BOX SCORE

Waynflete 17 Oak Hill 5

OH- 0 1 2 2- 5
W-5 4 3 5- 17

First quarter
10:29 W Whipple (Millspaugh) (MAN-UP)
9:34 W Hopkins (Millspaugh)
8:28 W Whipple (unassisted)
3:56 W Millspaugh (unassisted)
3:06 W Kirby (O. Anderson)

Second quarter
8:04 W Whipple (unassisted)
6:46 W Burton-Johanson (Millspaugh)
5:50 W Whipple (Burton-Johanson)
2:34 W Cloutier (Burton-Johanson)
1:03 OH Godbout (unassisted)

Third quarter
10:02 OH Caron (Hopkins)
8:20 OH Worth (unassisted)
7:04 W Lane (Hopkins) (MAN-UP)
6:31 W Cloutier (Millspaugh)
52.6 W O. Anderson (Millspaugh) (MAN-DOWN)

Fourth quarter
8:32 OH Samson (Worth) (MAN-DOWN)
7:44 W Lane (Hopkins)
5:26 W Whipple (unassisted)
3:26 W Millspaugh (unassisted)
2:04 W Lane (unassisted)
41.8 OH Daniels (unassisted)
24.1 W Adey (Lane)

Goals:
OH- Caron, Daniels, Godbout, Samson, Worth 1
W- Whipple 5, Lane 3, Cloutier, Millspaugh 2, Adey, O. Anderson, Burton-Johanson, Hopkins, Kirby 1

Assists:
OH- Hopkins, Worth 1
W- Millspaugh 5, Burton-Johanson, Hopkins 2, O. Anderson, Lane 1

Faceoffs (Waynflete, 17-8)
OH- Pelkey 4 of 13, Leet 4 of 12
W- Holdridge 14 of 20, Talpey 2 of 4, Isherwood 1 of 1

Ground balls:
OH- 18
W- 39

Turnovers:
OH- 23
W- 22

Shots:
OH- 30
W-43

Shots on cage:
OH- 15
W- 28

Saves:
OH (Michaud) 11
W (Vest) 10

PORTLAND—Mission accomplished!

And what an accomplishment.

Waynflete’s boys’ lacrosse team lived up to its preseason billing as the team to beat Saturday in utterly emphatic fashion against Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon in the Class C state final, as the Flyers capped arguably the finest season in program history with a breathtaking display of dominance from start to finish.

Three days after an inspirational win over longtime rival North Yarmouth Academy in the state semifinals, top-ranked Waynflete took on the second-seeded, undefeated Raiders at Fitzpatrick Stadium and quickly seized control.

Two goals from senior sharpshooter Sam Whipple and another from Roan Hopkins produced a 3-0 lead before the game was four minutes old and senior standout Harry Millspaugh and freshman Nico Kirby added one more apiece to make it 5-0 after one period.

With senior goalie Alex Vest holding the Raiders at bay, the Flyers kept the pedal to the metal, getting goals from Whipple, freshman Nils Burton-Johanson, Whipple again and sophomore Seth Cloutier before junior Jacob Godbout finally got Oak Hill on the board to make the score 9-1 at halftime.

The Raiders showed a little life at the start of the second half, as junior Travis Caron and senior Riley Worth scored, but senior Ned Lane, Cloutier and senior Owen Anderson answered to make it 12-3 Waynflete after three.

After senior Gabe Samson got a goal back for Oak Hill early in the fourth period, Lane, Whipple, Millspaugh and Lane scored to induce a 12-goal, mercy rule running clock.

The Raiders got one final goal from junior D’Andre Daniels before Flyers senior defensive standout Ben Adey got in on the scoring fun, finishing in the final minute to deliver the punctuation mark on a most impressive 17-5 victory.

Whipple led the way with five goals, Lane added three, Millspaugh bowed out with two goals and five assists and nine different players scored in all as Waynflete finished its season of brilliance with a record of 14-1 and handed the Raiders their first setback in 14 outings in the process.

“This feels great,” said Vest. “We came in hoping to do it. I felt like it was state championship or bust this year. I felt like losing wasn’t an option. We started talking as a team in January and this was right up there as a goal.”

Coronation

Waynflete won inaugural Class C championship back in 2018, then was upset by eventual champion North Yarmouth Academy in 2019 before losing out on the 2020 season altogether.

This spring, the Flyers have lived up to billing as a top contender, winning 11 of 12 regular season games (see sidebar, for links to previous game stories), losing only to Class A South runner-up Berwick Academy, then rolling past No. 8 Fryeburg Academy (12-1) in the state quarterfinals and beating No. 4 NYA with surprising ease in Wednesday’s semifinals, 11-4.

