PORTLAND – Ryan Pallotta provided the second-half spark Saturday as Scarborough rolled to a 9-4 victory against Cheverus to capture its third consecutive Class A boys’ lacrosse championship at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
Pallotta scored three of his season-high five goals in the second half to help the Red Storm break open a close game.
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“I just come out and go as hard as I can all the time, especially in a game like this,” Pallotta said. “You need to spark the team and get it going. I try my hardest to do that every game.”
Scarborough scored the first five goals of the second half to spoil the Stags’ first trip to a lacrosse state final.
“They started to take advantage of us in transition,” Cheverus Coach Deke Andrew said. “They got a little bit of a run going there and we couldn’t shut it down.”
The Red Storm (14-1) clung to a 4-3 halftime lead.
“They came out and really gave us fits,” Scarborough Coach Joe Hezlep said. “Being a transition team we are, it’s tough to see the ball go the other way. We’re not really used to that, but we finally connected on some plays at the end. It took a long time before our pressure started to click and we actually connected on some plays.”
Statistically, Cheverus (11-5) held a slight edge in play in the first half, but that didn’t translate into goals.
“We came out strong and came out firing,” Andrew said. “We had a lot of scoring opportunities during the first and second quarters, and they just didn’t fall.”
Scarborough held the Stags scoreless in the first 17 minutes of the second half while gradually pulling away into a 9-3 advantage.
“They were putting a lot of nice pressure, pushing out on us,” Andrew said. “The guys were receiving the ball with a stick on their hands and it made it difficult to make catches. (Scarborough) is going to put a lot of pressure on you and make you make mistakes.”
According to Hezlep, the game played out according to plan.
“We run a lot of players and that’s part of our plan to put on a lot of pressure early and have it come through late,” he said.
“(Cheverus) had a strong defense but we kept breaking them down and getting into their heads,” Pallotta said.
Both schools are members of the Southern Maine Activities Association but didn’t play each other in the regular season.
“We knew some of the matchups but we were in the dark about them,” Scarborough attackman John Wheeler said.
“We just came out and executed.”
Wheeler, Jon Blaisdell, Cam Loiselle and Austin Doody each scored a goal for the Red Storm.
Brent Green, Tommy Sullivan, Tom Lawson and Jack Sutton scored for Cheverus, which upset top-ranked Brunswick and third-seeded Deering in the Eastern Class A tournament.
“Obviously it’s tough to get to this point and come up short,” Andrew said.
“Our program is in a place it’s never been and it’s only getting better.”
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com
Twitter: PaulBetitPPH
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