PORTLAND—It took nearly half the season for Cheverus’ girls’ soccer team to hit its stride, but the Stags are saving their best play for October and with the playoffs right around the corner, they continue to establish themselves as a squad that can go on a deep run.
Hosting Noble on Senior Day, Cheverus didn’t allow a shot in the first half, but couldn’t produce any offense until the 27th minute, when junior Annie Vigue finished a corner kick from classmate Sophia Monfa.
After escaping a couple Knights’ chances early in the second half, Vigue doubled the lead with 25:20 remaining, scoring on a rebound and the Stags’ defense slammed the door from there before Monfa scored just before time expired to bring the curtain down on a 3-0 victory.
Cheverus won its third game in a row, its sixth in seven outings, improved to 9-3-1 and in the process, dropped Noble to 5-6-1.
“I think we’re moving in the right direction,” said Stags coach Craig Roberts. “Our practices and our play have been good. We just have to show up and play the way we can and give ourselves the best opportunity to win.”
Steady improvement
Cheverus began the season with a 2-0 home loss to Windham and after tying host South Portland (1-1), beat visiting Westbrook (7-1) and host Thornton Academy (2-1), giving Roberts his 100th victory with the program, before blanking visiting Portland (4-0). After a 3-0 at setback at reigning Class A champion Scarborough, the Stags blanked visiting Sanford (2-0) and host Kennebunk (4-0) before holding off visiting Deering (2-1). After a 2-0 setback at Gorham, Cheverus downed visiting Biddeford (7-1) and host Massabesic (8-0).
Noble has quietly put together a competitive season of its own, bouncing back from a 1-3-1 start with wins in four of its past six contests, including a 1-0 victory Monday at South Portland.
Last season, Cheverus beat the Knights, 6-2, in North Berwick.
Wednesday, an overcast and chilly afternoon (59 degrees at the start), the Stags honored seniors Reese Belanger, Maddie Doherty, Ava Lamkin and Sofia Pothier and their families (and in the case of Belanger, her dog as well), then went out and produced another victory.
Vigue threatened to open the scoring early, but her long shot was saved by Noble sophomore goalkeeper Chloe Comtois, a second bid sailed just high, then Vigue had another shot saved.
After Vigue had a free kick blocked and junior Finley Brown missed just high, Cheverus scored the only goal it would need with 13:04 left in the half.
Monfa served in a corner kick, the ball came to Vigue and Vigue settled it before shooting with her right foot, beating a diving Comtois to make it 1-0.
“I saw the ball curve out, so I wanted to wait in the back,” said Vigue. “I settled the ball and scored with my right foot.”
“Annie finds herself in the right spots,” Roberts said. “She’s taken a step forward this year in terms of leadership and she’s growing her game. A big step in that regard is her willingness to use her right foot. I’m not giving away trade secrets. Teams know she’s left-footed, but that goal, she struck that well with her right foot.”
Late in the half, the Knights got their first look at the goal, but a shot from sophomore Hannah Perro sailed high, keeping the score 1-0 at the break.
Noble then had a couple chances early in the second half, but Stags junior goalkeeper Evelyn Rush came out to break up a feed from junior Sierra Dubaniewicz to Perro and sophomore Lauren Jordan’s free kick sailed just wide.
With 25:20 remaining in regulation, Cheverus got an insurance goal and it came courtesy a fortuitous bounce.
After Monfa sent the ball off the post, Vigue collected it with Comtois out and Vigue sent the rebound into the net to make it 2-0.
“We had missed the goal twice and the ball came to me,” Vigue said. “I had space and just wanted to stay composed.”
“We love Annie,” Belanger said. “You can always count on her to score when she gets the ball.”
“(Annie’s) really improved,” Roberts added. “She’s become dangerous this year and hopefully, it will translate to the playoffs and next year as well.”
After Rush saved a free kick from Jordan, then robbed Perro, the Stags got one final goal with just 2.7 seconds showing, as Doherty set up Monfa for a shot which slowly rolled across the goal line.
Cheverus ran out the final couple seconds and celebrated its 3-0 victory.
“We’re moving well in the midfield and off the ball,” said Vigue. “We’ve gotten better at services from the wing and getting into the box and finishing.”
“We had a few slip-ups at the beginning, but we brought it back together for each other,” Belanger said. “We noticed our mistakes in the first half and didn’t have as many in the second half and talked more on defense. Today, on Senior Day, with emotions being high, it affects you even if don’t think it does. It’s bittersweet being a senior. We’re doing good things and it’s nice leaving knowing we’ve come so far.
“Noble came to play hard and it was Senior Day, so routines were off,” Roberts said. “I’m not making excuses, but I didn’t think our sense of urgency and speed of play was up to par compared to what we’ve seen and been building the past couple weeks. We acted like one goal was enough and it’s so dangerous to play like that. I didn’t feel like all 11 players were in sync. It was really hard to play connected. It didn’t look like we played fast enough. Those are games that sometimes end up 1-1 or 2-2 or you lose. We scored an ugly but effective second goal and we played the full 80 minutes and got another one at the end.”
Cheverus had a 9-2 advantage in shots on frame, got two saves from Rush and enjoyed a 4-1 edge in corner kicks.
Comtois made six saves for the Knights.
Final test
Noble (currently ninth in the Class A South Heal Points standings, where 12 teams make the playoffs) is home versus Marshwood Friday, then closes Wednesday of next week at Bonny Eagle.
Cheverus (fifth in Class A South) has one game left, but it’s a doozy, at Windham Friday.
“I think winning Friday would be important because that could give us a bye,” Vigue said. “A little extra time off would be good. I’m really excited. I think we’re ready.”
“I think we can go far,” Belanger said. “We just need to believe and a lot of us do. You can tell we’re working together and playing for each other. The more we grow together, the better we play on the field. We’ve improved our culture so much from the start of the season until now. You can see it on the field. We connect and think the same.”
“There’s been upsets, ties, overtime games,” Roberts added. “There’s not a team that’s undefeated. Every team has had at least one wakeup call. I think our chances are as good as anyone’s, but we’d better show up.”
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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