Oak Hill meanwhile, won its 11 regular season games, scoring 181 goals in the process. Only Gardiner proved to be a challenge, but the Raiders prevailed, 10-7 and 16-11.  The Raiders then dispatched No. 7 St. Dom’s (20-1) in the state quarterfinals and No. 3 Wells (16-12) in their semifinal.

Oak Hill and Waynflete didn’t meet this season.

The teams played four previous times in the playoffs. Oak Hill prevailed, 5-3, to win the 1992 Division II championship and won again, 9-8, in overtime, in the 1993 Division II semifinals, while the Flyers enjoyed a 12-10 victory in the 1995 Division I quarterfinals and 13-6 in the 2018 Class C state quarterfinals.

The Raiders were taking part in their third state final, while Waynflete was participating in its sixth (see sidebar).

Saturday, on a sizzling afternoon (sunny and 85 degrees at the start before turning to rain in the second quarter before turning back to sun for the second half), the Flyers wrote a most pleasing final chapter to their season.

Millspaugh tried to break the ice 27 seconds in, but his shot bounced over the goal.

Anderson then had a shot saved by Raiders sophomore goalie Nicholas Michaud.

Fifty-eight seconds in, Vest was tested for the first time, but he denied senior Caleb Richard.

Waynflete then went man-up and took advantage, as with 10:29 to play in the first quarter, Millspaugh set up Whipple to put the Flyers ahead to stay.

“You get out there and you just hope you can get on the board first and get that release and once we did, we felt like it would keep coming,” said Flyers coach Andrew Leach.

Waynflete needed only 55 seconds to add a second goal, as Millspaugh again distributed, this time to Hopkins.

Goal number three came with 8:28 remaining, as Whipple scored unassisted and Raiders coach Joey Hinkley called timeout.

After Whipple and Cloutier had shots saved by Michaud, Millspaugh broke through with 3:56 to go, finishing unassisted.

Fifty seconds later, it was Kirby’s turn, as he finished a feed from Anderson to make it 5-0.

Late in the quarter, Vest turned aside shots from Daniels and Worth and the Flyers were well on their way.

Early in the second period, Vest continued to shine, denying Caron, freshman Gavin Leet and junior Tiger Hopkins.

“We scouted them really well,” said Vest. “We knew (Hopkins and Caron) would be shooting, but we locked them down all day. Our defense was awesome. A lot of times I get down on myself early if a goal goes in, but today, I was happy the whole time.”

“(The Raiders) have great players, but we’re fortunate to have Alex Vest,” said Leach. “I think he’s the best goalie in the state of Maine and Ben Adey, (sophomore) Jasper Curtis, (senior) Mike Veroneau, we have, I think, the best defense in the state. We have the tools to take on All-Americans and they took care of business today.”

With 8:04 left in the first half, Whipple finished unassisted after a nice dodge.

With 6:56 to go, in transition, Millspaugh set up Burton-Johanson to make it 7-0.

“I recently strung my stick and was shooting a little off,” Millspaugh said. “After my first few misses, I didn’t want to shoot and guys were getting open and I kept going to them. I can really trust the other guys on the crease to finish goals.”

“Harry makes it easier for everyone,” Whipple said. “He draws attention and that makes it easier to dodge.”

“Usually we have a quarter where our offense stalls, but for us to score first and keep the offense going, that’s what you want as a coach,” added Leach. “These guys share the ball. We’ve done that all season. We try to have as balanced an offense as we can, knowing Harry and Sam will get theirs. We try to share it early and they can take over late. Harry ended the season close to 40 (goals)-40 (assists). He makes it really easy for our offense.”

After another Raiders timeout, Burton-Johanson set up Whipple for a goal, a long, low bounce shot, with 5:50 to play in the half.

After Vest denied Hopkins at one end, Burton-Johanson fed Cloutier for a goal at the other and it was 9-0 with 2:34 remaining.

With 1:03 left, Oak Hill finally broke through, as Godbout beat Vest unassisted, but the Flyers were in command at the break.

In the first half, senior Ilo Holdridge helped Waynflete hold a 7-4 edge in faceoffs, the Flyers out-shot the Raiders, 24-13, and Vest made six saves.

Oak Hill did make things momentarily interesting at the start of the second half, as Hopkins set up Caron for a goal with 10:02 on the clock and with 8:20 left, Worth fought through the defense and finished unassisted to cut the deficit to 9-3.

But after a Raiders penalty, Hopkins set up Lane for a man-up goal with 7:04 remaining and 33 seconds later, Millspaugh fed Cloutier for an 11-3 advantage.

