Yarmouth starts fast, blanks Winslow in state final

WATERBORO—The Dynasty continues.

And if you’re tired of watching the Yarmouth boys’ soccer team win state titles, I’ve got bad news for you.

It probably won’t stop anytime soon.

Saturday evening, on the turf field at Massabesic High School, the Clippers met undefeated Winslow in the Class B state final and in less than 16 minutes, exceeded the offense produced by the Black Raiders’ previous 18 opponents combined.

In the game’s fourth minute, off a throw from junior Liam Hickey, junior Stevie Walsh continued his spectacular postseason by setting up senior Sutter Augur for a 1-0 lead and Yarmouth was on its way.

The Clippers then converted a corner kick in the 16th minute, as sophomore Adam McLaughlin served the ball in where senior Isaac Grondin was waiting to bang it home and after surrendering just one goal all season prior to the start of play Saturday, Winslow suddenly found itself facing a two-goal deficit.

Yarmouth then ended all doubt midway through the second half, when Hickey took a free kick and set up junior Truman Peters for a third goal.

The Clippers’ defense didn’t allow a shot on frame all night and Yarmouth went on to a 3-0 victory.

The Clippers finished the season 17-0-2, ended the Black Raiders’ fine campaign at 18-1 and in the process, won the Class B state title for the second straight postseason, the sixth time in seven postseasons and took home the program’s 14th championship all-time.

“This senior group especially reflects what youth sports ought to be,” said longtime Yarmouth coach Mike Hagerty, who won his 11th Gold Ball in 11 tries with the Clippers. “They play the game because they love the game, they play together because they love each other. It’s a special class. I’m so proud for them. They wanted to put their names in with Yarmouth’s best teams and the memories they’ve created will be so special.”

More gold for the gold standard

Yarmouth has long been a soccer stronghold, but the Clippers have taken things to an even more elite level over the past decade. Yarmouth was denied a shot at a crown in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic preventing a postseason.

This fall, the Clippers were viewed as the favorite in the preseason and they didn’t disappoint.

Yarmouth started with a 2-0 win at Cape Elizabeth. After a 4-0 home victory over Freeport, the Clippers downed host York (4-0), visiting Greely (2-1), host North Yarmouth Academy (5-1) and visiting Poland (6-0). After settling for a scoreless draw at Freeport, Yarmouth bounced back with an 8-0 win at Wells, then downed visiting Gray-New Gloucester (7-1) and blanked visiting Cape Elizabeth (2-0), host Fryeburg Academy (5-0), visiting York (6-0) and host Greely (2-0), before settling for a 1-1 home tie against two-time reigning Class C champion Waynflete in the regular season finale.

The Clippers dominated No. 16 Morse, 8-0, in the preliminary round, blanked visiting York, 3-0, in the quarterfinals, then needed a dramatic overtime win over No. 5 Freeport, 2-1, in the semifinal round, before having to rally to edge No. 7 Cape Elizabeth, 2-1, in a thrilling regional final Wednesday.

Yarmouth felt that being pushed in the regional tournament helped it prepare for the spotlight of the state final.

“Those games helped us a lot,” Augur said. “(Freeport and Cape are) great teams and they helped us deal with close games. One of the differences between this team and teams in the past is we knew how to come from behind. The odds were stacked against us against Freeport and Cape and we managed to pull those games out. We have a lot of mental toughness.”

“This was our biggest game of the year, but in a way, our last two games were as big as this one,” said senior captain Steve Fulton. “We’ve played (Freeport and Cape) since middle school and they got us ready for this game.”

Winslow was untouchable during a regular season which saw it surrender one goal (in a 4-1 victory over Belfast) and score 91. Despite being ranked second, the Black Raiders rolled through the Class B North field, blanking No. 15 Caribou (10-0) in the preliminary round, No. 7 Belfast (9-0) in the quarterfinals, third-ranked Ellsworth (3-0) in the semifinals and No. 4 John Bapst (2-0) in Wednesday’s regional final round.

Yarmouth had played in 14 previous state games, winning 12 outright, losing another and playing Ellsworth to a 1-1 draw in 1989, when both teams were credited with a championship (see sidebar, below, for previous state game results and story links).

Winslow’s prior state game appearances ended with losses to Falmouth in 2002 (2-1) and 2003 (6-1) and to Yarmouth in 2016 (5-2) and 2017 (2-1).

