PORTLAND – Waynflete attackman Zander Majercik knew when to drive hard and when to step back against Wells on Wednesday.

By the end of the third quarter, the Warriors didn’t know if they were coming or going.

Henry Cleaves scored seven goals, and Majercik scored four goals, assisted on three others and won the draw repeatedly in the decisive third quarter as the fourth-seed Flyers rolled to a 21-10 victory over No. 5 Wells in a Western Class B boys’ lacrosse quarterfinal at the Waynflete Athletic Complex.

Waynflete (7-6), which hadn’t won a postseason game since 2009, advances to a semifinal Saturday at No. 1 Cape Elizabeth (10-2).

Wells (9-4) had won four straight to close the regular season and was making a second straight appearance in the tournament.

Attackmen Harry Baker-Connick and Tim Bollinger added four goals each in the Flyers’ first home playoff victory since 2003. Waynflete held the edge in draws (18-16), groundballs (36-24) and shots (61-39).

The Flyers pulled away by outscoring Wells 7-2 in the third quarter. Majercik won 7 of 10 draws and bulled his way to the front of the net for two goals. At 9:44, he ran through two defenders, drew a slashing penalty and buried his shot for a 12-7 lead. About five minutes later, his stickwork left a defender’s stick in the grass, and he stepped around and made it 14-8.

Seventeen seconds later, Majercik rammed his way toward the goal, then fed a soft pass to a cutting Baker-Connick, whose shot found the net for a 15-8 lead.

“The key there is you have a guy on you, and you step away from him,” Majercik said. “As I step, now I can relax, prepare to shoot for placement or find Bollinger. It worked.”

“The boys came out in the second half ready to play, offensively and defensively,” Waynflete Coach Dan Thomsen said. “All three attackmen played well, and that was the difference.”

“They opened up well in the second and third quarter,” Wells Coach Kevin Colley said. “Now we have to come back big-time, and we got tired. We had a great season, we hung in there today until the half, but we just ran out of gas.”

Senior Spencer Sibley led the Warriors with six goals. Teddy Durfee, Jake Godin, Brandon Morton and Drew Shelley each scored once.

Senior goalkeeper Elias McKaig made 17 saves for Wells. Sophomore Graham Ratner had 11 saves for Waynflete.

Now, it’s back to Hannaford Field, where the Capers defeated the Flyers 16-9 on May 1.

“We’re playing the lacrosse we want to play right now,” Cleaves said. “We have to keep doing what we’re doing, only more so. We just have to keep it going, and keep improving.”

 

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