YARMOUTH — The Yarmouth boys’ lacrosse team was not going to experience a letdown one week after its biggest regular-season win in years.

Certainly not against its crosstown rival.

The Clippers were coming off a 7-6 victory at defending Class B champion Cape Elizabeth – their first win in 21 tries against the Capers – and on Tuesday faced a North Yarmouth Academy squad off to its best start since 2007, when the Panthers won their most recent state championship.

But the Panthers were no match for Yarmouth’s staunch defense or Anders Corey. The sophomore scored six first-half goals as the Clippers opened an 8-0 halftime lead and never looked back en route to a 14-2 win, their 13th straight in the series.

“Beating Cape was a huge boost for us and we wanted to play our hardest again tonight,” said Corey, who finished with seven goals and two assists against NYA. “We can’t underestimate any opponent.”

Corey’s unassisted goal two minutes in got it started for Yarmouth, and Gavin Hamm’s goal made it 2-0. Yarmouth then pulled away in the second quarter as Corey scored five straight goals. Then, as time expired, he set up Silas Chappell for a goal to make it 8-0 at the break.

“Anders is capable of breaking out at any time,” said Clippers Coach David Pearl. “He’s a special player and today, he played possessed and with confidence.”

NYA managed only two shots on goal in the first half, as Yarmouth continued its run of stellar defense.

“This defense has more character than I’ve seen before,” said Pearl. “They’ve bonded outside the field. They have a hard-nosed attitude.”

The Panthers were far more competitive in the third period.

After Joe Truesdale made it 9-0, NYA got on the board with a goal from Ryan Baker.

After Corey scored for the seventh time, NYA got goals from Connor Clock and Connor Senger to make it 11-2 Clippers heading for the fourth period.

In the penalty-plagued final period, Justin Winkel, Hamm and Chappell finished the scoring for the Clippers.

“We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but the boys sensed how important a rivalry this is and they dug in,” Pearl said. “We focused on NYA.”

The Clippers finished with a 24-8 advantage in shots and goalie Spencer King made six saves. Will Tatge stopped 10 shots for NYA.

“We couldn’t get anything going early,” said Panthers Coach Glenn Gorden. “We went up against a very good team. Yarmouth finished their looks and we didn’t. I’m proud we fought to the end.”

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