When Steve Moore first moved to Maine from New Jersey last summer, he didn’t know whether he would get the opportunity to continue coaching high school lacrosse.

Moore left his job as a biology teacher and coach of the boys’ lacrosse team at Lawrence High School in New Jersey after his wife, Amy, moved into a management position at L.L. Bean.

Apparently, the stars were aligned.

About the same time the Moores made the move to Maine, Craig Curry stepped down after seven successful years as coach of the boys’ lacrosse team at Yarmouth.

“Obviously, I was looking for a job,” Moore said. “When they advertised the position, I threw my hat in the ring.”

It was a good move.

“We had some pretty good candidates, but ultimately we decided to go with Steve because of his coaching background,” said Yarmouth Athletic Director Susan Robbins. “The timing was just right, and everything kind of fell into place.”

Moore, who grew up in Merrimack, N.H., brings 16 seasons of varsity coaching experience to his new job.

Moore coached boys’ lacrosse at Thornton Academy for one year in the 1990s. He also has coached at St. Andrew’s School in Rhode Island and The Pennington School in New Jersey.

Moore grew up playing hockey and didn’t play lacrosse at the varsity level until he was a cadet at Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

“My high school didn’t have a lacrosse team,” he said. “I was a hockey player, and when I went to hockey camps I picked up some stick skills.”

As the new coach of the Clippers, Moore knows he has some big shoes to fill. During Curry’s tenure, Yarmouth won six regional titles and four state championships.

“Obviously, it’s one of the top programs in the state, and I can’t imagine (Curry) leaving it in any better condition,” Moore said. “It’s a great program, from top to bottom.”

This spring, a total of 55 players are playing lacrosse on varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams at Yarmouth.

“We’re a rebuilding program, right now,” Moore said. “We’ve got a lot of young kids who have never seen the varsity field, so it will take some time.”

 

COULD THE Kennebunk girls be the team to beat in Western Class A?

The Rams pulled off an impressive 12-10 win Saturday against Waynflete, perennially one of the state’s top teams. It was their first win over the Flyers since 2003.

The teams traded goals before Rose Bryant scored the clincher for Kennebunk with less than a minute to play.

— Staff Writer Jenn Menendez contributed to this report.

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com