PARIS — Cheverus used speed early in the first half to help build a lead too big for Oxford Hills to overcome.
The fifth-seeded Stags (9-4) then held on against the fourth-seeded Vikings’ second-half push for a 14-10 win in a Class A North girls lacrosse quarterfinal game at Don Gouin Athletic Complex on Friday.
“I think it’s evident in our fast-break goals and in our transition that we can utilize our speed and our midfielders to take the ball in the attacking zone,” Cheverus coach Sarah Varney said.
Cheverus will take on top-seeded Yarmouth (10-3) in the regional semifinals on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Attacker Riley O’Mara led the Stags with six goals, while midfielder Lucy Johnson added three goals in the victory.
The Stags transitioned from defense to offense quickly in the first half.
O’Mara scored Cheverus’ first goal after she picked up the ball in the defensive zone and ran down the field for a 1-0 lead.
“That’s the spark we needed to take control of the game,” Varney said.
Johnson scored her first two goals of the game by running end-to-end both times for a 3-1 lead for the Stags.
In the middle of the first half, the Stags started to set their offense. O’Mara scored in close by shooting low on Vikings starting goalie Zaya Vollmar for a 4-1.
The Vikings (7-6) used set plays in the first to score their goals. Saige Winslow received a pass from Allison Slicer at the top of the crease for Oxford Hills’ first goal.
Katherine Hallee found Bayleigh Young to cut the Vikings’ deficit to 4-2 with under 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
While the plays worked for the Vikings, they weren’t matching Cheverus’ tempo.
“It was almost two slow,” Oxford Hills coach Jaimee Smith said. “It made the tempo too calm, and we needed a little more urgency, I think.”
The teams traded goals as Cheverus took a 5-3 lead. O’Mara scored for Cheverus and Kasey Bennett scored a goal for the Vikings.
“It was big. They definitely caught up to us a little bit, so having that extra goal was important,” O’Mara said. “It also kept our momentum going into the second half — it got us excited and dialed in.”
Cheverus went on a three-goal run to end the half with an 8-3 lead. Mackenzie Cash and Reese Belanger scored the first two. O’Mara capped off her dominant first half with her fourth goal right before the buzzer.
O’Mara and Johnson added to their goal totals early in the second half for a 10-3 lead.
Again the teams traded goals, with O’Mara notching her sixth of the game and Hallee potting her first of the contest for the Vikings. Cheverus led 11-4 with less than 15 minutes remaining in the game.
Oxford Hills started to chip away at the deficit. Mckinley Soehren scored her first goal of the game, while Hallee and Young each notched their second goals of the afternoon to cut the Stags’ lead to 11-7.
“They were taking the momentum and going with it,” Smith said. “I think some of the girls realized if we made some quick passes and quick transitions, we will have those opportunities to score. That’s when we got those two goals quickly, and a third one.”
Down the stretch, the Vikings keyed in on O’Mara and Johnson so the Stags started to spread the wealth around. Ella Lemieux scored two goals and Christina Lapoint also found the back of the net, beating Vikings reserve goalie Delany Stone.
“I think we had (six) different goal scorers today, which was awesome,” Varney said. “That’s the type of attack we want to run, where we have multiple scorers and threats everywhere.
Oxford Hills kept the game in striking distance with two goals from Mallory Kennison and one more from Hallee, but the closest they got was 13-10.
Elle Cooney made 12 saves in goal for Cheverus.
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