Cheverus/Kennebunk’s Abby Lamontagne fires a shot past Portland/Deering goalie Adrianna Bodge and into the back of the net during their girls’ hockey South regional final at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Wednesday. (Justin Pelletier/Sun Journal)
LEWISTON — A little revenge meant a lot of goals for Cheverus/Kennebunk against rival Portland/Deering.
In returning the favor for their only regular-season loss the Stags scored the goals Wednesday that they didn’t in that New Year’s Day defeat, and now they advance to the state championship after beating the Bulldogs 8-2 in the girls’ hockey South regional final at Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
Just like the last meeting the top-seeded Stags (19-1) scored less than four minutes in, with freshman Emma McCauley scoring on the power play. But freshman Emma Merrill answered for the No. 2 Bulldogs (14-6) just 58 seconds later on their first shot of the game, which came off a faceoff after the Stags iced the puck.
Sarah Noyes gave the Stags the lead back four minutes later, and Abby Lamontagne made it 3-1 with 52 seconds left in the first. The Stags equaled their scoring output from the 4-3 overtime loss in just one period. The Stags beat the Bulldogs 6-0 in the first meeting of the season.
Lamontagne scored again with just over five minutes left in the second to give the Stags a seemingly commanding 4-1 lead, but Elena Clifford gave the Bulldogs a response 25 seconds later.
The Stags regained their three-goal lead when freshman Lucia Pompeo scored with 2:33 left before the intermission.
The rout was on in the third period. McCauley and Pompeo both scored their second goals of the game and senior captain Olivia Adams got one of her own as well.
Bulldogs senior goalie Adrianna Bodge made 17 saves, while Stags senior goalie Anna Smith stopped eight of 10 shots.
The Stags will look to win their second state championship on Saturday. They won their first title in 2010.
LEWISTON — A little revenge meant a lot of goals for Cheverus/Kennebunk against rival Portland/Deering.
In returning the favor for their only regular-season loss the Stags scored the goals Wednesday that they didn’t in that New Year’s Day defeat, and now they advance to the state championship after beating the Bulldogs 8-2 in the girls’ hockey South regional final at Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
“I think the stakes were too high to be worried about revenge,” Stags coach Scott Rousseau said. “But I do think that was the best thing to happen to us. If we would have been an undefeated team, that would have been a noose around our neck that would have carried the whole season, and I think it was a great learning moment for us that day, that we knew we had to be good every night.”
Just like the last meeting the top-seeded Stags (19-1) scored less than four minutes in, with freshman Emma McCauley scoring on the power play. But freshman Emma Merrill answered for the No. 2 Bulldogs (14-6) just 58 seconds later on their first shot of the game, which came off a faceoff after the Stags iced the puck.
“That’s kind of been our M.O. a lot,” Bulldogs coach Tom Clifford said. “We’ve done that against a lot of teams, and that’s we did against them in the City Cup. Every time they scored, we scored. The resiliency that these girls have shown all year long is amazing.”
Sarah Noyes gave the Stags the lead back four minutes later, and Abby Lamontagne made it 3-1 with 52 seconds left in the first.
“I think the Scarborough (semifinal) game got our girls pretty relaxed to know that it’s not easy, and it’s going to be a grind for 45 minutes,” Rousseau said.
The Stags equaled their scoring output from the 4-3 overtime loss in just one period. The Stags beat the Bulldogs 6-0 in the first meeting of the season.
Lamontagne scored again with just over five minutes left in the second to give the Stags a seemingly commanding 4-1 lead, but Elena Clifford gave the Bulldogs a response 25 seconds later.
The Stags regained their three-goal lead when freshman Lucia Pompeo scored with 2:33 left before the intermission.
“I thought in the second period, particularly, when our cycle game took over that was a big turn of events,” Rousseau said. “I thought we started to wear them down a bit there.”
“We just talked about you got 15 minutes left in the season we have, how do we want this to go? Do we want to go out guns-a-blazing and go as hard as we can and give ti all for 15 minutes?” Clifford said. “And again, it could have been a bounce or two, and you don’t know what’s going to happen.”
The rout was on in the third period. McCauley and Pompeo both scored their second goals of the game and senior captain Olivia Adams got one of her own as well.
“To have eight goals … and we’ve got goals from a lot of different players, that’s important for us,” Rousseau said.
Bulldogs senior goalie Adrianna Bodge made 17 saves, while Stags senior goalie Anna Smith stopped eight of 10 shots.
The Stags will look to win their second state championship on Saturday. They won their first title in 2010.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Cheverus/Kennebunk captain Sophia Pompeo, right, chips the puck past Portland/Deering defender Kim Clifford during their girls’ hockey South regional final at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston on Wednesday. (Justin Pelletier/Sun Journal)Portland/Deering’s Emily Demers, left, carries the puck past Cheverus/Kennebunk’s Abby Enck during their girls’ hockey South regional final at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Wednesday. (Justin Pelletier/Sun Journal)
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