PORTLAND—Just a friendly reminder to enjoy Cheverus junior standout Lucy Johnson while you can.
Because we haven’t seen a player like her and we probably won’t again for a long, long time.
Johnson, widely recognized as the state’s premier player, scored 56 seconds in to set the tone and added another goal later in the first quarter for a 2-0 advantage.
The Stags scored a third goal in the second period when senior Mikayla Talbot rattled the cage, then Johnson completed her hat trick with a strike in the third quarter, the 100th goal of her illustrious career, to put the finishing touches on a dominating 4-0 victory.
Cheverus, which didn’t allow a shot, improved to 9-0 on the season, won its 41st consecutive regular season contest, further solidified its hold on the top spot in the Class A South Heal Points standing and in the process, dropped the Knights to 4-4.
“Lucy’s tenacious, her change of speed and direction is second-to-none and she has a knack for finding the goal,” said Stags coach Theresa Arsenault. “She’s a very special player.”
Simply unstoppable
Cheverus is now in its third season of steamrolling the opposition (with one exception). The Stags went undefeated and won their first Class A state title in 2021, then took a 17-0 record into last year’s state game, only to be stunned by Skowhegan.
This fall, Cheverus has picked right up where it left off.
The Stags began with a 5-0 home victory over Biddeford, then rolled at Scarborough (7-1), before blanking host Gorham (4-0) in a season-opening gauntlet. Cheverus then had no trouble with visiting Marshwood (11-0), Massabesic (8-0) or Thornton Academy (7-0) and in recent days beat both host Biddeford (6-0) and visiting Scarborough (5-1) for the second time.
Noble, meanwhile, beat Kennebunk in its opener (5-0), then lost close games to Biddeford (2-1, in double-overtime), Windham (3-2) and Falmouth (2-1, in overtime), before rebounding to defeat Sanford (4-1), Bonny Eagle (1-0, in double-OT) and Portland/Deering (4-2).
Last year, Cheverus took care of visiting Noble, 7-1.
Thursday, on a foggy afternoon, the Knights sought their first victory over the Stags in exactly nine years (a 2-0 win in North Berwick on Oct. 4, 2014), but instead, the Cheverus Express kept on rolling and made it eight straight wins in the series.
And the Stags struck quickly to seize control.
Cheverus junior Lucy Johnson rips a shot during Thursday’s 4-0 home win over Noble. Johnson led the way with three goals. Hoffer photos.
Just 56 seconds in, after gaining possession and working her way through the defense, Johnson fired a shot past Noble senior goalie Trinity Valle to put Cheverus on top to stay.
“That first goal was a great thing,” Johnson said. “Every single game, we always try to generate a shot or a corner in the first two minutes. It was a great start for us and made us play with a lot of intensity the rest of the game.”
After Valle saved a shot from freshman Sydney Brunelle and dove to deny junior Sophia St. John, Johnson struck again with 4:55 to go in the first period, lunging for a long shot from her talented older sister, Lily Johnson, and sweeping it home at the far post.
“We have a number of players who can transition the ball and that allows us to get Lucy in position to score,” Arsenault said. “She can get hard shots on goal.”
Cheverus was frustrated for much of the second quarter, as Lily Johnson missed just wide off a penalty corner, Lucy Johnson shot wide and sophomore Joey Pompeo did the same before Lucy Johnson took a pass from senior Charlotte Miller and went one-on-one with Valle, but again shot wide.
With 2:35 left in the half, the Stags got the elusive third goal, as senior Taylor Krieger sent in a rocket off a corner and Talbot was there to tip it home.
After Valle robbed Lily Johnson on a corner just before the half, Cheverus took a 3-0 advantage to the break.
Early in the third quarter, Pompeo and St. John missed just wide, but with 6:41 on the clock, Lucy Johnson struck for the third time, weaving through the defense in patented fashion before rattling the cage to make it 4-0.
“Getting extra attention from the defense is a confidence boost, but I definitely think that if I do get the ball and can’t get around someone, I know I have my teammates and I know they’re open,” said Johnson, who now has 23 goals on the season and is just the fifth player in state history to reach the century mark in career goals.
In the fourth period, Johnson nearly scored a fourth goal, but was robbed by Valle, then had another shot saved as well.
With 5:14 to play, Noble earned its first penalty corner and had its lone look at the goal, but senior Ella Anania’s shot was deflected high and Cheverus went on to close out its 4-0 victory.
“I definitely think we’re having a good season,” Lucy Johnson said. “We’ve taken it one game at a time and we’ve really been on our game. We don’t underestimate any team we play. We don’t get too cocky.”
“The girls are really starting to play well together on the field,” said Arsenault. “That’s been our goal since the beginning. Just moving up and down together, it’s all coming together. It’s been great to have some big games. They’ve been back-and-forth. We’ve gotten pressure on our defense. We want to focus on that and the girls have come a long way there. The biggest thing about this team is our depth that we’re starting to have and our ability to work together. Different girls are stepping up each game. Joey Pompeo really stepped up this game. Having different people step up and create momentum has been huge for us this season.”
The Stags out-shot the Knights, 12-0, and had a 14-1 advantage in penalty corners. Sophomore goalie Ellie Skolnekovich didn’t have to make a save, but she did perform a rousing rendition of the national anthem prior to the game.
Valle made eight saves for Noble.
Getting stronger
While Noble (10th in Class A South, where 10 teams qualify for the playoffs) is back in action Saturday at Scarborough, Cheverus also plays Saturday, at Windham. The Stags visit dangerous Falmouth Monday, then host Sanford next Wednesday on Senior Day, before closing at South Portland/Westbrook and Noble.
Johnson, who is 37-0 in regular season games in high school, said that her team can’t let up in the weeks to come.
“(Never losing a regular season game’s) a fun thing to think about when people bring it up, but we never know what can happen,” Johnson said. “We have to just play our game every game. That’s what matters. We have to take what we do in practice into games. We learn a lot over the course of the season. We’re not even thinking about playoffs or the state game or our past opponent in the state game. We’re just focusing on what we’re doing now. Not on the future.”
“We’ve just going to continue working on transitioning and moving together and really honing in on our defense,” said Arsenault. “Field hockey is a game where you might not find the goal, so holding the other team down on the other end will be very important.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. For game updates and links to game stories, follow him on Threads: @foresports2023
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