The Scarborough girls' hockey team completed an undefeated season Tuesday with a 2-0 win over Falmouth for the Maine Girls Ice Hockey Association Tier II championship, and the game was the last in Maine for Red Storm Coach Breanne Fortiguerra.
A day after Scarborough won the Tier II title, Biddeford successfully defended its Tier I championship with a 2-1 win over Cheverus.
Fortiguerra, one of the first female hockey players in the state, completed her sixth year of coaching at Scarborough.
"The girls have come so far," Fortiguerra said. "Every year the girls have made so much more progress."
Fortiguerra is a 1997 graduate of Massabesic High, where she was on the boys' hockey team, then played on the women's team at the University of Southern Maine.
"She played against the boys all the way from mites, and at that time there weren't any girls playing," said John Fortiguerra, her father and an assistant coach at Scarborough. "Either she played with the boys or she didn't play at all."
Fortiguerra is getting married this summer and plans to move to the Toronto area.
Scarborough will also be one of the first teams next season to participate in girls' hockey as a sport sanctioned by the Maine Principals' Association. It was one of 11 programs approved when the MPA sanctioned girls' hockey.
JENNIFER ROBERTS of Sanford continues to dominate in the pool.
Less than two weeks after winning two individual titles at the Class A championships at the University of Maine, Roberts set two records March 1 at the New England Swimming and Diving Championships.
She won the girls' 200-yard individual medley (2:12.60) and the 100 backstroke (59.90), and led a Maine contingent that won 10 events.
Scarborough's Nicole Harmon won the girls' 100 butterfly in 59.84. Greely's Nathan Mecray won the boys' 50 freestyle (22.82) and 100 breast stroke (1:00.90) and teamed with John Madeira, Andrew Bowden and Adam Norton to help Greely win the boys' 200 medley relay (1:43.82). Mecray, Patrick Bowden, Andrew Bowden and Ian Mecray won the boys' 200 freestyle relay (1:32.79)
Greely's Jessica Howard won the girls' diving with 344.75 points.
THE MPA will hold its Mentoring Women in Sports Conference on March 14 at the MPA Conference Center in Augusta.
Bowdoin women's basketball coach Stefanie Pemper will be the keynote speaker. A panel of high school athletes will discuss issues that relate to competitive athletics.
Conference registration is available on the MPA's Web site (www.mpa.cc). Registration is $60 and the deadline is March 12.
HAILEY CHADBOURNE, the Maine Sunday Telegram field hockey MVP, has verbally committed to play at Iowa in the fall of 2009.
Chadbourne, a junior at Gardiner, had 16 goals and 11 assists last season. She also considered Maryland, Duke, Louisville, Massachusetts, Stanford and Northeastern.
Chadbourne, who has career totals of 45 goals and 34 assists, is considering coaching after college and believes Iowa's program is suited for her.
"There was a lot of stuff which led to my decision," said Chadbourne. "Just walking on the campus, there was an amazing pride that caught my attention, not just in the team but in the school as a whole."
Mike Lowe contributed to this report.
Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be reached at 791-6415 or at:
rlenzi@pressherald.com
Reader comments
Click here to view or add comments on this story
Were you interviewed for this story? If so, please fill out our accuracy form