CUMBERLAND—It wasn’t the luck of the draw, but dominance on the draw that spelled victory for Greely’s girls’ lacrosse team Saturday afternoon at Glen Hutchins Field.
Hosting a Waynflete squad that might just prove to be the crop of Class C, the Rangers, the two-time reigning Class B state champions, never trailed, but as has been the case so often this spring, never got comfortable either before doing just enough of the little things to escape with a victory.
Greely shot to a 3-0 lead after one quarter behind goals from junior Jane Flynn and senior standouts Eva Williams and Asja Kelman.
The teams traded goals in the second period, then the Rangers went on top, 5-1, early in the third period, as Kelman scored again.
The Flyers, who hadn’t been challenged in their first four outings, then came to life and a three-goal surge, featuring tallies from seniors Chloe Marblestone, Tilsley Kelly and Morgan Earls, cut the deficit to just one.
Greely managed to take a 7-5 lead to the final stanza and when Flynn scored for the second time, with 6:21 remaining, the lead was 9-6, but Waynflete refused to buckle, getting goals from Kelly and Marblestone to pull within one with 1:17 left.
But as was the case all day, Williams and Kelman worked together to ensure the Rangers would win the draw and get possession and after milking some time off the clock, Williams iced it with a goal with 6 seconds to play and Greely went on to a 10-8 victory.
Williams scored four goals, Kelman added three and two combined to win 18 of 22 draws as the Rangers won their fourth consecutive contest, improved to 4-1 and in the process, dropped Waynflete to 4-1.
“It’s fun to have close games, but it gives everyone a heart attack,” said Kelman, a captain. “We have intensity throughout the game. It’s just a matter of adjusting. It’s helpful for the seniors to know we can come out on top in close games. It’s great for the underclassmen too.”
Back and forth battle
Greely repeated as Class B champion last season, but has some holes to fill after a big graduation hit. The Rangers have been bolstered, however, by the return of Williams, who missed her junior season with a knee injury.
After opening with a 15-4 home loss to three-time reigning Class A champion Kennebunk, Greely eked out an 8-7 overtime win at defending Class C champion Freeport, then held off host Marshwood (11-9) and visiting York (6-5).
Waynflete, which dropped a double-overtime heartbreaker to North Yarmouth Academy in last year’s Class C state quarterfinals (11-10), has been a powerhouse so far in 2024, defeating visiting Lake Region (16-2), visiting Portland (18-6), host St. Dom’s (15-0) and host Gray-New Gloucester (13-2) by a composite 62-10 margin.
Last season, the title-bound Rangers beat the host Flyers, 15-9.
Saturday, on a very pleasant 59-degree afternoon, Waynflete looked to beat Greely for the first time since May 2, 2015 (10-7 in Cumberland), but instead, the Rangers made it seven straight victories in the series.
Waynflete junior Fiona Dolan races up the field as Greely junior Kylie Lord gives chase early in the Rangers’ 10-8 victory Saturday. Hoffer photos.
Kelly won the opening draw for the Flyers and they had a long first possession, but couldn’t score, as Birknes was off-target on a free position.
Greely then set up on offense and with 6:27 to go in the first quarter, it went ahead to stay, as Flynn scored unassisted, beating Waynflete freshman goalie Mya Clark.
After Kelman was twice just off with shots, she set up Williams for a goal with 3:05 on the clock to double the lead.
Clark then robbed Williams, but with just 5.8 seconds to go, sophomore Audrey Ingersoll got the ball to Kelman, who found the net for a 3-0 advantage.
The Flyers had a chance to get on the board with 8:25 left in the second period, but on a Kelly free position, she passed up the shot and sent the ball over to senior Sasha Melnick instead, but Melnick’s shot was high.
The Rangers then struck again with 6:13 remaining, as in transition, Kelman fired a high pass which Williams climbed the ladder to snare before tickling the twine.
Waynflete finally got some offense with 4:48 left, as Birknes scored on a free position.
Late in the half, Kelly was denied by Greely junior goalie Whitney Bond and Flynn was robbed by Clark, sending the game to the break with the Rangers up, 4-1.
Greely won five of seven first half draws and had a 13-4 edge in shots (6-2 on cage), but hadn’t been able to put the Flyers away.
Waynflete junior Lydia Birknes is pursued by Greely junior Kylie Lord.
The Rangers appeared poised to do just that when Williams set up Kelman for a goal 64 seconds into the second half, but Marblestone answered with her first goal, unassisted, with 8:38 to go in the third quarter.
But Greely again got possession on the draw and 30 seconds later, Williams found junior Kylie Lord to push the lead back to four, 6-2.
And then, Waynflete roared to life.
First, Kelly set up Marblestone for a goal with 7:24 on the clock.
Then, after Clark denied a free position shot from sophomore Kelsey Crocker, Marblestone set up Kelly for a transition goal with 4:50 left.
