A year ago, their roles were reversed.
The Scarborough girls entered the Class A South soccer final as the unbeaten, barely-scored-upon top seed. Cheverus, as the third seed, played the underdog role but nonetheless took an early lead in a contest eventually won by Scarborough.
This year, it’s Cheverus at 16-0, having posted a dozen shutouts and given up only one goal since September. Scarborough, which lost 1-0 to the Stags in the regular-season finale in Portland, is 14-2 and seeded third.
The teams meet at Biddeford’s Waterhouse Field at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night with a berth in the state championship on the line. It is one of 16 regional championships scheduled over Tuesday and Wednesday at five neutral locations throughout the state.
Madison Marinko of Scarborough clears the ball away from Lily Paszyc of Cheverus during the teams’ regular-season game, won by Cheverus 1-0. The teams will play for the Class A South championship on Tuesday evening at Waterhouse Field in Biddeford. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer Buy this Photo
“Any time that we play Cheverus it’s always a battle,” said Scarborough Coach Mike Farley. “The (2018) regional final was not decided until the last 10 minutes of the game. It’s one of those games that comes down to who plays the way they want to play.”
“They’re always organized defensively and they’re athletic, so we have to be able to beat them with more than speed,” said Cheverus Coach Craig Roberts. “It’s an opponent we know really well and they know us really well. Hopefully, the girls have some confidence having finally broken through and beaten them earlier this year.”
Seniors Emma Gallant (16 goals, 11 assists), Riley O’Mara (10 goals) and Lauren Jordan (eight goals, four assists) are the leading scorers for Cheverus.
Senior Ashley Sabatino (15 goals) and freshman Ali Mokriski (14 goals, eight assists) are tops for Scarborough, which is likely to be without talented senior Sarah Callahan because of a persistent knee injury that kept her out of the semifinal victory over Noble.
“She’s been battling that for the last couple years,” Farley said. “Losing her definitely hurts us but we have players who can step in and provide good offensive pressure.”
The prelude to the Class A South girls is the Class A South boys’ match between No. 1 Gorham and No. 2 Falmouth, also at Waterhouse Field. Both teams are 13-2-1. In their only previous meeting, Falmouth beat Gorham 2-1 at home in mid-September.
Biddeford also plays host to the Class B South regional finals Wednesday at 4 and 6:30 p.m. The No. 1 Yarmouth boys will take on No. 3 Greely in the opener followed by top-seeded and defending state champion Cape Elizabeth against No. 2 Yarmouth in the nightcap.
McMann Field in Bath will play host to the Class A North finals Tuesday. The two-time defending state champion Lewiston boys take on Brunswick in a No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup at 4 p.m. Both teams are 14-1-1. The girls’ nightcap pits three-time defending champ Camden Hills (16-0) against No. 6 Bangor (9-5-2), which lost twice to the Windjammers in the regular season.
Camden Hills senior Kristina Kelly, right, has 47 goals this season and 157 in her career. She scored six goals in each of the Windjammers’ regional quarterfinal and semifinal wins. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
During the regular season, Camden Hills Coach Meredith Messer caps individual players at three goals per game. After that, they can only pass. Come playoffs, Messer released her restrictions, and senior Kristina Kelly scored six goals in each of her quarterfinal and semifinal games, 12-0 over Lewiston and 11-1 over Oxford Hills.
“We’ve been playing kind of conservatively for most of our season,” Messer said. “I told my seniors, this is your last playoff season. Go out and do what you want to do.”
Kelly, who plans to continue her career at Central Connecticut, has 47 goals this season and 157 for her career. Classmate Kaylyn Kruhl, who missed eight games with a hamstring injury, returned to action for the quarterfinals.
In Southern Maine, the Class C and D regional finals will be held at Lewiston High, with the Class C doubleheader on Tuesday featuring defending boys’ state champion Waynflete, seeded third, against No. 4 Maranacook followed by the girls pairing of No. 2 Traip Academy of Kittery against No. 4 Maranacook.
On Wednesday at Lewiston, the defending Class D state champion North Yarmouth Academy boys and girls will take on Richmond. The boys go first, at 4 p.m., with NYA seeded seventh and Richmond seeded No. 1. At 6:30, the top-seeded NYA girls face No. 2 Richmond.
Other Northern Maine regional finals will take place at Hampden Academy and Presque Isle Middle School. Hampden will play host Class C boys (George Stevens versus Mt. View) on Tuesday and the Class B boys (Caribou versus Mt. Desert Island) and Class B girls (Hermon versus Waterville) on Wednesday.
The Presque Isle schedule is Class C girls (defending state champ Fort Kent versus Houlton) on Tuesday and Class D on Wednesday, with Penobscot Valley and Central Aroostook squaring off in both boys’ and girls’ brackets.
State championship games are scheduled for Saturday at Hampden (for A and D) and Falmouth (B and C) at times to be determined.
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