BOX SCORE

Yarmouth 16 Scarborough 8

Y- 10 6- 16
S- 5 3- 8

First half
20:23 Y Powers (free position)
20:18 Y Panozzo (D’Appolonia)
19:05 Y D’Appolonia (unassisted)
17:43 S Grondin (Donovan)
15:41 Y Powers (unassisted)
13:48 S Stolz (Henderson)
12:30 S Bilodeau (unassisted)
10:18 S Bilodeau (free position)
8:43 Y D’Appolonia (unassisted)
5:18 Y Powers (free position)
5:05 Y D’Appolonia (Panozzo)
1:27 S Stolz (unassisted)
1:05 Y Carnes (unassisted)
51.4 Y Keaney (unassisted)
6.2 Y D’Appolonia (free position)

Second half
24:24 Y Powers (D’Appolonia)
24:09 Y D’Appolonia (Walsh)
23:00 Y Carnes (free position)
16:37 S Stolz (free position)
12:15 S Bilodeau (free position)
7:00 Y D’Appolonia (free position)
3:20 S Henderson (free position)
2:36 Y Powers (unassisted)
15.1 Y D’Appolonia (free position)

Goals:
Y- D’Appolonia 7, Powers 5, Carnes 2, Keaney, Panozzo 1
S- Bilodeau, Stolz 3, Grondin, Henderson 1

Assists:
Y- D’Appolonia 2, Panozzo, Walsh 1
S- Donovan, Henderson 1

Draws (Yarmouth, 19-7)
Y- Powers 19 of 26
S- Stolz 5 of 17, O’Brien 2 of 5, Sholl 0 of 3, Bilodeau 0 of 1

Ground balls:
Y- 36
S- 31

Turnovers:
Y- 19
S- 15

Shots:
Y- 30
S- 23

Shots on cage:
Y- 27
S- 13

Saves:
Y (Meas) 5
S (Hess) 11

SCARBOROUGH—For most of the season, Yarmouth’s standout senior girls’ lacrosse player Katelyn D’Appolonia hasn’t been 100 percent.

Thursday evening, D’Appolonia claimed that she’s still not 100 percent.

But that she’s now 110 percent.

And the host Scarborough Red Storm found that out the hard way during a compelling, high-scoring battle at the Kippy Mitchell Sports Complex.

D’Appolonia, who will play for the University of Colorado next year, scored a goal and assisted on another, and sophomore scoring machine Aine Powers added two more goals to give the Clippers a quick 4-1 lead, but Scarborough rallied and drew even on a free position goal from senior Natalie Bilodeau.

But Yarmouth closed the first half on a 6-1 run, capped by a D’Appolonia free position goal in the waning seconds, to take a 10-5 lead at the half.

D’Applonia then assisted Powers on a goal 36 seconds into the second half before scoring one of her own 15 seconds later and the Clippers gradually pulled away and went on to a therapeutic 16-8 victory.

D’Appolonia scored a career high seven goals and added a pair of assists, Powers finished with five goals while dominating in the draw circle and Yarmouth snapped a rare two-game skid, evened its record at 3-3 and in the process, handed the Red Storm their first loss in five outings this spring.

“I think we just practiced hard the past few days after a couple losses,” said D’Appolonia. “We just came out strong tonight and we didn’t give up the whole game.”

A rarity

Scarborough and Yarmouth don’t play all that often, although they are often in the title hunt. This year, for the first time since 2005, the teams are in the same class, as the Clippers, fresh off their Class B championship a year ago, have moved up to Class A.

Yarmouth started its season with an impressive 13-4 home win over Windham and after falling at Falmouth, 10-8, beat host Cape Elizabeth, 12-5. Home losses to reigning Class A champion Kennebunk (11-3) and Greely (13-7), the Clippers’ first loss to the Rangers in 17 years, then ensued.

Scarborough, meanwhile, opened with a 16-0 home victory over Bonny Eagle, then held off host Thornton Academy, 10-8, edged visiting Windham in the rain, 7-6, and Tuesday, won at Gorham, 12-7.

The teams last met May 13, 2017, when host Yarmouth took a 15-3 decision.

Thursday, Scarborough looked for its first win over the Clippers since April 26, 2014 (9-7 at home), but instead, Yarmouth made it four in a row in the series and grabbed a 9-3 all-time advantage against the Red Storm.

Scarborough had the game’s first good scoring chance, but a free position shot from senior Erin Bresnahan was saved by Clippers senior goalie Juliet Meas.

At the other end, D’Appolonia’s first shot hit the post and a Powers rebound bid was denied by Red Storm senior goalie Zoe Hess.

Finally, with 20:23 to play in the first half, Powers converted a free position and the offensive floodgates opened.

Off the ensuing draw, won by Powers, D’Appolonia scooped up the ball, raced in, drew the defense and fed sophomore Neena Panozzo for a quick 2-0 advantage.

D’Appolonia then got in the scoring fun with 19:05 to play, bouncing a shot past Hess.

Scarborough’s offense then came to life as after Bilodeau hit the crossbar on a free position, senior Meagan Donovan set up junior Stella Grondin for a goal with 17:43 left.

Yarmouth came right back and after Hess denied Powers on a free position, Powers scored unassisted with 15:41 to go, making it 4-1 and forcing Red Storm coach Emily Field to call timeout.

Which paid immediate dividends.

After Meas robbed Donovan on the doorstep, senior Darby Stolz finished a feed from Molly Henderson with 13:48 on the clock to cut the deficit to two.

A little over a minute later, exactly midway through the first half, Bilodeau beat Meas with a bounce shot and with 10:18 remaining before halftime, Bilodeau scored on a free position to tie the game, 4-4.

