GORHAM -- The Gorham Rams played the game of their life Friday afternoon, but it wasn't quite enough to register the upset of the year.
The Rams, hosting the state's gold standard, a Cheverus squad coming off an inspirational home victory over Biddeford just two days prior, kept the high-powered Stags' offense off the board longer than any team has all year, but ultimately, the reigning Class A champions found a way to score the one goal they needed.
Gorham served notice immediately that it believed it could win, holding Cheverus scoreless in the first half, but the Rams couldn't find the cage themselves.
Gorham nearly went on top late in the third period, but a tremendous defensive play from Stags junior Anna Kennedy-Jensen defender saved the day and for the first time all year, Cheverus entered the fourth quarter of a game still seeking a goal.
And the Stags wouldn't get it there either, necessitating overtime.
Cheverus had some great chances in the first eight-minute, "sudden victory" session, but as she did all afternoon, Rams senior goalie Madison Tibbals was sensational, standing tall, even denying a blast from the state's all-time leading goal scorer, Stags senior standout Lucy Johnson, on a penalty corner after time expired.
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But Gorham ultimately wasn't able to get a result, as just 41 seconds into the second OT, junior Joey Pompeo passed to Johnson, who finally rattled the cage and Cheverus prevailed in an instant classic, 1-0.
Johnson's record 135th career goal allowed the Stags to improve to 9-0, extend their overall win streak to 27 games and their regular season win streak to 55 while in the process, they dropped the valiant Rams to 5-3.
"That was anyone's game," said Cheverus' first-year coach Andrea Musante. "That was exciting. It was fun. It was a good experience for us to be tested like that. We learned a lot today."
"We wanted to prove to ourselves we could hang tough with them and we did that," said longtime Gorham coach Becky Manson. "It was our best-played game of the season so far and it came at a great time."
Buckle up
Gorham, as expected, has been one of the top teams in the region this season.
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The Rams started with a 3-0 victory over Noble, but lost back-to-back to Biddeford (3-0) and Cheverus (4-1). Gorham then rattled off four consecutive wins: 2-0 over Falmouth, 2-0 over Sanford, 4-1 over Marshwood and 3-0 over Thornton Academy.
Cheverus, meanwhile, opened with a hard-fought 2-0 victory at Biddeford, then handled visiting Scarborough in a playoff rematch (8-0), beat visiting Gorham (4-1) won at Falmouth, 7-0, survived a scare from visiting Sanford (3-0), then rolled at Marshwood (5-0) and Thornton Academy (8-1) before downing Biddeford again, this time at home Wednesday, 2-0.
In the teams' first meeting Sept. 16 in Portland, Johnson scored three goals and senior Zoey Radford added the other for the Stags, while the Rams got a goal from senior Abby Chamberlain.
Gorham is the most recent team to beat Cheverus in the regular season, prevailing during the depths of the pandemic, 1-0, Oct. 8, 2020.
Friday, on a very comfortable early October afternoon (66 degrees at the start) the Rams looked to shock the Stags and came oh-so-close to doing so, but instead, Cheverus dug deep and made it five straight in the series, extending its win streaks in the process.
Cheverus sophomore Sydney Brunelle has a shot blocked by Gorham junior Grace Cunningham during Friday's thriller, won by the Stags, 1-0, in double-overtime. Hoffer photos.
The Stags came out strong and registered five first quarter shots, but couldn't solve Tibbals.
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A minute in, Tibbals saved a shot from sophomore Sydney Brunelle.
After Johnson missed just wide with one of her patented back-handed blasts, senior Gabrielle Blais redirected a shot from sophomore Caroline Rousseau, but Tibbals made the save.
Late in the frame, off a penalty corner, Johnson ripped a shot, but Tibbals saved that one as well.
Gorham would start to tilt the field in its favor offensively in the second quarter.
First, Johnson raced three quarters of the field, eluded several defenders, then shot while falling to the grass only to have Tibbals make the save.
With 8:48 to go before halftime, the Rams registered their first shot, but Cheverus junior goalie Ellie Skolnekovich denied senior Emily Fadrigon, then despite being prone on the ground, Skolnekovich stopped a rebound shot as well.
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After a pair of Johnson rushes were broken up by Gorham senior Emily Beal and sophomore Acadia Sylvia respectively, the Rams threatened again to go in front with 4:33 remaining, only to have Fadrigon denied off a long hit from junior Annabelle Collier which had deflected into the circle.
In the final minute, the Stags tried again to break the scoring ice, but Tibbals robbed Johnson, then saved Brunelle's rebound attempt.
And the fun was just beginning.
Cheverus sophomore Caroline Rousseau fights for possession with Gorham senior Kayla McLean.
The Stags went on the attack in the third quarter, but a Rosseau deflection on a Johnson shot off a corner was saved by Tibbals and junior Grace Cunningham broke up a Johnson rush in the circle.
With 7:34 remaining in the frame, Manson called timeout and eventually, the Rams would get their best scoring chance.
After Pompeo missed just wide after dribbling into the circle, Gorham went on the offensive.
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After Skolnekovich kicked away a loose ball, the Rams got it back into the circle and Collier fired a shot that Skolnekovich saved, but the rebound came free and a second bid appeared goal-bound before Kennedy-Jensen saved the day with a defensive save at the far post.
"There was a shot on net and Ellie was out of position and I was on the back post and the shot came to me and I was able to knock it down before the end line and sweep it out wide," said Kennedy-Jensen. "It was amazing and I was happy to give my team what they give me."
"Anna's defensive save was huge," Musante said. "She had a couple other key moments. She came up clutch, like she usually does. She and (junior) Jordan (Drouin) are a wall back there."
With 2:40 to go, Skolnekovich made her most impressive save, kicking away a blast from Fadrigon.
Cheverus then earned a corner in the final minute, but on a shot from Johnson that was deflected by senior Sophia St. John, Tibbals made another save.
So for the first time all season, the Stags went to the fourth quarter with a zero on a scoreboard.
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Cheverus started the final stanza with a pair of corner opportunities, but on the first, Rousseau tipped a Johnson shot just wide, then after being set up by senior inserter Lillian Magda, Johnson had a shot saved, then she sent the rebound wide.
After St. John shot wide on a corner, Gorham's lone chance in the fourth period came with 2:17 to go, as it got the ball in the circle only to have Kennedy-Jensen clear it.
Johnson then had one last chance to win it in regulation, but she shot wide after a long rush and the game would go to overtime.
The Rams got the ball to start OT, which sees just seven players on the field per team, and Collier got into the circle, but Kennedy-Jensen stopped that foray.
Cheverus then had three corners.
On the first, senior Sophie Kaczmarek blocked a Johnson shot.
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On the second, Pompeo deflected a Johnson shot wide.
Then, after time expired, the Stags played it out and Johnson got a great look up top, but her blast was kicked away by Tibbals.
That forced a second extra session and there, quickly, Cheverus got the goal it had sought for nearly 70 minutes.
Not surprisingly, Pompeo's hard work made it happen, as she battled with three defenders before earning a whistle and on the restart, she passed to Johnson. This time, Johnson got past the last defender and as great as Tibbals is, she had little chance to stop the state's elite scorer in that situation and with 7:19 on the second overtime clock, Johnson fired the ball into the cage to win it, 1-0.
"Joey got a call, self-started and quickly got the ball to me and I just shot it," Johnson said. "I realized in 7-v-7, there would only be one defender left, especially since three were on Joey, so I knew I had to just get past one person. I dribbled and faked it. I wanted to shoot opposite post."
At 5:34 p.m., Cheverus was able to exhale and celebrate its dramatic win.
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Lucy Johnson is hugged by her teammates after scoring the game winner.
"I don't even have words," said the Boston University-bound Johnson. "I started crying when I hugged Joey. It was the highlight of the game. We kept our cool even though we got frustrated. I got frustrated, but tried to stay positive.
"This wasn't shocking because Gorham played amazing. Their defense played very well. They marked really well. They stepped to 50-50 balls. We just couldn't score because 'Tibs' was amazing. I knew even before the game that it wasn't going to be easy."
"I feel like my heart rate was in the 200s," said Kennedy-Jensen. "It felt like states honestly. We were so excited. I think going into halftime, we knew we had to step up our game. We did go into halftime once this year without scoring but not the fourth quarter, so once we did, I knew this was real. I never doubted that we would score. It was harder than being in the lead, but we still played with confidence."
"I'm just really proud of this group for working in uncharted territory and surviving being tested," added Musante. "We knew this would be extremely difficult. (Gorham) played really clean D and they were hard to get by. I'm sure the girls felt frustrated, but that just made them hungry and they kept the pressure on. Physically and mentally, it's been a tough week. I'm very happy we came out with the win. It was a learning day."
Cheverus wound up with a 12-5 advantage in shots on frame, a 9-1 edge in corners and got five pivotal saves from Skolnekovich.
"Ellie was a leader today," said Musante. "She kept everyone jelling together."
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Gorham got 11 saves from Tibbals.
"She's amazing," Manson said. "She's probably one of the best goalies in the state. In our league for sure. She's an amazing captain. She talks to the defense and is always on."
The Rams shook off the disappointment of the defeat and were thrilled with their performance.
"I think we have a lot to show for this," Manson said. "I told them to hold their heads high. They know they did an amazing job. The overtime got to us and that's just the way it goes. We just tweaked a couple things we needed to do from the first game and came out firing on all cylinders. We kept it up the whole game. Our hits were working really well. Our vision was good and we got consistent defensive stops. We wanted to keep possession, believe in ourselves. We wanted to use the whole field and dig deep. That was our first overtime game of the season. We've practiced it, but we hadn't had a chance to implement it in a game. To do that against the best team, it showed what we can do. We're hoping to see them again."
Days getting short
Gorham's road gets no easier as Biddeford pays a visit Tuesday. The Rams then go to Scarborough next Thursday.
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"This will give us a lot of confidence going into Biddeford, then we have another three-game week coming up," Manson said. "We're getting there."
Cheverus stays on the road to take on Scarborough next Tuesday, then the Stags play three of their final four games at home.
"We'll focus on our next game and we won't get ahead of ourselves," said Johnson.
"These close games are helpful," Kennedy-Jensen said. "This gives us new outlooks on games and new things to work on in practice. It's humbling and makes us stronger."
"We expect to get everyone's best game," Musante added.
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at [email protected]. Copy the Story Link
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