Scarborough’s Tae Delaware and Jeremiah Park, 6, attempt to get the ball away from Cape Elizabeth’s Sebastian Moon during a game on May 9. Both teams are among the top four seeds in the Class A South tournament. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer
The usual suspects are still the first names off your lips when trying to predict the boys’ lacrosse teams that will be playing for state championships at Fitzpatrick Stadium on June 17 and 18.
In Class A, defending champion Cape Elizabeth, 2018 and 2019 champs Thornton Academy and Falmouth, the three-time regional champ from the North, still figure to be very much in the hunt in Class A.
And in Class B, Yarmouth has shown it is clearly the team to beat, despite being the No. 2 seed.
But there are several teams in each of the three classes that could upset the status quo, particularly in the four-year-old Class C where it appears at least three teams could break the stranglehold applied by Waynflete and North Yarmouth Academy in the first three championships.
CLASS A
In the South, No. 1 Cape Elizabeth (10-2) and No. 2 Thornton (11-1) – which beat Cape in the regular season – have been joined by No. 3 South Portland (10-2) and No. 4 Scarborough (9-3) as the clear top four teams in the league.
South Portland has had a resurgence under Coach Dan Hanley after going 1-12 last season, backed by goalie Ben Kieu (injured in 2021), top defender Brady Angell, two-way midfielder Cullen Adams and a balanced offense.
“We definitely knew we’d be much improved from last year. We returned a lot and had guys coming back from injury,” Hanley said. “But if you told us we would have finished 10-2, that would have exceeded our expectations. It’s pretty exciting but now we have raised the bar and want to compete for a state championship.”
No. 5 Gorham (6-6) is good enough to upset Scarborough if the Red Storm have an off day, but if the seeds hold, it should be two very good semifinals leading to an excellent regional final matchup.
“The four teams in A South are all fairly close,” said Cape Elizabeth Coach Ben Raymond, who won his 300th game earlier this season. “We played Thornton to a one-goal game, South Portland beat Thornton, Scarborough beat South Portland and played Thornton to a one-goal game and each does different things well. TA, they’re zone defense is unlike any other team plays. South Portland’s goalie is outstanding and I think Scarborough is all-around athletic.”
Cape provided evidence its early-season issues on defense (exposed in an 18-16 loss to Yarmouth) might be resolved when it finished the season with a 15-5 win against South Portland. Cape’s offense has many options, including midfielders Tiernan Lathrop (48 goals), Nic Boudreau (39 goals), Colin Campbell (23 goals, team-high 32 assists, and Caden Lee (24 goals, 14 assists) and sharp-shooting attack Keegan Lathrop (37 goals).
Thornton’s emphasis is on playing an aggressive, full-field defense and if it can’t force a turnover, relying on its tight zone to stifle opponents. Alex St. John leads a defense that has allowed only 47 goals and attack Ronan Flynn heads the offense.
“We’re going to start right when teams get the ball and pressure and try to get the ball back before you can even get it down to our defensive end and we’ve had a lot of success pressuring the ball,” said Thornton Coach Ryan Hersey.
In the North, No. 1 Falmouth (9-3) and No. 2 Windham (7-5) have shown superiority over what is a much weaker bracket. In 2021, Falmouth beat Windham 10-7 in the regional final. Falmouth has been the North champion each year since the three-class system was introduced in 2018.
The Navigators have improved throughout the season and finished the regular season with a 6-5 win over Scarborough. They also lost to Cape by just one goal early in the season. Their other losses were to Thornton (4-1) and South Portland (9-5).
CLASS B
Defending champion Yarmouth, the second seed, still is the team to beat, with a 10-2 record. The Clippers are riding a seven-game win streak that started with a 15-9 win against No. 1 Messalonskee (11-1) and included its win against Cape Elizabeth.
Yarmouth had to go to overtime to beat Class C Waynflete recently. Coach Jon Miller said that was good for his team, which has been led by senior midfielder Steve Fulton, senior attack Peter Psyhogeos, long stick middie Cam Miller and attackmen junior Killian Marsh and sophomore Colter Olson.
“We had to play situational lacrosse where every possession was so important in the fourth quarter and the overtime,” Miller said.
The only Class B team to beat Yarmouth is No. 3 York (11-1), which beat the Clippers 15-12 at home on natural grass. York’s only loss was to Cape Elizabeth. A York-Yarmouth rematch in the semifinals appears likely but, if it happens, it will be on Yarmouth’s artificial surface field.
“I think it’s absolutely a factor so that was a good goal and accomplishment for us in the regular season,” Miller said.
A dark-horse team to watch could be No. 10 Biddeford, which won its first nine games this season. The Tigers (10-2) beat six Class A teams. An 8-7 loss at Kennebunk on May 25 also suggests Biddeford can beat No. 7 Gardiner (7-5). Gardiner suffered lopsided losses to the five best teams on its schedule – Messalonskee, No. 5 Camden Hills (10-2), No. 4 Brunswick (8-4) and Class C toughies Oak Hill and North Yarmouth Academy.
Similarly, in the quarterfinals, Messalonskee will need to be leery of either No. 8 Kennebunk (6-6) or No. 9 Marshwood (7-5). Last year in the semifinals, Marshwood traveled to Oakland to play the No. 1 and unbeaten Eagles and won easily, 12-4.
CLASS C
This looks like the most wide-open tournament. No. 1 North Yarmouth Academy (9-3) and No. 2 Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon (9-3) played earlier this year and NYA won 11-10. Oak Hill’s other losses were to Class B contenders Messalonskee and Brunswick. No. 3 Maranacook/Winthrop/Spruce Mountain is also 9-3.
No. 4 Wells (8-4) lost to NYA, 5-3, beat No. 5 Freeport (which has beaten NYA) and its other losses were close games against Class B teams York, Biddeford and Greely. Then there’s Waynflete, lurking in the No. 6 slot with a 7-5 record.
“It’s going to be a very exciting playoff for a lot of teams,” said NYA Coach Peter Gerrity. “Everyone in spots one through six I know are good.”
In the first three years of Class C, Waynflete and NYA have been on the same side of the bracket and met in the semifinal. The winner of that game then easily won the state final (Waynflete in 2018 and 2021, NYA in 2019).
“The way the bracket is this year, and if both of us continue to win, we would see each other at Fitzpatrick (June 17) in the final,” Gerrity said. “It could be anybody, but we want it to be us and Waynflete. We enjoy the rivalry.”
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