Vest preserved it by twice denying Hopkins, then, with 52.6 seconds to go, playing man-down, Millspaugh assisted on Anderson’s goal for a nine-goal lead heading to the final stanza.

There, Waynflete put it away with a flourish.

The Raiders got a man-down goal of their own with 8:32 to play, as Worth set up Samson, but 48 seconds later, Hopkins found Lane for a goal after a turnover.

With 5:26 to go, Whipple scored unassisted to make it 14-4.

The Flyers weren’t finished, as the Bowdoin College-bound Millspaugh scored the final goal of his illustrious high school career, unassisted, with 3:26 remaining and with 2:04 to go, Lane passed the ball in the direction of the goal, it went off a defender’s stick and in and a mercy rule running clock began.

It only lasted until 41.8 seconds remained, as Daniels scored unassisted, but with 24.1 seconds to go, Adey, who won state titles this spring in tennis and lacrosse, got involved on the offense, finishing a feed from Lane to account for the final goal of the day.

Then, at 5:11 p.m., the final horn sounded and Waynflete was able to celebrate its 17-5 victory and its second Class C state title in four years.

“In some ways, beating NYA was a bigger game, but we weren’t done,” Vest said. “We had our goal set for today and we came in with a similar mindset and executed well. It’s so nice, coming back and winning my senior year. It’s special to bring this home for the school and make a legacy of our own.”

“It feels incredible,” said Millspaugh. “This is what we’ve worked toward ever since last year. We didn’t really know what to expect today. Obviously, we don’t play similar teams. They were killing their opponents, but our coaches did a great job scouting them. (Sophomore) Liam Anderson and Ben Adey did a great job locking off (Hopkins and Caron). That put us at an advantage to do our thing offensively.”

“It feels really good,” Whipple said. “We’ve talked about this since day one. We really didn’t know about Oak Hill. We’ve watched film, but we didn’t know what they’d be like. That early lead was very important. They weren’t used to playing a team like us.”

“This means everything,” Leach added. “These guys play in big moments in big games. They’ve done so well on the tennis court, on the soccer field. It’s a small school. We have to rely on each other.

“We put everything into this game after coming away from NYA. We pride ourselves on our defense. (The Raiders) averaged about 18 goals a game. We were mindful of where they were going to put Tiger and Travis and how we could shut them off. These guys, the seniors especially, do that very well. For us to put this together and hold them to what we held them to and play together as a team, that was motivation enough to come out here and do right by the seniors.”

Whipple paced an unstoppable offense with five goals. Lane added three, while Cloutier and Millspaugh both scored twice and Adey, Anderson, Burton-Johanson, Hopkins and Kirby all finished with one goal.

Millspaugh also had five assists, Burton-Johanson and Hopkins each had two and Anderson and Lane both finished with one.

Vest made 10 saves.

“Alex Vest didn’t want to be a goalie, but he stepped in and played so well as a keeper,” said Leach.

Holdridge won 14 of 20 faceoffs, helping the Flyers enjoy a 17-8 advantage in that all-important statistic.

Waynflete had a big edge in ground balls, 39-18 (Curtis had a game-high six, while Holdridge collected five), as well as shots (43-30) and shots on cage (28-15). The Flyers overcame 22 turnovers.

For the Raiders, Caron, Daniels, Godbout, Samson and Worth all scored once.

Hopkins and Worth each had one assist.

Michaud stopped 11 shots.

Leet collected five ground balls.

The Raiders turned the ball over 23 times.

“Passing and catching was a little off in the first half,” Raiders coach Joey Hinkley said. “I think it came around in the second half, but I think that’s what we struggled (with throughout the game). Again, it’s a big stage, nerves, young team.

“I told the kids to keep their head up and hopefully we will be back next year.”

A new look

Speaking of next year, Waynflete will have a very different team, as 15 seniors graduate, including some of the finest players around.

“It’s a very special group of seniors and I’m so impressed with these guys,” Leach said. ‘These guys do so many great things for this school. They’re all class. They’re so coachable. They make a coach’s job really easy.”

The 2022 Flyers will begin with a nucleus of Liam Anderson, Burton-Johanson, Cloutier, Curtis, Hopkins and Kirby and rest assured that some newcomers will step right in as well.

Waynflete wants to be a perennial championship contender and there’s reason to believe that next year’s squad will uphold that tradition.

“I’m pretty optimistic about the next few years,” Millspaugh said. “I won’t be here, but we’ve got a big sophomore class. Next year and the year after that will be similar teams. I think these guys will definitely compete.”

“It’s tough to see (the seniors) go, but we have some great sophomores who played big for us and some great freshmen too,” Leach said.

Sun Journal staff writer Nathan Fournier contributed to this story.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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