PORTLAND—Waynflete’s boys’ lacrosse team has enjoyed its share of magical moments in recent years and when senior standout Roan Hopkins raced in on a fastbreak with time winding down Saturday at Fore River Fields, another triumphant chapter was poised to be written for the two-time reigning Class C state champions.

But not on this day.

This time, visiting South Portland, one of the finest teams in Class A, was able to short-circuit the Flyers’ rally at the final possible moment and get out of town with a narrow victory.

In an unforgettable interclass showdown.

The first half saw Waynflete senior goalie Avi Israel and South Portland senior goalie Ben Kieu dominate, allowing a total of three goals.

The Flyers got tallies from juniors Jacob Woodman and Spencer Kline in the second quarter before senior Joey Soucy answered for the Red Riots.

South Portland then got its offense going in the third period, as senior Brady Demers scored to tie it, then sophomore Beckett Mehlhorn, senior Jack Dreifus and junior Tobey Lappin added goals in succession for a 5-2 advantage.

When senior Lucas Mehlhorn added a goal two minutes into the fourth quarter, the Red Riots appeared home free, but proud Waynflete refused to fold and took the game to the final horn.

After Hopkins snapped a 25-plus-minute drought with a goal, senior Liam Anderson cut the deficit to two, then Hopkins scored again with just 23 seconds to play.

The Flyers then had two great looks to tie it, but couldn’t finish and South Portland held on for a palpitating 6-5 victory.

Kieu made 13 saves, the Red Riots produced six different goal scorers and won their sixth game in a row, improving to 6-1, while in the process, dropping Waynflete to 4-2.

“We switched our offense a little bit after halftime and ran some different plays,” Lappin said. “We started putting goals in the back of the net and we were able to pull out the win.”

Fight to the finish

Both the Red Riots and Flyers expect to play into mid-June and early results have done nothing but solidify those aspirations.

South Portland lost at two-time reigning Class A champion Cape Elizabeth in its opener, 10-6, but the Red Riots found their stride and won at Thornton Academy in a playoff rematch (5-4) before prevailing at Massabesic (18-0) and at North Yarmouth Academy (13-9) before downing visiting Scarborough (12-3) and host Deering (18-5).

Waynflete returned virtually everyone from last year’s repeat Class C champion and the Flyers started by downing visiting Wells, 6-4, After a 10-7 setback at York, Waynflete beat host Freeport (9-4), held off visiting Greely (12-11), then handled visiting Oak Hill, 11-4, in its most recent outing, Tuesday.

This past winter, several players from both schools combined to lead the South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport co-op boys’ hockey team to the Class A state final and two months later, they took the field as opponents, but there was little ill will.

“It was fun,” Lappin said. “I love playing those boys. It was great to be with the group I was with all winter.”

“There’s nothing quite like playing against teammates,” Hopkins said. “Those boys were my family during the winter. Today, we grinded against each other, then loved each other at the end.”

Last year, the Red Riots beat the visiting Flyers, 13-1.

Saturday, on a gorgeous afternoon (73 degrees at the start), Waynflete made things much, much more competitive and compelling before ultimately falling just short.

The Flyers made it clear early that they were in it to win it, controlling possession for the majority of the first period, even though they couldn’t solve Kieu.

Early on, junior Nico Kirby shot wide, then had a shot saved.

Waynflete then went man-up, but Kieu saved a shot from junior Haven Savory Kreiss.

It took until 3:52 remained in the first before South Portland put a shot on frame, but Israel denied Beckett Mehlhorn.

Late in the quarter, Mehlhorn was robbed again, Kline had a shot saved by Kieu and Mehlhorn was again left frustrated by Israel and the end result was a rare 0-0 tie.

The Red Riots started the second period man-up, but Demers hit the post, then Lappin had a shot saved by Israel.

With 9:44 to go in the first half, the Flyers finally opened the scoring, as Woodman took a pass in front from Hopkins and beat Kieu.

A mere 24 seconds later, after senior faceoff specialist Charlie Hornor won possession, Kline scored unassisted to make it 2-0.

Waynflete nearly added a third goal with 8:50 on the clock, but Hopkins hit the post and the rebound bounced off Kieu and nearly crossed the goal line, only to stay in play by mere inches.

Kieu then kept the game in reach by robbing Savory Kreiss twice.

Israel preserved the shutout by saving shots from Lucas Mehlhorn, Beckett Mehlhorn and Dreifus, but with 4:17 remaining in the half, South Portland finally finished, as Soucy scored unassisted to snap a 19 minute, 43 second drought.

Late in the half, Lucas Mehlhorn missed just wide and at the other end, Kirby was denied by Kieu.

First half statistics were nearly even and both goalies excelled, as Israel stopped seven shots and Kieu had a half dozen saves.

The Red Riots then settled in and dominated the third quarter, but despite scoring four times, couldn’t put the game away.

In the first minute of the second half, Hopkins missed just wide.

Then, with 10:39 on the clock, in transition, senior Finn O’Donnell set up Demers for a goal which tied the score.

After Kirby missed wide and Hopkins had a shot saved by Kieu, South Portland went on top to stay with 8:02 left in the third quarter, as Dreifus found Beckett Mehlhorn on the doorstep and he fired a shot past Israel to make it 3-2.

