Cheverus remains unstoppable and unbeaten with key win at Biddeford

BIDDEFORD—Cheverus’ history-chasing field hockey team will likely get pushed at some point during the 2022 season.

But no one has been able to slow the Stags Express yet, as they continue to stake their claim as not only the best team around this season, but perhaps a team for the ages.

Wednesday evening at Waterhouse Field, five days after a decisive win at Scarborough in a regional final rematch, Cheverus squared off against a Biddeford squad equipped to give it fits and while the Tigers played very well in stretches, the Stags just won’t be stopped.

Two Stags in particular.

After a scoreless first quarter, Cheverus’ offense came to life in the second, as sophomore sensation Lucy Johnson produced the only goal her team would need five minutes in, off a penalty corner.

Junior Lily Johnson then one-upped her younger sister with a gorgeous strike off the backhand with just over five minutes to go and the Stags were up, 2-0, at halftime.

Knowing how dangerous Biddeford’s offense is, Cheverus looked to put the game out of reach and quickly did so in the third period, as Lucy Johnson scored unassisted, then rebounded home a shot from Lily Johnson to make it 4-0.

Lucy Johnson scored her final goal early in the fourth period and the Stags went on to a 5-0 victory.

Lucy Johnson scored four times as Cheverus improved to 9-0 on the season, won its 31st straight game over the past three years and in the process, dropped Biddeford to 8-1.

“I think we do have a similar lineup to last year, but it feels like a new team,” said Lucy Johnson. “We have confidence and communicate and play really well together. It’s very fun.”

Juggernaut

Cheverus, which outscored the opposition, 99 goals to 9 en route to an 18-0 record and a first-ever Class A state title a year ago, opened the 2022 campaign by dominating visiting Thornton Academy (8-0), then continued to run roughshod over the opposition, beating host Windham (9-1), visiting Bonny Eagle (11-1), host Falmouth (9-0), visiting Kennebunk (10-0), host Marshwood (8-0), visiting Portland/Deering (13-0) and host Scarborough (6-0).

Biddeford, meanwhile, won its first eight contests, seven by shutout, defeating Windham (1-0), Bonny Eagle (6-0), Falmouth (5-0), Kennebunk (5-0), Marshwood (3-0), Portland/Deering (6-0), Scarborough (1-0) and Thornton Academy (2-1, in overtime).

Last year, Cheverus downed the visiting Tigers, 6-2.

Wednesday, on a comfortable late-September evening (65 degrees at the start), in front of a large and vocal crowd, the Stags won by an even larger margin.

Not surprisingly, Biddeford came out strong and earned an early penalty corner, but couldn’t capitalize, as sophomore Ayla Lagasse’s redirect of a shot from senior Kiki Jackson went wide.

Cheverus then cranked up its attack, but couldn’t rattle the cage, as freshman Joey Pompeo missed wide, Lucy Johnson was robbed in front by Tigers junior goalie Cadence Goulet, Goulet dove to save another shot, then Lily Johnson took a pass from Lucy Johnson off a corner, but Goulet stopped that bid too to keep the game 0-0 after 15 minutes.

But you can only hold the Stags in check so long and the Johnson sisters each scored breathtaking goals in the second period.

First, Biddeford nearly took the lead off a corner, but a shot from senior Mackenzie Day was saved by Cheverus senior goalie Logan LeFevre and Lily Johnson broke up a subsequent Tigers’ corner.

Then, with 10:10 to go in the first half, off a corner, junior Mackenzie Cash inserted the ball up top to Lucy Johnson, who moved right past a defender, then blasted a shot past Goulet to make it 1-0.

“That was actually supposed to go to my sister, but I went with the flow and I just made a move and took a shot,” said Johnson.

Lily Johnson then got involved in the fun with 5:07 on the clock, racing in, moving left, then ripping a backhander into the cage for a 2-0 advantage.

“I’ve definitely been working on my reverse shot a lot,” Johnson said. “It’s not my strong side, so I work on it in practice. I was excited to see my hard work pay off. I think after the first quarter, we talked about things, what we did well and what we could execute the next couple quarters and we stayed positive. We stuck together and really finished.”

“Lily’s goal was beautiful,” said Lucy Johnson. “She worked really hard to get the ball down the field. Since she plays a different position than me, I look up to her. I know it’s hard to play more defensively. It’s not my strength, but it’s hers. She’s very good at it.”

“You have to see Lily play and see how she controls play in the midfield and makes things happen to really appreciate her,” added Cheverus coach Theresa Arsenault.

Late in the half, Stags sophomore Lillian Magda broke up a rush by senior Cece Keller and Cheverus took a two-goal advantage to the break.

