Way back in the school year of 2009-10, Scarborough High went undefeated and won girls’ Class A state titles in field hockey, basketball and lacrosse and fell just short of a crown in softball, losing to Cheverus in the regular season and to South Portland in the regional final.

Those four Red Storm teams posted a combined record of 72-2.

A high, high bar indeed.

That bar has been raised.

By the 2023-24 Cheverus Stags, who set records, won epic games and took home four big class championship trophies between November and June.

Field hockey and girls’ basketball went undefeated en route to title celebrations, while girls’ hockey and softball lost once apiece, but avenged those setbacks in the most timely and delicious way possible.

All told, those four Stags teams went 77-2 and took home four crowns.

Not too shabby for a school that has only featured female athletes for a couple of decades and one that until just recently, wasn’t exactly known for dominance on the field, ice, court or diamond.

While each champion had its superstars, three who stand at the pinnacle of their respective sport, it was truly an inclusive effort across the board that resulted in unrivaled glory.

Before hailing the title teams one more time, let’s take at look at how far the Cheverus girls’ sports program has come in a very short time.

A lot of growth

Cheverus was an all-boys institution throughout the 20th Century, but in the fall of 2000, the school opened its doors to girls and a handful gravitated to athletics, but it took some time to field varsity teams and even longer for those squads to make an impact.

When Theresa Hendrix entered Cheverus as a freshman in the fall of 2006, field hockey had existed for two years with a combined record of 2-25-1, basketball had four seasons of varsity experience, with just 10 combined victories to show for it, and softball had won 11 total games in its four seasons, but did have one playoff berth to its credit.

It didn’t take long for Hendrix to help put those programs on the map.

“Girls’ sports were just taking root, but the Cheverus spirit was already there,” said Hendrix, now better known as Theresa Arsenault, the Stags’ former field hockey and softball coach and now the field hockey college at St. Joseph’s College. “There’s been a lot of growth, but what makes Cheverus super-special is its community feel.”

Amy Ashley, the school’s current athletic director, also showed up in the fall of 2006 and echoed the sentiment.

“When I got there, we made the playoffs in field hockey for the first time, basketball wasn’t competitive at all and softball wasn’t very good,” said Ashley.

Then known as Amy McMullin, a recent graduate of Franklin Pierce University, McMullin helped coach the field hockey team to its first playoff berth in 2006 and for five straight seasons, the Stags would advance one round deeper in the tournament. In 2009, Hendrix’s senior season, Cheverus gave that aforementioned Scarborough powerhouse a mighty scare in the Western A Final, holding an early lead before falling, 3-2.

“I coached against that Scarborough team and I remember that group,” Ashley said. “They were excellent.”

The following year, the Stags ended the Red Storm’s title reign with a semifinal round upset. Cheverus then beat Bonny Eagle in the regional final to become the second girls’ team from the school to play for a state title that calendar year, nine months after girls’ hockey won the second state tournament sanctioned by the Maine Principals’ Association (girls’ soccer was the first Cheverus girls’ team to reach a regional final, in 2005, and girls’ cross country won the first championship, in 2009). The Stags were beaten by perennial powerhouse Skowhegan, 3-0, in the state game, but Cheverus had arrived.

During the decade from 2010-19, field hockey averaged 11 wins a year and played in three regional finals and one state game, while ice hockey won 114 games, played in two more state games and won a title in 2019, basketball made the playoffs every year, reaching the regional final for the first time in 2013, and softball struggled for the most part, winning just 52 games, making the playoffs on only three occasions.

And then, after the pandemic, Cheverus took it to another level.

Field hockey went undefeated and won the Class A state title for the first time in 2021, then was undefeated again in 2022 before losing to Skowhegan in the state game.

Ice hockey won 13 games and lost a triple-overtime thriller to Scarborough in the 2022 South Region semifinals, then captured a state title the following year, beating Yarmouth/Freeport by a goal in the state game.

Basketball won a crown for the first time in 2022, then just missed out on repeating in 2023, when it lost in double-overtime to Oxford Hills in the Class AA North Final.

Softball jumped from four wins in both 2021 and 2022 to nine victories, including one in the playoffs, in 2023.

And then came 2023-24, a school year for the ages.

Take that, Skowhegan

Field hockey set the tone.

Cheverus’ one-goal 2022 state game loss to Skowhegan served as its lone blemish.

A painful blemish that drove the 2023 squad from start to finish.

The Stags won all 14 regular season games, by a composite margin of 84 goals to 3.

