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LEWISTON — As dominant as the Cheverus field hockey team has been in recent years, the Stags’ resilience in the biggest moments may be even more remarkable.

Sophomore Jaylee Radford scored her second goal of the game with 1:58 to play Saturday, just over a minute after her team gave up a tying goal, and Cheverus won its third straight Class A state championship with a 3-2 victory over Skowhegan at Lewiston High School.

“It’s very exciting, there are a lot of emotions going on,” Radford said. “Energy really got us here, and heart.”

Cheverus (17-0-1) has won four of the last five state championships, and the Stags are 88-1-1 over their last 90 games. The only team in that stretch to beat them, Skowhegan in 2022, fought back from a 2-0 deficit Saturday and tied the game on a goal by Dasia Alberico’s goal with 3:13 to go.

Cheverus had a ready response.

“It’s easy to be up when you’re up, but what are you going to do when you’re down?” coach Andrea Musante said. “They pulled together, they kept their composure, and they knew what to do.”

It’s been a trend in the rare times when Cheverus has been down. In this year’s season opener, the Stags scored with 1:26 left in regulation to tie Biddeford, 4-4. In the regional final Thursday, also against Biddeford, Cheverus bounced back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 in overtime, netting the tying goal with 4:22 remaining in regulation.

And on Saturday, against the state’s most decorated field hockey program, the Stags did it again.

“We’re relentless,” senior midfielder Joey Pompeo said. “It’s all heart. I know I said that (Thursday), but it really is.”

Right after Alberico’s goal, Cheverus went on the attack. Brooke Brunelle had a shot that freshman standout Michelle Williams dove to save. Radford jumped on the rebound and Williams reached for another save, but Radford knocked in the second chance to put Cheverus back on top.

“I knew I really just had to get it. We just had to get it,” Radford said. “It hasn’t really hit yet that it was me, we scored, we won.”

There was one more hurdle to clear. Skowhegan was awarded two corners in the final 30 seconds, but Cheverus survived to extend its reign.

“We got a punch to the gut last game. We don’t like losing,” Pompeo said. “We just know how to respond.”

Cheverus dominated play early, picking up four corners to Skowhegan’s zero and taking a 2-0 lead on goals by Sydney Brunelle in the first quarter and Radford in the second.

“We didn’t play our game,” said Skowhegan coach Paula Doughty, whose team outscored its opponents 12-0 in the North regional. “We had trouble getting in our groove.”

The River Hawks (15-1-2) ramped up the intensity in the second half, and with 9:45 left in the third quarter, they got the chance they needed. Skowhegan was awarded a penalty stroke, and Grace Mayo buried the shot inside the left side of the cage to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Mayo had another look with four minutes to go, but Ellie Skolnekovich made a clutch save. Skowhegan kept pressing, though, and got the tying tally when Alberico tipped in a long hit by Charlotte Haynie.

“My kids have a lot, a lot of grit. They dug deep the whole game,” Doughty said. “We just didn’t execute the kind of things we’d been executing all year long, and it hurt us.

“Cheverus played a great game. … They did an amazing job.”