It took just 44 seconds for the Red Riots to score again, as Dreifus finished unassisted.

Kieu then twice denied Hopkins and Kirby hit the post.

Israel robbed Dreifus and Beckett Mehlhorn had a shot saved, but with 2:09 to go in the third, in transition, Dreifus found Lappin for a shot that Israel couldn’t deny and the lead was up to 5-2.

“Our conditioning and our style and the way we move the ball makes us tough to beat,” Lappin said.

“It started with ground balls,” South Portland coach Dan Hanley said. “Joey did a good job at faceoffs. (Junior) Caleb Juers got ground balls and offensively, we got some matchups we were able to exploit. Credit to (Waynflete’s) defense. They did a really good job handling our key threats.”

Hopkins nearly scored off the fourth quarter faceoff, as he scooped up a ground ball on the run and shot, but Kieu made the save.

After Israel saved a shot from Soucy, Lucas Mehlhorn found the net with 10:11 to play and South Portland had a seemingly safe 6-2 advantage.

But the game was a long way from finished.

With 7:55 left, the Flyers snapped a 25:25 drought, as Kline passed to Hopkins for a goal.

Waynflete went scoreless for the next five minutes, but would close the game with a flourish to almost force overtime.

With 2:26 on the clock, Anderson finished unassisted to cut the deficit to two.

Then, with 23 seconds to play, Hopkins backed down a defender, then bounced a shot past Kieu to give the Flyers real hope.

Senior Max Polsky won the ensuing faceoff and Waynflete had a chance to extend the game.

The ball came to Hopkins, who raced in on the fastbreak, but Hopkins, after faking a shot, passed to Kline, who just missed with 7 seconds showing.

“(Ben’s) a great goalie, a D1 talent,” Hopkins said. “I have so much respect for him. I was coming up the side. I was looking to (pass). Finn was grinding away at me all game. I passed it to Spencer, but the shot didn’t quite go.”

“He didn’t have much of an angle at that point,” said Kieu. “I knew where he was going. It went wide and I (exhaled).”

“We had a great opportunity,” said Waynflete coach Andrew Leach. “Roan got the ball to Spencer and he had a great look at it, but he missed by inches.”

The Flyers kept possession and would get one final look, as senior Jasper Curtis fired with a second to go, but Curtis’ shot was also off the mark and at 4:38 p.m., South Portland was finally able to celebrate a 6-5 victory.

“I trust my defense,” Kieu said. “Even though it was close at the end, we were confident. It was a big win.”

“We knew (Waynflete would) come out hungry,” Hanley said. “I know they were looking forward to the matchup. A lot of the guys play hockey together. Those kind of rivalries, where you’re playing against your friend, it’s even more intense.”

The Red Riots got goals from six different players, as Demers, Dreifus, Lappin, Beckett Mehlhorn, Lucas Mehlhorn and Soucy all tickled the twine.

Dreifus had two assists, while O’Donnell also set up a goal.

Kieu continued to dazzle, making 13 saves.

“It’s really nice having Ben in net for us,” Lappin said.

“Ben’s fantastic, he always is,” said Hanley. “He’s our backbone, our heart-and-soul. He covers up some mistakes.”

O’Donnell led South Portland with four ground balls. Senior Drew Folley collected three.

The Red Riots had a 19-18 edge in shots on cage and overcame 18 turnovers.

Building block

Waynflete’s offense featured two goals and an assist from Hopkins, a goal and an assist from Kline and goals from Anderson and Woodman.

Israel was every bit Kieu’s equal, stopping 13 saves.

“Avi is such a great goalie, he’s come such a long way,” Hopkins said.

“Avi has been phenomenal,” said Leach. “There’s a large class of great goalies and he gets lost in the shuffle, but he plays at a high level.”

The Flyers had a 9-5 edge in faceoffs, a 28-21 advantage in ground balls (Curtis and Kirby both had five) and turned the ball over 19 times.

“It’s a little bit frustrating, but we proved we could hang with them,” Hopkins said. “Our defense and goalie played great, but I think our offense let us down. I get chills thinking about how well my boys played together.”

“I knew coming into this it was going to be a classic,” Leach said. “It went exactly as I thought it might. The guys did a great job battling back. I couldn’t be happier with the performance. South Portland’s a great team. They have a great coaching staff and some great seniors. This group plays big in big moments and they always answer the ball. Even that last shot from Jasper, he thought it was going in, I thought it was going in and I bet you even Ben thought it was going in. We think we’re going to come through and that will pay off big come June.”

Eyes on the prize

Waynflete looks to return to form Wednesday when Lake Region pays a visit. Next Saturday, the Flyers face another Class A foe, Windham.

“We have a next man up mentality,” Hopkins said. “I have no doubt that next month we’ll be ready to go.”

“I think it’s a legitimate final four in Class C this year,” said Leach. “You never know what will happen against Wells or Freeport and NYA has been great against some great opponents. When you get these games, you’ll only get better and be ready to go for that final push. We have to get healthy, but I like where we’re at and we’ll keep adding to our game.”

South Portland meets Windham Tuesday at home, then has a key home showdown versus Falmouth Saturday of next week.

“We have to take it one game at a time,” Hanley said. “We only practiced on the field once this week. We dealt with the conditions. We’re finally healthy. Playing good opponents like these guys helps push us to be a better team.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.

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