Anyone for a do-over?

After a soggy regular season and another two weeks of playoffs, the girls’ lacrosse teams still standing are the same four that finished out 2016.

In the Class A state final, Massabesic will have another shot at defending champion Messalonskee, a 7-6 overtime winner last spring.

In Class B, Yarmouth gets another crack at defending champ Kennebunk, which ended Yarmouth’s two-year reign with a 9-7 victory.

Both games are scheduled for Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland, with Class B at 10 a.m. and Class A at 3:30 p.m.

CLASS A

Advertisement

Massabesic’s theme since Day 1 has been Unfinished Business. The Mustangs printed it on T-shirts and sweatshirts. They jumped to a 4-0 lead in last year’s championship game and led 6-3 with a little more than 12 minutes remaining.

Even after Messalonskee tied the game with 1:50 left, Massabesic had three shots in the final 30 seconds of regulation; one struck the crossbar.

“I think about it every day, even on the practice field,” said senior Emma Desrochers. “It’s painful, that moment, but you use it to motivate you, to focus you, so you’re working 10 times harder than you ever thought you could.”

Massabesic takes a 15-0 record into Saturday’s contest and won every regular-season game by at least five goals, outscoring opponents 163-40. Junior midfielder Madi Drain led the way with 37 goals and 26 assists, including playoffs. She had three goals in a 6-2 regional final victory over Marshwood.

Sharing the rest of the scoring load are Morgan Pike (31 goals, 26 assists), Taylor Manning (28/9), Logan Champlin (26/11) and Skylar Renaud (22/12). Josie Ring, Hallie Benton and Cailyn Forrester have at least 12 goals apiece.

Lydia Wasina stopped 60 percent of shots and sports a 3.1 goals-against average.

Advertisement

“We lost a lot of defenders to graduation, so we’ve got a lot of new bodies in there,” said Massabesic Coach Brooks Bowen. “But we’ve been pretty diligent in practices and in games, pounding out the details around the defense. They get better at what they do every day. They don’t panic.”

“Unfinished Business is our motto,” Drain said. “It was painful, but we definitely learned from it. Last year, we got (the state title) in our heads a little too soon and we threw it away. This year, we got it.”

Messalonskee (14-1) trailed in two of its three playoff games before beating No. 8 Portland 14-12 in the quarterfinals and No. 2 Windham 7-6 in the regional final. In the regular season, Massabesic beat those teams by a combined 28-7.

Still, the Eagles are nothing if not resilient. This is their third straight state final, and their only loss was to defending Class B champion Kennebunk in mid-May.

“The seniors are 100 percent focused now,” said Messalonskee Coach Crystal Leavitt. “They’re not in school. They want to win a championship before they leave.”

CLASS B

Advertisement

Yarmouth (15-0) and Kennebunk (12-2) meet for the third year in a row. Yarmouth, which is in its fifth straight final, won 11-10 in 2015.

On a rainy day in late May, Yarmouth beat host Kennebunk 7-3 on natural grass.

“It’s going to be a close game,” Yarmouth Coach Dorothy Holt said. “We’re closely matched.”

Both teams feature balanced attacks. For Kennebunk, Gabby Fogg, Hallie Schwartzman and Erin Groton lead an offense that includes Katherine Koch, Briannagh Beaudette, Leah Dumas and Mia Banglmaier.

“It will be the little things in this game that make the difference – the (fewest) turnovers, good shots and 50 minutes of smart play,” said Kennebunk Coach Annie Barker. “The Kennebunk girls are well prepared and ready to have fun.”

For Yarmouth, the top seven include Ella Antolini, Cory Langenbach, Eliza Lunt, Katie Waeldner, Greta Elder, Eva Then and Molly Wilson.

Advertisement

“We’ve been talking all season about how we want to get back to the state final against them,” Holt said. “It’s exactly what we want. Win, lose or draw, we’ve followed our plan and we’re going to give it our all.”

Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or:

Gjordan@pressherald.com

Twitter: GlennJordanPPH


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

filed under: