Scarborough edges Cheverus in late-season showdown

Scarborough junior Julia Booth-Howe lets our a roar as she’s joined by senior Caitlin Tyrrell as the Red Storm celebrate a goal from sophomore Bella Turner, left, Junior Caroline Timpson and freshman Erin Bresnahan also join in the fun as Scarborough went on to defeat Cheverus, 2-0, Wednesday evening.

Mike Strout photos.

More photos below.

SCARBOROUGH—Scarborough’s field hockey team bent but didn’t break Wednesday night at the Kippy Mitchell Sports Complex.

Then, the Red Storm came to life and earned another victory.

Scarborough hosted Cheverus and once again, the rivals put on a show.

The Stags came out red-hot, earning five earn penalty corners and putting multiple shots on Red Storm junior goalie Abigail Roy, but they couldn’t rattle the cage.

Then, with 14:35 left in the first half, Scarborough broke through, as sophomore Bella Turner scored while flying through the air.

The Red Storm had the better of the play in the second half, didn’t allow Cheverus to answer and with 31.1 seconds remaining, Turner scored for a second time, sending Scarborough on to a 2-0 victory.

The Red Storm won their fourth straight game, improved to 9-2 and in the process, dropped the Stags to 6-6.

“We knew they’re a really good team that would be explosive from the start,” said longtime Scarborough coach Kerry Mariello. “We tried to play back a little bit and get a feel for them, then go from there.”

Always entertaining

Cheverus and Scarborough tend to put on a memorable show when they square off, as evidenced again last fall by a come-from-behind, 3-2, double-overtime home victory by the Stags. That cut the Red Storm’s advantage in the series to 13-3, with one tie (see sidebar, below).

So far this year, Cheverus has been up-and-down, while Scarborough has largely been its usual top contender self.

Cheverus started with a 1-0 home win over Kennebunk, then lost, 4-3, at Massabesic and dropped a 2-1 “home” decision against Biddeford in a game played at Fitzpatrick Stadium. After rallying for a 4-3 win at South Portland, the Stags lost, 2-1, in double-overtime to Gorham at Fitzpatrick Stadium before holding off host Falmouth, 3-2. After a 2-0 home victory over Thornton Academy, Cheverus fell at Sanford, 2-1, downed visiting Portland (6-2), then lost at Westbrook, 7-1. Monday, the Stags got back on track, beating visiting Marshwood, 1-0.

The Red Storm began with a 2-1 win at South Portland, then defeated visiting Falmouth (2-0), host Thornton Academy (1-0), visiting Sanford (2-0) and host Portland (2-1). After a 2-1 overtime loss to visiting Westbrook and a 2-0 setback at Marshwood, Scarborough bounced back to down visiting Deering (3-0), host Noble (4-0) and Bonny Eagle (5-1).

Wednesday, on the nicest day of the month so far (60-degrees at the start), in the teams’ first meeting in Scarborough since 2015, the Red Storm did enough to prevail.

Just 33 seconds in, Cheverus senior standout Sophia Pompeo raced into the circle and fired a shot that Roy saved. The rebound came to senior Haylee Hinkle, but her shot was denied as well.

Just over a minute into the contest, Pompeo had a shot off a penalty corner that deflected off a defender high into the air, but Roy knocked it away with her blocker.

In the fourth minute, Stags sophomore Lucia Pompeo had a shot denied and a minute later, Lucia Pompeo tried again, from the side, but Roy made the save.

Midway through the half, after Cheverus went 0-for-5 on corners, the Red Storm got their first opportunity, but couldn’t finish.

The hosts would score with 14:35 on the first half clock, when Turner got the ball in front, faked out Stags junior goalie Hannah Woodford, then, while falling, fired the ball into the cage for a 1-0 lead.

“I was just able to dive for it and I knew I needed to get it in,” Turner said.

“Bella is always in the right place,” said Scarborough senior captain Caitlin Tyrrell. “We’re really proud of her.”

“Bella has come a long way,” Mariello added. “She’s gotten experience and she’s getting the hang of her position. She’s doing a great job.”

Late in the half, Sophia Pompeo was denied by Roy and a rebound shot went wide and senior Bella Booth had a good bid blocked in the circle.

In the first 30 minutes, Cheverus had a 7-2 edge in shots on cage and a 5-3 advantage in corners, but couldn’t break through and found itself behind.

Scarborough nearly doubled its lead with 23:14 remaining in regulation, as off an aerial from junior Julia Booth-Howe, senior Lillian Erickson was denied by Woodford and junior Caroline Timpson sent the rebound just wide.

With 17:29 to play, Sophia Pompeo raced in and had a great look, but sent the ball just inches wide of the far post.

With 4:18 on the clock, Sophia Pompeo got the ball into the circle, but had her shot blocked.

The Stags then had a pair of shots on a penalty corner, but Roy saved them both.

And that’s as close as Cheverus would get to drawing even.

Then, with just 31.1 seconds on the clock, Turner buried a shot from the top of the circle and that brought the curtain down on the Red Storm’s 2-0 victory.

“We worked hard and pulled together and really wanted to win,” Turner said. “Cheverus is always a big game, a rival.”

“It was tough because it was back-and-forth for the most part,” Tyrrell said. “We felt good and had high energy. We knew our defense could take care of things.”

“They didn’t have as much zip after (we scored),” Mariello added. “When you go down, you tend to panic and make more mistakes. We tried to key on a few of their top players and try and take them out of it. We settled down and took advantage of the opportunities we were given. We knew our strength coming into the season was defense. We’ve become a well-rounded team at this point.”

Scarborough had a 13-5 shots advantage, got five saves from Roy and had six penalty corners.

The Stags got 11 saves from Woodford and had six corners, but couldn’t put the ball in the goal.

“It’s a tough loss,” said Cheverus coach Sally Cloutier. “We dominated the first half, but we just couldn’t score.”

Playoffs near

Cheverus (now seventh in the Class A South Heal Points standings) hopes to bounce back Friday when it hosts Deering on Senior Day. The Stags close the regular season at Noble Tuesday of next week.

Scarborough (third behind Biddeford and Westbrook in the region) visits Kennebunk Friday, plays at Windham in a makeup game Monday and closes at home versus Massabesic Tuesday of next week.

“This helps us for the playoffs,” Turner said. “We’re looking forward to that. We have to keep working hard.”

“We need to keep the energy up and keep working together well as a team,” said Tyrrell.

“There’s always lots of room for improvement,” Mariello added. “This game allowed us to believe that we can be the team we want to be at the end. There’s a lot of great teams out there.”