the young season, handing the Red Storm a loss in their season opener.

“We didn’t give up,” said Johnson. “We always give 100 percent no matter what. We play as a team and we’re always positive.”

Never boring

Scarborough and Cheverus have played annually since 2004 and on four occasions, have squared off in the playoffs.

While the Red Storm entered play Thursday holding a commanding 15-4 advantage, with one tie (see below for previous results), most of the games have been close and the Stags’ rare victories have all memorable, including last season’s 2-1 victory in Scarborough, which came courtesy Madisyn Durgin’s decisive goal.

Cheverus went on to finish 7-5-3, losing, 4-3, to Westbrook in the Class A South quarterfinals. The Stags opened the 2020 campaign with a decisive 10-0 home win over South Portland last Friday, as Johnson and Pompeo each scored twice, while sophomore Taylor Tory had a goal and four assists.

Scarborough finished 9-5-1 after being upset, 1-0, by Falmouth in the Class A South preliminary round, then waited a long time for its 2020 campaign to commence.

Thursday, on a pleasant evening (66 degrees at the start), Cheverus appeared to have the Red Storm on the brink of defeat, but the end of the contest produced non-stop twists, turns and drama.

In the 15-minute first quarter (field hockey now plays four quarters instead of two halves), the Stags had the only good chance, but Pompeo was denied on a high shot by Scarborough senior goalie Katie Roy, who swatted the ball away at the last moment.

Cheverus kept the pressure on in the second quarter and was rewarded.

After senior Sammi Snow was just wide after a rush, Pompeo got the scoring started, taking a pass from Durgin and firing through a screen past Roy for a 1-0 lead.

Durgin, now a senior, nearly doubled the advantage later in the half, but her shot off a penalty corner was denied by a Scarborough defender.

The Stags enjoyed a 5-1 edge in shots and a 4-0 advantage in corners in the first half, but hadn’t put the Red Storm away.

It appeared Cheverus did so in the third period when it got a second goal.

After Roy robbed Pompeo after a long rush, then Scarborough junior defender Bella Bateman blocked a Pompeo rocket, Foster redirected a Durgin shot into the cage for a 2-0 lead with 6:37 to go in the quarter.

Roy prevented the game from getting completely out of reach when she saved a shot by Tory off a corner, then robbed sophomore Isabella Cloutier.

Early in the fourth period, the Stags nearly went up by three, but junior Mary Kate Murphy was also denied by Roy.

That all appeared academic as the Red Storm simply couldn’t muster a sustained offensive possession, but that all changed with just over three minutes to play in regulation.

Scarborough got the ball, transitioned to offense and sophomore Stella Grondin passed ahead to Stone, who one-timed the ball past Cheverus senior goalie Emily Factor to cut the deficit to 2-1 with 3:04 still to play.

Then, with 40 seconds remaining, the Red Storm earned their only penalty corner of the game and for once, the saying, “Every corner’s a goal” rang true.

An initial shot by Grondin was saved, but Stone was there for the rebound and she sent the ball into the cage to make it 2-2 with 22.4 seconds left.

The contest would go to overtime and in the intermission before-hand, Cheverus regrouped and the Stags then nearly won it in the first extra session.

Just over a minute in, Cheverus earned a corner and got the ball to Pompeo, but her shot was blocked by Scarborough sophomore defender Anna Kavanaugh.

Later in the session, Roy stopped a long shot from Pompeo, then made a dazzling save after Cloutier sent a long cross to Murphy at the far post, whose bid to win it was stopped by the goalie.

The game would go to a second and final OT where the Stags finally punched their ticket to victory.

Thirty-five seconds in, Cheverus earned a corner, its 12th of the night, and Johnson got things started by inserting the ball to Cloutier. Cloutier took a shot which was saved by Roy, but the rebound deflected back to Johnson at the near post and Johnson buried the rebound for the 3-2 victory.

“I inserted it to Isabella and she took a shot and the ball went to the other post,” Johnson said. “The ball bounced off a Scarborough player’s stick and I tipped it in. I was really excited. We worked so hard and to get that goal was just great. It’s been easy to adjust because Cheverus has been great. Everybody’s been so welcoming.”

“Lily’s special,” said Stags coach Theresa Hendrix. “She’s been focused since the summer. She plays with confidence. The upperclassmen have brought the underclassmen under their wings. We had to keep our confidence. Hats off to Scarborough’s goalie. She was phenomenal and they have one of the best defenses around. The girls kept pushing and we were in the right spot.

“Every time we come to Scarborough, it’s super-fun. Scarborough’s always tough. We’re excited to have them in our bracket this year. The girls are appreciative to just come out here and play. This year has more meaning. Scarborough is always the team that any minute, momentum can turn. They didn’t give up.”

The Stags out-shot the Red Storm, 15-4, and got two saves from Factor.

Scarborough got 12 saves from Roy and played valiantly in defeat.

“It’s a commendable loss,’ said longtime Red Storm coach Kerry Mariello. “The girls showed fight. We’ve learned a lot of lessons even though it was a loss. We have a young team and they’ll gain momentum from this game alone. The girls are piecing it together minute by minute. They’re learning the speed and intensity. Cheverus is relentless. To know where we stand with them is a great feeling.”

See you in two weeks

The teams will play again Oct. 14 in Portland and that figures to be a can’t-miss contest.

In the meantime, Scarborough plays its first road game Tuesday at South Portland.

“(Tonight) was big for confidence,” said Mariello. “You can see how valuable sports in general are. We’re gracious for the opportunity. We’re playing it day-by-day. It’s a competitive situation. We have the opportunity to play and we’ll the make of it. We’ll give every ounce of what we have.”

Cheverus returns home Tuesday to meet Falmouth.

“We want to win and enjoy playing,” said Hendrix. “One of the special parts this year is focusing on each day.”