SCARBOROUGH—Time after time they tried, but time after time, a dozen times to be exact, the Scarborough Red Storm couldn’t score on a penalty corner Friday evening at the Kippy Mitchell Sports Complex against Biddeford in a Class A South field hockey semifinal.
And then, with the game tied, 1-1, and with the possibility of overtime looming, the 13th try proved to be the charm.
With just 1:46 to play in regulation, senior Lili Stone scored out of a scrum to put Scarborough ahead to stay and the Red Storm, who got an earlier goal from junior Ayden Harris, eked out a 2-1 victory.
Scarborough improved to 16-1, advanced past the semifinal round for the first time since 2014, ended Biddeford’s two-year regional title reign and its season at 14-3 and advanced to take on either No. 1 Cheverus (15-0) or No. 5 Falmouth (11-4) in the Class A South Final Wednesday at Freeport High School, at a time to be announced.
“We had the curse of the semifinal game against us, I guess,” said Red Storm coach Kerry Mariello. “We have a flag that holds the banners of our past championships. I had the girls stare at it and asked what was missing, since it had been awhile. They want to get this decade up on that flag. This is a special group and they’re highly capable of doing that.”
Best for last
Scarborough won its first four games, all by shutout, over visiting Falmouth (2-0), at Portland (8-0) and Biddeford (2-0) and at home over Sanford (4-0). After their offense went quiet in a 1-0 loss at Cheverus. the Red Storm didn’t stumble again, returning to form with a 3-1 home victory over Gorham, then blanking visiting Bonny Eagle (6-0), host Kennebunk (1-0), visiting Westbrook (8-0), host Windham (4-0), visiting Thornton Academy (2-0), host Noble (1-0, in overtime), visiting Marshwood (5-0) and host South Portland (9-0).
Scarborough’s dominant ways continued in the first two round of the playoffs, as it shut out No. 15 Portland/Deering (9-0) in the preliminary round, then did the same to No. 10 Noble (2-0) in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
Biddeford, meanwhile, lost two of its first three, to Cheverus (6-2) and Scarborough (2-0), then hit its stride and closed the regular season on an 11-game win streak.
In the preliminary round, the Tigers eliminated No. 14 Sanford (5-2), then, in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, Biddeford had to go to overtime to survive No. 6 Gorham, 3-2, on junior Cece Keller’s 30th goal of the season.
In addition to winning the game earlier this season, the Red Storm had beaten the Tigers in four of five previous playoff meetings, but the most recent, the 2017 Class A South semifinals, went to Biddeford, 2-1.
Friday, on a cool (52-degrees) and breezy evening, Scarborough dug an early hole, but wouldn’t be denied.
The Red Storm had four corner opportunities in the first quarter, but couldn’t manage a single shot, as Stone sent the ball wide of the cage early on.
Biddeford then struck and opened the scoring with 3:14 on the clock, off a corner of its own.
Keller took an initial shot, which was saved by Scarborough senior goalie Katie Roy, but the rebound sat free and sophomore Michaela Ouellette banged it home for a 1-0 Tigers’ advantage.
The goal was just the third allowed by the Red Storm in 17 games.
“That goal was tough to take for sure, but there was a lot of game left,” Mariello said. “We had to stay composed. We couldn’t panic. There were a lot of minutes left to play.”
The hosts had another corner as time expired in the period and by rule, played it out, but couldn’t take advantage and Biddeford stayed on top.
With 12:30 to play in the second quarter, Scarborough came agonizingly close to tying it up, as senior Lillian Finley sent the ball in and junior Daisy Stone redirected it past Biddeford junior goalie Abby Nadeau, but the ball rang off the post and the rebound was cleared.
A minute later, Daisy Stone tried again, after collecting a long pass, but Nadeau made the save.
Then, with 7:48 to go before halftime, the Red Storm drew even, as Harris got to the ball in the circle, fired and while Nadeau got a piece of the ball, she couldn’t keep it from rolling in and just like that, the score was 1-1.
“Getting that shot off was crucial and the goalie was all over it, but the ball bounced in,” Harris said. “It was an exciting moment.”
Daisy Stone nearly put Scarborough on top with 4:47 left before halftime, but a diving Nadeau made the save and that would be it for chances in the first half.
The Red Storm had a 4-2 edge in shots in the first 30 minutes and a 9-1 advantage in corners, but three Nadeau saves kept the game even.