Junior standout Lucy Johnson paced the offense, but she had plenty of help from fellow All-State selections senior Lily Johnson (Lucy’s older sister,) and sophomore Joey Pompeo, while Mackenzie Cash, Taylor Krieger, Lillian Magda, Brynn McKenney, Charlotte Miller, Zoey Radford, Sophia St. John and Mikayla Talbot played invaluable roles, sophomore goalie Ellie Skolnekovich came up big when necessary and newcomers like freshmen Sydney Brunelle and Caroline Rousseau made major impacts.

Cheverus then rolled to the title, as numerous girls came up huge in big spots.

The Stags blanked Massabesic, 3-0, in the quarterfinals, in a game that was never in doubt, but it wasn’t just any 1-vs.-8 contest, all eyes were on Lucy Johnson, who with 6:45 remaining in the contest, scored her state record 112th career goal. Cheverus then handled Scarborough, 7-0, in the semifinals, as Radford produced a hat trick, Lucy Johnson scored twice and Rousseau began to make her presence felt with two goals. In the regional final against Biddeford, the Stags prevailed, 5-0, behind three goals from Lucy Johnson and two more from Rousseau.

On Nov. 4, Cheverus traveled to Lewiston High School hoping to take the final step against the team the Stags hoped to face all along, Skowhegan, and the squads produced another down-to-the-wire classic. Talbot gave Cheverus an early lead, but the River Hawks drew even and the score stayed 1-1 deep into the fourth quarter. Finally, with just 58 seconds left in regulation, Lucy Johnson completed a brilliant individual sequence by scoring her 118th career goal, and her biggest to date, to produce an unforgettable 2-1 victory.

“It’s amazing,” Lucy Johnson said. “I have no words. It was such a relief when the buzzer rang and we could celebrate.”

“I’m speechless, beyond excited,” said Lily Johnson, who would be named Miss Maine Field Hockey. “I think we really deserved it. We worked hard all season for this. It was just so special being back here.”

“It’s a sweet feeling,” said Arsenault. “I’m so happy for the team. That fire was inside the girls after last year. As an alumnae, I’m super-proud and super-honored. It was a dream group of girls to coach.”

“I love where the field hockey team is at,” added Ashley, the former coach and current AD. “They set the tone because they had a target on their back. It took all 60 minutes to win it, but the team believed and supported each other.”

And just like that, title number one was in the books.

And the fun was just beginning.

Back-to-back, with a dose of redemption 

Several top players from field hockey, including the Johnson sisters, McKenney, Miller, Rousseau and Talbot, kept a stick in their hands during the winter, this time playing on skates, and while they didn’t quite finish undefeated, they had a perfect ending nonetheless.

The Stags went 15-1 in the regular season, losing only at Yarmouth/Freeport by a goal in January.

Cheverus finished with the top seed in the South Region and earned a bye into the semifinals, where it handled Falmouth/Scarborough, 8-2. In the regional final, the Stags overcame a slow start to eliminate Gorham, 6-2, as Lucy Johnson scored three goals, Talbot added a pair and Rousseau also put the puck in the net. Standout senior goalie Ella Lemieux made 18 saves.

Fittingly, Yarmouth/Freeport was the last obstacle and on Feb. 17, in Auburn, Cheverus avenged its lone loss with an impressive 4-0 victory. Talbot scored twice in the second period, then assisted on third period goals by Lucy Johnson and Rousseau. Lemieux, who along with McKenney, was a finalist for the Becky Schaffer Award, given to the state’s top senior (Lily Johnson and Talbot were semifinalists) made 14 more saves in her swan song.

“For the most part, we’ve had the same group of girls both years, so winning it back-to-back was really special, especially for the seniors,” said Talbot.

“This accomplishment is unique to them,” said Stags coach Scott Rousseau, who is the father of Caroline. “It’s the best Cheverus team that has ever played and was one of the best ever. It’s pretty special. The kids embraced doing what they loved most with the people they love most and I loved coaching them.”

“There was a lot of crossover from field hockey and those girls were used to winning and that helped them reach the pinnacle,” Ashley added.

Two titles down, two to go, and the next one was just a couple of weeks away.

From perseverance to perfection

While field hockey and ice hockey were viewed as favorites coming into their seasons, basketball was a different story.

Sure, the Stags had the state’s best player, senior Maddie Fitzpatrick, but when senior post standout Emma Lizotte transferred to Thornton Academy and Jaelyn Jensen and Jenna Jensen left for Mt. Ararat, suddenly there were a lot of question marks.

Questions that Cheverus would answer in the affirmative, time and again, as senior Ruth Boles emerged as a star, senior Megan Dearborn became a third scoring option and the likes of senior Olivia Conroy, junior Rachel Feeley, Anna Goodman (the daughter of Stags coach Billy Goodman), fellow sophomore Rachel LaSalle and freshmen Addison Jordan and Abby Kelly were superb role players, playing strong defense, grabbing timely rebounds and hitting occasional baskets.