A little over a minute later, the Flyers showed their transition acumen again, as Marblestone found Earls in front and Earls sent the ball past Bond, and just like that, with 3:34 remaining, the Rangers’ lead was down to just one, 6-5.
But Williams won the ensuing draw and with 2:14 to go, Kelman finished a free position to give Greely a two-goal edge heading to the fourth period.
And there, the Rangers held on to prevail.
Clark kept Waynflete within hailing distance early by saving a free position shot from Kelman.
Sophomore Mya Vickerson, who replaced Bond in goal late in third quarter, then denied by Earls and Marblestone.
Then, with 8:06 remaining in regulation, Kelly set up Birknes in front for a goal which pulled the Flyers within one for a second time.
Waynflete never got a look at a tying goal, however, as Williams won the draw and with 6:54 on the clock, Williams got the ball back from Kelman and finished.
Then, after another Williams draw win, Lord assisted Flynn on another goal with 6:21 left and Greely appeared poised to pull away, up, 9-6.
But the Flyers refused to buckle and rallied again.
Kelly earned a free position and finished it after a nice move with 3:10 to play.
Williams won the ensuing draw, but Waynflete got the ball back and with 1:17 on the clock, Birknes set up Marblestone to again make it a one-goal game.
Out of a timeout, Williams and Flyers junior Leah Kramer set up in the circle looking for the all-important possession and Williams took care of business again, winning the ball to herself.
Greely then ran down the clock while Waynflete tried desperately to get the ball back and with just 6 seconds remaining, Williams slammed the door with an unassisted goal.
The Flyers did win the final draw and showing their never-quit mentality, appeared to score once more, when Kelly sent the ball into the goal, but the officials ruled the shot came too late and the Rangers prevailed by a 10-8 margin.
“I wasn’t sure if I expected a run, but I knew (Waynflete would) come out with intensity and it was just a matter of matching it back,” Kelman said.
“Waynflete never goes down easily,” said Greely coach Becca Koelker. “They didn’t give up and I credit them for their perseverance. We were ready for them to make a run. We had to maintain intensity and possession of the ball. I’m really proud of our defense and our goalies for holding them off.”
Williams continues to make up for lost time, scoring a game-high four goals and dishing out a pair of assists.
Kelman was superb as well, scoring three times and assisting on three goals.
Flynn added two goals and Lord also scored.
Seven of the nine Greely goals were assisted, as Ingersoll and Lord also had one apiece.
Both Bond and Vickerson made two saves.
The Rangers won 18 of 22 draws, with Kelman and Williams doing the heavy lifting, meaning they had possession far more than the Flyers.
“We just know how to communicate with each other,” Kelman said. “We’ve played together since freshman year. We have each other’s back and if she tells me to go somewhere I go there and the same with me. We just know where it’s going to go. We can both get the ball out of pressure.”
“Eva was working her magic on the draw,” Koelker said. “She works so hard. When you have that many possessions it gives your team so many more opportunities. (Eva and Asja) work really well together. We had Eva off the draw coming back from injury, but now that she’s back there and they have more reps together, it gets better and better.”
Greely had a 34-30 edge on ground balls (Kelman and Williams each collected eight), a 24-14 shots advantage (16-12 on cage) and overcame 14 turnovers.
Waynflete’s effort was paced by Marblestone’s three goals. Birknes and Kelly each scored twice and Earls also found the net.
Kelly and Marblestone had two assists apiece and Birknes finished with one.
Birknes led the team with seven ground balls.
Clark made six saves.
The Flyers turned the ball over 10 times.
“It was a nice comeback,” said longtime Waynflete coach Cathie Connors. “I’m really proud of them for coming back. We had a really slow start first half and I expected it, to be honest. We struggled on ground balls on grass. No excuses. We’ll focus on that. Sometimes you need that to happen. They dominated on draws. We haven’t played a team like Greely. It took awhile to get going and get confidence. We had six seconds left and knew we couldn’t win, but we pushed anyway which was great.”
No breathers
Waynflete looks to bounce back Tuesday when it welcomes Scarborough. Thursday brings a chance at revenge, when the Flyers go to NYA.
“I love this team,” Connors said. “The best part about it is every attitude is better than the next. They’re so supportive of each other. This was good for us. We’ll watch the game tape. We know what we need to work on and it’s things we can fix.”
Greely’s gauntlet continues next week with trips to Class A powerhouse Falmouth Tuesday and Cape Elizabeth Thursday.
“It’s really beneficial to play a more challenging schedule,” said Kelman. “It makes us more gritty for the big games and makes us get better faster. We just need to keep working together and coming together as a unit. I just want to win one more (championship). It’s one of the best feelings and there’s no team I’d rather do it with. We have everything in us that we need to win.”
“We have to rise up and play a consistent level against the top teams,” Koelker said. “It’s about getting better every game. We’re shooting for June. We’re trying to close the gap between where we are now and where we need to be in June.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.
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