But that’s as good as it would get for the home team.

After Hess turned aside a free position shot from Panozzo, D’Appolonia scored unassisted with 8:43 left and the Clippers would never look back.

After Hess robbed senior Clancy Walsh, Powers’ free position goal put Yarmouth up by two with 5:18 to go and 13 seconds later, off another Powers draw win, Panozzo set up D’Appolonia for a 7-4 advantage.

Again, Scarborough battled back as after Meas saved shots from Donovan, Bilodeau and Grondin, Stolz weaved through the defense and finished unassisted with 1:27 on the clock.

Had the Red Storm gotten to the half down by just two, they would have felt good about their second half chances, but instead, the final 87 seconds were nightmarish for the hosts, as the Clippers scored three fast goals to gain a little breathing room.

First, junior Sadie Carnes scored unassisted with 1:05 to go.

Following another Powers draw win, sophomore Lauren Keaney scored unassisted with 51.4 seconds remaining.

Then, with just 6.2 seconds left, D’Appolonia finished a free position and just like that, a two-goal lead had been stretched to 10-5 at the half.

Powers won 11 of 16 draws and Yarmouth had a 20-15 shots advantage in the first half. Only eight saves from Hess kept Scarborough somewhat close.

The Clippers then quickly put it away in the second half, as D’Appolonia fed Powers for a goal just 36 seconds in.

Off the ensuing draw win, Walsh found D’Appolonia for another goal and a 12-5 lead with 24:09 to play.

Carnes added a free position with 23 minutes left to cap a six-goal surge.

After Hess turned a free position shot from sophomore Brooke Boone, the Red Storm snapped the run on a free position shot from Stolz with 16:37 remaining.

Bilodeau added a free position goal with 12:15 left to make it 13-7, but with 7 minutes to play, D’Appolonia scored on a free position.

With 3:20 remaining, Henderson scored on a free position for Scarborough’s final tally.

Down the stretch, Powers scored unassisted with 2:36 on the clock, then D’Appolonia brought the curtain down with 15.1 seconds left, scoring on a free position, and Yarmouth went on to a 16-8 victory.

“We really needed a win,” Powers said. “We came out tonight and played Yarmouth lacrosse. We were in a rut for a couple games, but we have a good connection and we’ve got the energy we need.”

“We needed this one,” said longtime Yarmouth coach Dorothy Holt. “It’s hard when you have a really young team, but they’ve worked so hard in practice and that showed tonight. We’re not there yet, but it’s coming together and tonight was much needed to see the girls’ hard work pay off in the win column.”

D’Appolonia had herself a night, not only scoring seven times and assisting on two other goals, but also scooping up a game-high 14 ground balls.

“I’d say it took me awhile to get healthy, especially after basketball,” D’Appolonia said. “I wasn’t really the same, then I hurt the other shoulder the first week of lacrosse, so it wasn’t ideal. I eased into it and I think that was a smart idea.”

“It’s so nice to have Katelyn,” said Powers. “It’s good to have a familiar face on the field since we have such a new team.”

“Katelyn’s such an unselfish player,’ Holt added. “She put on a show tonight. Trying to get her to that point, because she’s all about the team, is hard. The supporting cast wanted to get her there. You could see that she was herself tonight. We had to give her time to heal.”

Powers added five goals, nine ground balls and she won 19 of 26 draws, many with just one hand on her stick, to help the Clippers control play.

“Today, I was really focusing on getting the ball to Katelyn or Lauren,” said Powers. “We have a really good draw team. I feel confident I can get the ball to myself or to them. Getting the ball with one hand is fun.”

“Aine is always consistent on the draw,” said D’Appolonia. “Having her natural talent there really helps us.”

“We work on the draws,” Holt added. “We put Lauren in there too with her height and her good stick. It gives us a power three.”

Carnes added two goals, while Keaney and Panozzo had one apiece.

Panozzo and Walsh also had an assist.

Meas made five saves.

Yarmouth had an edge in ground balls (36-31), shots (30-23) and shots on cage (27-13) and overcame 19 turnovers.

For Scarborough, Bilodeau and Stolz both scored three goals and Grondin and Henderson finished with one apiece.

Donovan and Henderson both had one assist.

Hess made 11 saves.

Bilodeau had a team-high five ground balls.

The Red Storm committed 15 turnovers.

“I didn’t want to lose tonight, but carrying an undefeated record is a lot of pressure and there’s more to learn from a game like this than from the wins,” Field said. “(Yarmouth’s) tall and they’re fast and their one-handed grabs are very impressive. The girls did fight back. They found the momentum. It was small things like turnovers in the midfield, but those are the silver linings we’ll build on.”

More to come

Scarborough has a big week upcoming, as it visits Cape Elizabeth next Tuesday, then hosts Falmouth two nights later.

“The schedule doesn’t get easier,” Field said. “If we had to lose, let’s lose now and build on it from here on out. Yarmouth’s coach said they had some hard losses, then they had this result tonight. If that’s our trajectory, watch out for us next week.”

Yarmouth welcomes unfamiliar foe Oxford Hills Monday, then has a key home tilt versus undefeated York Thursday of next week.

“We have a strong connection,” Powers said. “Everyone is learning. We all help each other out. We’ve gotten so much stronger already and I’m so excited for the rest of the season.”

“I think we just need to keep progressing the way we are,” D’Appolonia said. “I know we’ll face those teams (we lost to) again in playoffs, so we’ll have to keep this same mindset.”

“It’s fun to watch this team grow,” Holt added. “That’s what makes this group so special. I haven’t had a team this young with such a tough schedule in a long time. I love the schedule. This is why we moved up to Class A. We just want to play with the best.”

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

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