Cheverus came out of the gate swinging and never looked back.

The Stags turned heads early with a decisive win at Oxford Hills and a home victory over Thornton Academy. Cheverus would be tested by Scarborough and Oxford Hills in a second meeting, but managed to run the table, going 18-0 with an average margin of victory of 23 points.

The Stags earned a bye into the semifinals and pulled away in the second half to down Lewiston, 57-35. Cheverus then got a shot at avenging the previous year’s agonizing ouster when it took on Oxford Hills in the regional final. While Fitzpatrick missed almost half the game with foul trouble, Boles had the game of her life, scoring 20 points, and the Stags managed to advance, 48-38, reaching the state final for the second time.

And there, on March 2 at the Cross Insurance Arena against Gorham, Cheverus capped its magical campaign with a 38-24 victory, as Feeley and Jordan held Rams’ star Ellie Gay to just two field goals, Boles (17 points) paced the offense and Fitzpatrick (14 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and three steals) did a little of everything.

“We had the confidence we could do something like this,” said Fitzpatrick, who averaged 25 points, a dozen rebounds, five assists and five steals would go on to be named Miss Maine Basketball and Maine’s Gatorade Player of the Year. “If you don’t have the confidence, you won’t be able to achieve it.”

“I truly can’t believe it,” Billy Goodman said. “Every championship has been special, but Maddie, Ruth and Megan mean so much to me and having my daughter on the team was just incredible.”

“Maddie talks about how much that team cared for each other,” Ashley added. “They didn’t know what to expect at the start, but they hung together. Maddie was an incredible leader and Ruth rose to the occasion, especially in the playoffs. I can’t stress how great those kids are.”

That made for a total of three championships.

The most historic, and dramatic, was still to come.

Coming up aces

Cheverus’ softball team went 9-9 in 2023 under Arsenault, losing to Biddeford, 11-6, in the Class A South quarterfinals. After Arsenault left for St. Joe’s, John Eisenhart, a former baseball coach at Westbrook, assistant softball coach at Greely and an assistant with the Stags last season, took over, with Ashley and Ralph Hendrix, stepping in as assistants.

They inherited a group that was already poised to make a move up the standings, but when freshman pitching phenom Addison DeRoche came on board, Cheverus quickly went from a contender to one of the favorites and the season would be one of historic dominance, ending with the ultimate triumph.

DeRoche debuted in the second game and no-hit Scarborough. She’d add two more no-hitters and a perfect game over the course of a regular season which saw the Stags go 15-1.

“Addie’s just incredible,” Eisenhart said. “She’s such a great competitor (and) she’s so talented. She’s just an incredible person, too.”

The one loss came in the finale, a 3-1 decision at reigning state champion Windham in front of an overflow crowd.

Cheverus shook it off, prepared to see the Eagles again, then embarked on the first championship run in program history.

DeRoche threw no-hitters to beat both Massabesic (3-0) in the quarterfinals and Scarborough (8-0) in the semifinals, setting the stage for one of the finest played and most heavily attended softball games in state history, the Class A South Final versus Windham at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham.

No one who witnessed it will forget the environment or the drama, as DeRoche and Eagles senior ace Brooke Gerry matched zeroes for nine innings, each striking out a ridiculous number of batters in an anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better pitcher’s duel for the ages.

Finally, in the top of the 10th, the Stags broke through on clutch hits from junior rightfielder Delia Tremble and senior shortstop Kelsey Cassidy. In the bottom half, DeRoche’s 23rd strikeout ended it and Cheverus prevailed, 2-0, in an instant classic, a game that will be talked about for decades.

“I wish I’d been able to see that game as a fan,” Ashley said. “The buzz around it was incredible.”

The Stags still had one final hurdle and while Oxford Hills gave them a scare in the state game at Auburn, the bat of sophomore centerfielder Hailey Lamontagne and one more gem from DeRoche, who returned from a showcase in Kansas City the night before and allowed just one unearned run on one hit and one walk while recording all 21 outs by strikeout, was just enough to carry the day. DeRoche’s final K gave Cheverus a 3-1 victory and a championship celebration commenced.

“Winning a championship with Cheverus when it had never been done before was the pinnacle of my first high school season,” said DeRoche. “It unites us together forever.”

Immortality

Four teams, four titles.

Was it  the most accomplished girls’ sports school year ever?

Scarborough, circa 2009-10, certainly has an argument, as its four powerhouse teams had a similar record, but ultimately, the Red Storm “only” brought home three championships, while Cheverus captured four and avenged its two losses in the process, at the most optimal time.

