Lucy Johnson, center, and her Cheverus teammates celebrate after she scored with 58 seconds left to give the Stags a 2-1 lead in their win over Skowhegan in the Class A state final. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer
Lucy Johnson had already scored 40 goals, broken the state record for goals in a career, and led her Cheverus field hockey team to the Class A championship game.
Lucy Johnson
And yet, with regulation time running out in the state final, the highlight of her season was still to come.
It happened with 58 seconds left when Johnson scored to lift Cheverus to a 2-1 victory over Skowhegan, finishing an undefeated season for the Stags and giving them their second title in three years.
Johnson’s dramatic goal capped a season in which she scored 41 goals, bringing her career total to 118 – the highest in state history. Johnson is our choice as the Varsity Maine Field Hockey Player of the Year for the second straight season.
“It was definitely so surreal,” said Johnson, a junior. “(The season) was amazing. I wish we could go back to it. It was a very good season for myself, with accomplishments, but I couldn’t have been able to do any of that without my teammates.”
Johnson honed her skills through years of working with Coastal Field Hockey coaches Sally Maxwell and Jen Brown, using those skills to dominate the sport in Maine the way few, if any, have. Her speed allows her to race past most defenders, her stick skills allow her to maneuver through the ones that did get in her way, and her hard, quick and accurate shots leave even the best goalies flailing in vain.
That mix of talent allowed her to become the first Maine player to score 40 goals in a season twice, according to Maine Field Hockey Association records, and to set the career scoring mark in only her third year.
“Her field vision is really good, and she knows where she’s going next,” Biddeford Coach Caitlin Tremberth said. “I think, no matter how you play her, she’ll find your weak side. … She gets those opportunities, she takes those hard shots, (and) you have to be able to put a stick on those hard shots. But she gets that extra inch.”
Those abilities allowed her to produce even as teams, following her 49-goal sophomore season, made it a point to stop her.
“This season was definitely a lot tougher in terms of the pressure that she faced,” Cheverus Coach Theresa Arsenault said. “It was great seeing her, as the year went on, continue to persevere, having multiple players on her.”
Her biggest goal was her last. Johnson had been kept in check by Skowhegan’s disciplined and determined defense, but finally shook loose. She eluded a River Hawks defender, used that acceleration to close in on the goal and flicked a shot into the top part of the net.
It was the pinnacle of a record-breaking season.
“It was like a big relief left everyone’s shoulders,” said Johnson, whose sister and teammate, Lily, won the Miss Maine Field Hockey award as the state’s top senior. “I usually try to aim for a corner or get a nice, hard shot on net for a rebound. But at that point, in that moment, I was just shooting. I didn’t even know what was going on. I didn’t even think. … I just shot it, and hoped it went in.”
Scoring was only part of the story this year, though, as Johnson embraced other facets of her game more than she had in years past. A pure forward her first two varsity seasons, Johnson played more in the midfield this fall. When opponents tried to challenge Cheverus’ daunting midfield wall, it was often Johnson racing back to break up possessions.
“She needs to get involved and be where that ball is, and she does. She’s so athletic and so smart,” Arsenault said. “She did help a lot within that transition, within that defense. Really, no matter where she was on the field, being able to play all aspects of the game. She might not have scored as many goals as last season, but she contributed in so many more different ways.”
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