Leigh Fernandez turned a pass from Cat Johnson into a goal 44 seconds in sudden-death overtime to lift Waynflete to a 7-6 victory against Kennebunk in a girls’ lacrosse game Thursday between the top two teams in Western Class B.

It was the sixth consecutive win for the two-time defending state champion, which opened the season by losing two of its first three games.

“Kennebunk is an amazing team and they were playing very fast today,” Fernandez said. “They play unbelievable offense and defense, and it was very tough to come back from that.”

The game was a tale of two halves.

After Fernandez opened the scoring 22 seconds into the game, the Rams (8-2) held the Flyers scoreless for the rest of the first half while building a 5-1 lead.

Waynflete (7-2) came back in the second half, making it 5-5 to send the game into overtime.

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“We were not satisfied with (our) first half and we had a good halftime talk,” Fernandez said. “No one was happy at all with how we were playing. We were getting out-hustled, outplayed to every ball, and I think that changed in the second half. In general we played more as a team.”

Hannah Thompson-Greaves, a junior attacker, scored two goals in the first eight minutes of the second half to cut Kennebunk’s lead to 5-3.

“Waynflete scored two quick goals off back-crease rolls that we didn’t see and that gave them momentum,” Kennebunk Coach Ellen Barker said.

Johnson scored two goals less than three minutes apart to make it 5-5 with more than 14 minutes left to play in the second half.

Waynflete goalkeeper Charlotte Majercik made sure that the score remained tied by stopping three free-position shots during the final 12 minutes of regulation play.

In girls’ lacrosse, teams play two three-minute overtime periods to decide a winner in games that remain tied after 50 minutes of regulation play.

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If the score remains tied, the first team to score during the subsequent three-minute overtime period is declared the winner.

Kennebunk moved into a 6-5 lead 55 seconds into the first overtime on sophomore attacker Kyra Schwartzman’s second goal of the game.

Ella Millard then scored an unassisted goal with 23 seconds left in that period to tie the score again.

Neither team scored during the second overtime.

“It was a roller coaster ride,” Fernandez said.

“It’s always good to feel like you’re challenged and I think (Kennebunk) did that today,” Johnson said.

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“They made us work that much harder, which is great this late in the season. A three-overtime game is very rare.”

Johnson also said the tight game was good for the team’s new players.

“I think it made us that much closer in our experience. We have a lot of new players so games like this are great to have under your belt before you go into scary things like the playoffs,” she said.

Jenny Bush scored three goals and Kristen Koch had another for Kennebunk.

Fernandez and Johnson each finished with two assists for the Flyers.


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