Scarborough had Biddeford on its heels most of the third quarter too, but couldn’t break through, as Lili Stone had two promising shots denied by Nadeau and after earning another corner just before time expired, the Red Storm couldn’t convert again.
Each team would have chances in the final stanza, but it would be the home team managing to get the ball in the cage.
Just 40 seconds into the fourth, Roy had to stand tall on a shot from freshman Ayla Lagasse and while the Tigers earned an ensuing corner, it didn’t result in a shot as junior Kiki Jackson had the ball knocked away by senior Bella Bateman.
With 10:08 remaining, Lili Stone took a pass from junior Stella Grondin and sent a shot on cage, but again, Nadeau dove to keep the game deadlocked.
With 3:30 to play, Daisy Stone rushed in, but she too was stymied by a diving Nadeau.
But just when it appeared that more than 60 minutes would needed to determine a winner, Scarborough earned its 13th corner and this time, the Red Storm got it right.
With 1:46 to play, after a Grondin shot was saved, a scrum ensued in front and with Nadeau on the ground, Lili Stone poked the loose ball home for the lead.
“It was really scrappy,” Stone said. “We were right in front of the goal and (the ball) just made it in. The goalie made an amazing save and off the rebound, I was just able to slip it in over two sticks. It was so emotional.”
“Corners are tough,” said Mariello. “You usually face the toughest defenders and all eyes are on you and every step has to be executed perfectly. It’s always a work in progress. It’s going to continue and hopefully they come when it really, really matters most. Which it did.”
“We knew they were tough and ball hungry and were good at being in the right position,” said Tigers coach Caitlin Tremberth. “Keeping the ball away from our goalie was our goal. Up until that point, we did a good job, but once it did, they were there to nail one in.”
Biddeford hoped to answer, but never produced another shot and the final horn sounded on the Red Storm’s 2-1 victory, unleashing a mighty celebration.
“It’s huge (to win),” Lili Stone said. “I can’t believe we’re going to regionals. This is such a big moment for our whole team.”
“Biddeford’s had so many OT wins, so possibly going to OT was scary,” said Finley. “That we were able to score late in the game was really crucial.”
“The semifinals are the toughest game in playoffs for sure,” Mariello added. “It’s hard to not look forward. The level of competition is a big jump from the quarterfinals and you have to be prepared.”
The Red Storm out-shot the Tigers, 10-2, took 13 penalty corners to Biddeford’s two and got one save from Roy, who was aided by a tremendous defensive effort.
“We made sure we marked Cece on drives,” said Finley. “We have a strong defense and we did what we needed to do to win.”
“I work backwards up where the defense is the main nucleus of how we run things,” Mariello said. “We try to prevent goals and hope one squeezes in on our offense end. That’s all we ask for. These girls did an outstanding job on defense, knowing where their key players were and trying to keep the ball away from them as often as we could.”
Biddeford got eight saves from Nadeau, but just couldn’t generate enough offense as its late-game and late-season heroics came to a close.
“They shut down our key players pretty well, which is very Mariello-esque,” said Tremberth, who once upon a time played for Scarborough. “She’s the best. Kiki Jackson, we call her our enforcer, and when you shut down the enforcer, you shut down the system. They did a good job.
“We matched their hustle and a lot of heart was left on the field. We have a lot to be proud of with a really young team. We have two starting freshmen and one of my starting defenders starting playing field hockey just three months ago. Whatever the cards were dealt, we were just happy to be playing. We got a really good season out of it. We learned a lot and grew a lot and these girls are already ready for next season.”
Off to Freeport
Scarborough won’t know its regional final foe until Saturday, as Cheverus hosts Falmouth at 9:30 a.m.
The Red Storm have had their share of success against both teams over the years.
Scarborough did suffer its lone loss in a close game at Cheverus early in the season. The Red Storm have won three of four prior playoff meetings, with a 2-0 victory in the 2018 Class A South quarterfinals the most recent.
Scarborough opened with a home win over Falmouth way back on Sept. 2. The teams have met three previous times in the postseason with the Red Storm taking two of them. The most recent saw the then-Yachtsmen prevail, 2-1, in the 2019 Class A South preliminary round.
Regardless of who is waiting for Scarborough Wednesday night, the Red Storm will welcome the challenge.
“I really believe in us,” Lili Stone said. “I think we’ll do great.”
“It’s playoffs, so every team will be out to battle us,” said Mariello. “We’ll be ready to play, no matter who it is.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.
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