FALMOUTH — The Cheverus field hockey team is as good as advertised.
Perhaps even better than last year’s undefeated state champions.
On Tuesday evening, the Stags took their show to a turf field for the first time, playing at Falmouth. Before the second quarter was two minutes old, the Stags had scored a whopping six goals.
Senior captain Taylor Tory scored three in an 80-second span, sophomore Lucy Johnson finished with a hat trick as well and Cheverus rolled to a 9-0 victory to improve to 4-0 this season.
“This year’s success started in the summer,” said Stags Coach Theresa Arsenault. “We have some newcomers and a lot of veterans and they connected in the summer and their commitment has shown going into the season.”
Navigators goalie Jenna Nunley was able to hold Cheverus off the scoreboard for over six minutes, but off a penalty corner, Johnson took a feed from her sister, junior Lily Johnson, and fired home a blast to put the Stags on the board.
Freshman Joey Pompeo scored on a rebound off a corner with 4:04 on the clock, but Falmouth (2-2) appeared poised to stay within hailing range until the Stags struck twice in the final minute of the first quarter to put it out of reach.
Tory scored her first goal, from Lily Johnson, with 51 seconds left.
Then, as a penalty corner played out after time expired, Tory banged home a rebound to make it a 4-0 game.
“We work on corners very often,” said Tory. “Coach tells us to play through it and keep the ball in the circle. I was just waiting for the rebound.”
Tory finished her hat trick 29 seconds into the second quarter, rebounding a Lucy Johnson shot, then Mackenzie Cash’s rebound goal made it 6-0 at the half.
The Navigators finally registered their first shot in the third period, which Stags goalie Logan LeFevre saved. Lucy Johnson then scored on a rebound and Lily Johnson, off a pass from Sophia St. John on a corner, finished to extend the lead to 8-0.
Lucy Johnson’s third goal, off a Lily Johnson feed on a corner, accounted for the final score.
“It’s hard knowing that we have a target on back, but we’re always motivating each other and as long as we’re on the same page, I think we’ll be successful,” said Lucy Johnson.
Cheverus finished with a 32-3 advantage in shots, got three saves from LeFevre and took 14 penalty corners (scoring on five) to Falmouth’s two.
Nunley made 23 saves for the Navigators, who fought hard for all 60 minutes.
“Cheverus is excellent,” said longtime Falmouth Coach Robin Haley. “They move the ball well. They’re 100 percent in sync with each other. They’re a fun team to watch, but not a fun team to play. Despite the score, we’re a better team as a result of playing them. We played right to the end and didn’t give up, so I’m really proud of this group.”
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