The motivated Skowhegan High School River Hawks were rare underdogs in Saturday’s state Class A field hockey championship game against defending state champ Cheverus of Portland at Messalonskee High School in Oakland.
Cheverus handed the River Hawks their most lopsided state title game loss in program history a year ago, 4-1.
It was Skowhegan’s 21st consecutive state game appearance and both teams came into the game at 17-0.
But the River Hawks rallied for a pair of goals 37 seconds apart in the fourth quarter to defeat Cheverus 3-2 for their 17th state championship in 21 years.
Elli Quinn tied the game at 2-2 with 9:05 remaining when she swept home the rebound of a Samantha Thebarge shot.
Just 37 seconds later, Kate Kelso threw a pass in the circle that evaded the Cheverus goalkeeper and Layla Conway directed it into the cage for the game-winner.
Conway had opened the scoring off a Laney LeBlanc assist but Lucy Johnson’s two goals erased the 1-0 deficit for Cheverus.
Skowhegan avoided going more than one season without a state title since 1999 and 2000, when Sanford won back-to-back championships.
