PORTLAND — Yarmouth came close to striking the right balance between offense and defense Tuesday — close enough to roll to a 9-3 victory against Waynflete in a Class B game at the Fore River Fields.

“In some of our games, the defense has played a majority of the game and it’s just a matter of time before they wear down,” Yarmouth Coach Steve Moore said. “Even though we were slow to get going on offense (today), we were still able to possess and control the ball and give the defense a break.”

It was the fourth win in five games for the Clippers.

“We’re very happy with the offense,” said Moore, who coached in New Jersey before following Craig Curry as Yarmouth’s coach. “I think they really get it, but we’ve got to put together four quarters and they haven’t been able to do that yet. We’ve just sort of seen two or three quarters.”

The Clippers produced enough offense to cruise past the Flyers (4-2).

“They’re a good ball team and they were a little more composed than we were,” Waynflete Coach Bob Johnson said. “I thought we could have played better. I thought we hurt ourselves. We threw the ball away trying to go for the home run instead of the easy pass.”

There was a wide disparity in man-up situations, and that had a lot to do with the outcome.

Waynflete was assessed nine penalties for a total of 8 1/2 minutes, while five penalties amounting to five minutes were called against Yarmouth.

“That was part of being undisciplined and not concentrating on what we needed to do,” Johnson said. “We’re pretty disappointed. It’s not like us to be so uncomposed.”

The Clippers managed to keep their cool, especially on defense.

“(The defense is) definitely a pretty cohesive group,” Moore said. “They really keep their composure regardless of what happens. Even if something has gone wrong, they know enough to hold back and not put what we have going for us in jeopardy.”

Yarmouth held a 20-11 edge in shots.

Bart Gallagher of the Clippers opened the scoring after seven minutes — 23 seconds into Waynflete’s first penalty. Less than four minutes into the second period, Nick Ronan made it 2-0.

Tucker Geoffroy won the faceoff for Waynflete and worked a give-and-go play down the right side with Chris Burke to make it 2-1, but Josh Britten and Anders Overhaug scored fast-break goals in the final five minutes of the first half to propel Yarmouth into a 4-1 lead.

In the second half, Matt Murphy scored two goals for the Clippers, who held a 6-1 lead at one point. Gallagher, Sam Torres and Ethan Cyr each added a goal.

Burke and Henry Cleaves scored second-half goals for the Flyers.

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at: pbetit@pressherald.com

 

Copy the Story Link