“Field hockey had maybe the best player ever in Maine, Lily was fantastic too and they had great role players,” Billy Goodman said. “Hockey had several of the same players and a great goalie. Softball had an experienced core of Anna (Goodman), Bella (Napolitano Aberle), Ashley (Connor), Anna Kennedy-Jensen and Hailey, then add in Abby Kelly and DeRoche. Addie could have had 300 strikeouts this year. I think she’ll go down as the greatest pitcher Maine’s ever had. It’s amazing to have all of that at one school.”

“It’s stunning,” said Scott Rousseau, who once knew nothing but agony as a coach of the Falmouth boys’ hockey team, which suffered five straight playoff ousters between 1998 and 2002, each more gutwrenching than the last. “For every horrific tournament nightmare I went through, I’m getting paid back now. It’s not all the same group of kids either. The basketball team was completely different from hockey. It just goes to show the varied amount of talent. Caroline has posters from her two championships in her room and I tell her that 99 percent of kids play four years of high school sports, two or three sports, and never come close to what she’s experienced. I don’t think the kids get that yet. They just want to play.”

“It’s incredible,” Arsenault said. “There are so many great leaders at the school. All the teams work so hard. There were the same principles across all the teams. I loved reading about the teams that I wasn’t coaching. I was blessed to coach two of them and get insight into the other two. Each team had superstars, but what made them great was how they got the rest of the team to play with them. What Maddie Fitzpatrick did in basketball is a great testament to that.”

“I’m still a little in awe of what we accomplished,” added Ashley. “We hadn’t won much until recently. We made noise a little bit, but what we did this year was incredible. There was individual success in each sport, but what led to team success was that those star girls are incredible kids who always put the team first.”

Several players contributed to two of the titles and two of them, McKenney and Talbot, were champions in field hockey, ice hockey and softball.

Not a bad way to bow out.

“Credit to Brynn and Mikayla,” said Scott Rousseau. “How many seniors would have played softball with so many freshmen and sophomores getting the playing time? It just shows their high-quality character.”

“Those two kids brought so much to every team they were on,” Arsenault said.

Cross-pollination

The players supported each other in different seasons as well.

In the fall, Anna Goodman, usually with her father in tow, was a regular at field hockey games. Basketball and ice hockey had huge support from the entire student body and in the aftermath of the softball win over Windham, Lucy Johnson was down on the field taking pictures with some of the heroes from that epic contest.

“The girls in one sport would talk about how important the other teams were to them,” said Arsenault. “It was stunning how many students showed up for the Windham and Oxford Hills games. It was really, really special.”

“The kids were really supportive of each other,” Scott Rousseau said. “Caroline and Addison are really good friends. They watch each other play.”

“You see your classmates win and you think you can do it too,” said Eisenhart. “It’s a small school and a small community, but the girls all went to each other’s games.”

Encore?

No one can envision next school year equaling this year’s accomplishments, but Cheverus will remain a powerhouse in multiple sports.

Continued success is a given with Ashley in the athletic director’s chair.

“Amy has been there almost since the beginning and now she’s in a leadership role,” Arsenault said. “She was supportive of me as the field hockey coach. She’s come to basketball practices and toughened up the girls and now she gets to coach softball. I’m so happy for her.”

“Amy’s an outstanding athletic director,” Scott Rousseau said. “She’s not afraid to make tough decisions. She does a great job giving the coaches the resources and support we need to be successful. She’s still a coach at heart.”

An unrivaled senior class will be impossible to replace.

“I hope the seniors’ success continues into the next year and into the rest of their lives,” Arsenault said.

“That senior class is special,” said Ashley. “They’ll be a tough act to follow.”

All four sports will be loaded for bear in varying degrees in 2024-25.

So look out.

“I wish (Theresa) didn’t have to leave. I love her and she played for me, but she’s set (field hockey) up for success,” said Ashley, who has hired Andrea Musante, a longtime assistant coach, as Arsenault’s replacement.

“No one will feel sorry for us, but we’ll be good again in goal and on defense and we return Lucy and Caroline on offense,” Scott Rousseau said.

I’m going to miss the seniors, but I have a great group of girls coming back who will work hard,” said Billy Goodman. “When I got to Cheverus five years ago, there was declining participation. Only 14 kids were in the girls’ basketball program. Things have definitely turned around.”

“We have players ready to step up, so our future is bright too,” Eisenhart said.

“It’s hard once you’ve won,” Ashley added. “Every year is different.”

Every year is different, but one will never be forgotten.

The 2023-24 Cheverus Stags now belong to the ages.

And the record books.

“Special kids, special year,” said Billy Goodman.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.

« Previous

Lockdown pitching leads Scarborough baseball to state title

Next »

Clippers crowned champion, over and over and over and over again