The Clippers dominated the teams’ first encounter in 2016, but in 2017, the Black Raiders gave them a mighty scare before a late goal from Jack Jones proved to be the difference.

Saturday, on a chilly evening (the temperature was 44 degrees at kickoff, but plummeted to 37 by game’s end), Yarmouth only put three shots on frame, but all of them found the mark and another Gold Ball was the end result.

Yarmouth senior Sutter Augur plays the ball along the sideline during the first half of the Clippers’ 3-0 win over Winslow in Saturday’s Class B state final. Hoffer photos.

With 36:11 to go in the first half, the Clippers earned a throw-in from the side and Hickey did what he does best, put the ball in a dangerous spot, as it bounced in the box and came to Walsh, the hero of both the semifinals and regional finals, and Walsh headed the ball across to Augur waiting on the doorstep and with Winslow junior goalkeeper Jason Reynolds unable to get over in time, Augur banged the ball home for a 1-0 lead.

“Stevie Walsh had a beautiful header back across and I just tapped it in,” Augur said. “Liam’s a weapon anywhere. He can get those throws into the box.”

“Honestly, my team gives me a lot of chances to make those throws,” Hickey said. “The players working for the flick work really hard. It’s more them than me.”

“We work hard on dead balls and throw-ins,” Fulton said. “It’s great to have Liam. He’s such a weapon anywhere on the field.”

Suddenly, Winslow was staggered and Yarmouth was bursting with confidence.

“That first goal was huge,” said Augur. “We talked about scoring early because (Winslow) hadn’t been in a position where they’d been down.”

“Our game plan coming in was to come out fast,” Hickey said. “We wanted to keep (Winslow) on their heels the whole game. We knew if we kept the pressure on, we’d eventually get the win.”

“Winslow’s a great team and they’d been killing teams, so we knew we’d have to come out strong and fast,” Peters said. “We knew we had to score quick.”

“We haven’t been great starting games,” Hagerty added. “We’ve often started on our heels. We knew if we could get an early one we could put them on their heels and change the complexion of the game. When we got that first one, we smelled blood in the water.”

The Black Raiders couldn’t answer and after sophomore Will Caruso missed just wide for the Clippers and Fulton fired a blast that sailed just over the crossbar, Caruso fired a shot that glanced off a defender’s head and nearly resulted in an own goal, but instead rolled out for a corner kick.

And on the ensuing corner, Yarmouth pounced and doubled its lead.

With 24:21 to go in the half, McLaughlin served the ball in where Grondin was waiting near the front post to one-touch the ball past Reynolds and in to make it 2-0.

That Grondin was waiting at the front post was by design, not by accident.

“We knew Winslow was a good team with a really strong keeper and we knew they’d come out hard and we’d have to match that,” said Grondin. “We talked this week about them not marking the front post and that’s the way we lined up, I happened to be the guy making the front post run. Adam played a perfect corner, it just dropped and I just stuck my foot out. It hit my foot and went in.”

“Credit for that goes to the coaches and their scouting reports,” Fulton said. “They put us in the best position to win. I’m glad (Isaac) could execute that.”

“We thought we could get a goal front post on that corner kick,” Hagerty added. “We knew they left the front post open and that was the best way to beat them. Isaac’s so smart. He does so many little things right.”

Late in the half, the Black Raiders had their best look, as on a corner kick, the ball deflected out for a shot which went wide.

At the half, Hagerty and his staff emphasized that the game wasn’t over and that the Clippers needed one more goal to feel comfortable.

It took awhile, however.

Yarmouth wasn’t able to generate a shot on frame until finally breaking through one final time with 20:53 to play.

After play was stopped for a Winslow yellow card, Hickey lined up a free kick from about 40 yards out, but instead of serving the ball in, he played a quick through ball to Peters, who fought his way through a defender, then shot low to beat Reynolds for a 3-0 advantage.

Junior Truman Peters is mobbed by his teammates after scoring Yarmouth’s third goal.

“Coach Hagerty always says the third goal’s the most important goal,” Peters said. “That one put it away. Liam and I saw something and Coach has emphasized all year that if we see something to do it. He has a lot of faith in us. Liam played a great ball, it was kind of a 50-50, I won it and the rest is a blur.”

“That wasn’t the first time I did something he told me not to do,” said Hickey, about Hagerty, who is his uncle as well as his coach. “We thought we could get it past (the defense), so I played Truman the ball and he made a great run and finished a great goal.”