The Stags had a 6-1 shots advantage and had a 5-3 edge in corners in the first half, but the dangerous Tigers were still hanging around.

Until Lucy Johnson put them away in the third quarter.

Just 28 seconds into the second half, Johnson rushed in and mimicked her sister by turning to the backhand and shooting the ball past Goulet for a 3-0 lead.

“Our ball movement at the beginning of the half was super-fast,” Johnson said. “I always work on my backhanded shot in practice. On turf, it’s a lot of fun.”

After sophomore Zoey Radford tipped a Lily Johnson pass off a corner off the post, Lucy Johnson completed her hat trick with 8:35 on the clock, as Lily Johnson stole the ball and shot and after Goulet knocked the ball down, Lucy Johnson was there to bury the rebound and make it 4-0.

“Lily did the work to get around people and took the shot,” Johnson said. “I just had to clean up the rebound.”

Late in the period, junior Lily LeSieur tried to put Biddeford on the board, but LeFevre made the save.

To their credit, the Tigers fought hard to the end and Keller had a couple good looks in the final stanza, but LeFevre turned both aside.

With 13:25 remaining, the Stags scored their final goal, as Lucy Johnson put on one final show, somehow backhanding a shot through traffic from a tough angle into the cage.

“Lucy’s a player I look up to,” Lily Johnson said. “I’m older than her, but that doesn’t mean anything. We really work well together and we’re really good at connecting. We can read each other’s minds in a way. I love playing with her.”

“Lucy’s so confident and composed and she just continues to get better and better,” Arsenault said. “Those were incredible shots tonight. She impresses us as coaches. Sometimes we sit back and it’s almost like we’re fans. She brings energy, distributes to her teammates and plays defense as well and that’s what takes her to the next level.”

Biddeford earned one final corner opportunity, but Cheverus cleared it and celebrated its 5-0 victory.

“We’ve really gained a lot of confidence,” Lily Johnson said. “We get really excited before games. We know what we’re capable of. We all work super-hard and give all of our effort and we do everything as a team. We love the under the lights games and playing on turf. I think we’ve grown as a family. The freshmen don’t seem like freshmen, they seem like they’ve been here forever. The older players have taken the younger players under their wings. It’s so fun. Seeing what we practice come to life on the field and our hard work pay off makes us feel accomplished.”

“It was very nerve-wracking at the start, but I think we all pulled it together and hyped each other up,” said Lucy Johnson. “Our forward line is super-strong, along with our back line. Our midfield sticks together, can press the other team and moves together up the field. Our movement with the ball was fast. The turf helped us. Every single person on the field stepped to the ball tonight.”

“They’re great players and they’re so unselfish and as a coach, that’s all you can ask for,” added Arsenault. “It’s always fun playing on turf. Scarborough and Biddeford have great facilities. It was exciting going into both games with the energy. It felt like a playoff atmosphere. The girls settled right in and came out playing really well and really well together from our defensive end to our offensive end. It never felt like it was a big score. Biddeford kept the pressure on the entire time. If you didn’t look at the scoreboard, you wouldn’t know the score was (5-0). That was awesome because it pushed our girls to play the full 60 minutes.”

The Stags, who have outscored the opposition, 79-2, in nine games this fall, finished with a 12-5 shots advantage, got five saves from LeFevre, took seven corners to Biddeford’s six and perhaps most impressively, continued to not miss a beat despite playing without injured senior captain and standout Taylor Tory, who has a cast on her hand.

“She dislocated part of her pinky,” Arsenault said, of Tory’s absence. “She’s out this week, then she returns to the doctor and we’ll go from there.”

The Tigers got seven saves from Goulet.

“I think it’s hard to defend because you can’t just defend one of them,” Biddeford coach Caitlin Tremberth said. “They’re all pretty good.”

Tuning up for the playoffs

Biddeford hopes to bounce back from its first loss Monday at Gorham.

“At the end of the day, this is just a regular-season game,” Tremberth said. “I’m proud of what we did and I know we can get better and I know that if we see them again, it’s going to be different.”

Cheverus’ next game is also versus Gorham, next Wednesday at home. With the top seed in Class A South now essentially locked up, the Stags will remain focused on the ultimate prize.

“I think we can’t get ahead of ourselves,” Lucy Johnson said. “We’ll focus on one game at a time and go into games with confidence and stay positive.”

“We just need to continue to work together,” said Lily Johnson. “We’ll stay humble and keep working hard in practice and we won’t look ahead.”

“We’re continuing to focus on small things, like making connections, girls working together, communicating, transitioning as one,” Arsenault added. “If we do that, that will help us power through.”

Press Herald staff writer Drew Bonifant contributed to this story.