“It was great to get some execution off (set pieces),” Fulton said. “Coach Hagerty always says it’s the third goal that makes or breaks teams. We knew 2-0 going into the second half wasn’t enough. (Winslow’s) a dangerous team, so I’m really glad we got that third goal.”

“I was calling for them to do something different,” Hagerty added. “I wanted to play it square, but the kids know if they see something different on the field, they have permission to make a decision on their own. Truman told Liam he wanted a through ball and it worked out well. When you coach smart kids, sometimes they make you look better than you are.”

Winslow never was able to generate a shot on frame and while Yarmouth was done scoring, it was happy to rely on its defense to slam the door and at 7:36 p.m., the horn sounded and the party started as the Clippers celebrated their 3-0 triumph.

The Clippers race to celebrate with senior goalkeeper Cole Snyder at the final horn.

“It was a great team effort,” Augur said. “I couldn’t have imagined it ending a better way. It’s a fantastic group of seniors. I’m going to miss it.”

“It’s awesome,” Grondin said. “I grew up playing soccer with these guys. It’s a special group. We showed our work and grit. It’s been a special ride.”

“It’s a great group of guys who have worked hard all season,” said Fulton. “It’s a really good way to end a great season. Looking back to last year, we missed out on a lot. It’s just awesome to have this experience this year. I’ve been part of four really great teams and played alongside some great athletes.”

“I’m really proud of the boys,” Hagerty added. “Winslow’s good, they’re athletic and they fought to the end. All year, they found ways to win. We connected passes and controlled the pace. Last year put a lot of things into perspective for people. Even though this year’s team was expected to win, they didn’t play like they were under pressure. We told them to just play well and the winning would take care of itself. We knew Freeport and Cape would be close. This one, we weren’t sure. We thought we were better, but we’ve been in so many close games over the years. I think it’s our character and doing things the right way that keeps us winning close games.

“It’s been a great run. I knew that Yarmouth was a soccer town. It took a little while to get the culture going. Our youth program kicked in, the town bought in. It’s exceeded expectations. From three-years-old to 18, the program does such a great job preparing kids for high school and our high school kids are so involved in the youth program. The expectations are set. It’s so nice to be the leader of this program in a town that loves soccer. They love the student-athletes win or lose. I think the town has sports in the right perspective.”

Yarmouth had the only three shots on frame and senior goalkeeper Cole Snyder didn’t need to make a single save. The Clippers had a 6-3 advantage on corner kicks.

Reynolds didn’t make a save for the Black Raiders.

Yarmouth shows off its latest Gold Ball.

Looking back and ahead

Yarmouth’s seniors went 52-3-8 during their four years, won two state titles and might have captured a third if given the opportunity a season ago.

Every year, the Clippers say farewell to a seemingly irreplaceable class, but this one will long be hailed.

“I love these 14 seniors,” Peters said. “They’re great guys.”

“This senior class set the table for kids coming up for years to come,” Hagerty said. “They’ve won since they were younger, but it’s more about how they won. They have fun every single day. I can’t think of a day this year I didn’t want to go practice. They support each other. Only five seniors started, so a lot of kids had to take on supporting roles who maybe didn’t expect to, but they stayed positive all year. Our captains are great and the senior leadership on this team is unselfish. That class is full of excellent students and excellent community and school leaders. They represent everything that’s good with today’s youth. They did it right. They’ll be missed.”

Yarmouth brings back some terrific players and other kids will be ready to step up and make their own contributions.

Cape Elizabeth, Freeport, Greely, York and the rest of Class B South won’t want to hear it, but the road to the 2022 title will go through the Clippers again.

“We’re losing a great senior class, one of the best I’ve ever seen, but I can’t wait to see what we can do next year,” Hickey said.

“Next year, we’ll have a strong team,” Peters said. “I think we’ll be a team to be reckoned with for awhile.”

“I’m glad my brother (sophomore Jonny Fulton) will keep playing,” said Steve Fulton. “This probably won’t be the last (Gold Ball).”

“We should be really good next year and our middle school teams were really good too, so the pipeline is stocked,” Hagerty added. “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be here, but the plan’s always been to have a program that someone else could take over and it can keep rocking. It’s fun to get my name in the record books and all that, but it’s a program-wide accomplishment and always has been.”

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