SCARBOROUGH—Jon and Sam Miller are Yarmouth boys’ lacrosse legends turned Clippers coaches.
And even they had to admit Thursday evening at the Kippy Mitchell Sports Complex that a current Yarmouth star may have eclipsed their greatness.
The Clippers were frustrated by host Scarborough for a half, before senior standout Colter Olson and his teammates flipped the switch in a dominant second half that produced yet another decisive victory.
The Red Storm continued their recent strong play by grabbing a 3-2 lead after one period, then went on top by two early in the second quarter on a man-down goal from sophomore Wes Merrill, but they wouldn’t score again for a long time and by then, Yarmouth was in command.
The Clippers closed the first half strong, getting goals from sophomore Colby Carnes, Olson and sophomore George Brown to lead, 5-4, at the break.
Yarmouth then poured it on in a third period which saw the Clippers outscore Scarborough, 8-1, as Olson scored three times in the frame.
Olson then added two more goals in the fourth quarter and Yarmouth rolled to a 15-8 victory.
Olson finished with seven goals and two assists, helping Yarmouth improve to 8-1 on the season while dropping Scarborough to 4-5 in the process.
“Sam and I looked at each other and we’re like, ‘Is (Colter) better than we were? He might be,'” said Jon Miller, Yarmouth’s head coach. “We don’t admit that very often.”
Interclass duel
Scarborough has long been a contender in Class A, while Yarmouth has been synonymous with success in Class B.
The Red Storm dropped their first three games this spring, 8-6 to visiting Windham, 12-3 at three-time Class A champion Cape Elizabeth and 12-4 to visiting Falmouth before getting in the win column at Cheverus (12-3). After rallying to upset host South Portland (9-8), Scarborough lost at home to Thornton Academy (9-6), but knocked off host Oak Hill (10-8) and Portland (10-2) to get back to the .500 mark.
The Clippers rolled in their first five games, defeating visiting Gray-New Gloucester/Poland (18-7), host Freeport (21-6), host Brunswick (18-6), visiting Greely (17-1) and host Waynflete, the three-time reigning Class C champion (20-6). Yarmouth then held a fourth quarter lead against visiting Cape Elizabeth, but couldn’t hold it, falling in a thriller, 13-12.
“That was a confidence-builder,” said Jon Miller. “We realized we could be a top team in the state. It also gave the younger guys confidence that they can be great players.”
The Clippers bounced back to dispatch visiting Messalonskee (18-11) and host Greely (13-2).
Last season, Yarmouth dominated visiting Scarborough, 21-7.
Thursday, on a comfortable 54-degree evening, in a game that began amid a light drizzle then turned dry, the Red Storm looked to beat the Clippers for the first time since May 13, 2017 (16-8 at home), but instead, Yarmouth improved to 8-2 versus the Red Storm, dating to 2008.
Although it took the Clippers some time to hit their stride.
Yarmouth sophomore Noah Tippie and Scarborough junior Cooper Trafford chase after a loose ball following a faceoff during the Clippers’ 15-8 win Thursday night. Hoffer photos.
Yarmouth took the game’s first shot, but the Red Storm’s fine senior goalie, Ben Kerbel, denied sophomore Hakon Yeo.
Scarborough then got the jump with 10:44 left in the opening stanza, as senior Olin Pedersen scooped up a loose ball and fired it past Clippers sophomore goalie Will Redfield.
After Redfield twice denied Red Storm senior Caleb Wandell, Yarmouth drew even with 5:16 on the clock, as Olson intercepted a clearing pass, raced in untouched, then fired the ball past Kerbel and into the net.
It took all of a minute for Scarborough to reclaim the lead, as Pedersen got the ball after a turnover and fed senior Sebastian Furr for the goal.
After Merrill hit the post, the Clippers were initially stymied in their quest to tie the score, as Kerbel saved shots from sophomore Gideon Ahrens and junior Owen Walsh and Brown missed an open look in front.
Then, with 1:22 left in the frame, Olson set up Yeo for a goal to make it 2-2.
The Red Storm closed the quarter strong, however, as sophomore Liam Sellinger found Pedersen for a goal with just 12.3 seconds on the clock and after junior Cooper Trafford won the ensuing faceoff, Scarborough had a chance to strike again, but Trafford’s shot in the waning second was denied by Redfield, keeping the Red Storm’s lead at one heading to the second period.
There, Yarmouth went man-up for two minutes, but it would be Scarborough’s special teams coming up huge, as the Red Storm forced a turnover, then Merrill got the ball on his stick, bulled through the defense and raced in and fired past Redfield for a 4-2 lead with 9:16 remaining before halftime.
But that would prove to be Scarborough’s highwater mark.
Still man-up, the Clippers pulled back within one, as Olson set up Carnes for his first goal with 8:22 left.
Carnes then missed just wide and Kerbel denied Carnes on a shot that glanced off the post, before stopping a bid from Olson.
At the other end, Redfield stood tall, robbing Pedersen and Furr.
Then, with 3:15 on the clock, Olson took matters into his own hands, fought through the defense, then beat Kerbel to tie the score for the third and final time.
After Kerbel denied junior Matt Cain, then stopped a rebound shot from Brown, Sellinger and Wandell were off target for the Red Storm.
Then, with just 22.2 seconds left, Brown shot through traffic and found the mark to put Yarmouth in front to stay.
Redfield made his eighth save of the first half, denying Pedersen, with just 3 seconds remaining and the Clippers held a 5-4 advantage at halftime.
And then, the third quarter began and Yarmouth found another gear, leaving Scarborough in its wake.
Yarmouth junior Owen Walsh makes a move on Scarborough sophomore Nick Harmon.
The Red Storm had the first look of the second half and could have pulled even, but Furr missed just high.
The Clippers then got a little breathing room with 10:12 on the clock, as Olson fought his way through the defense before finishing.
Sophomore Noah Tippie then won the ensuing faceoff and 16 seconds later, Yeo set up Brown for a goal to make it 7-4.
Tippie won possession again and with 9:06 to go, Olson scored unassisted again after a nice move.
“We just had too many mistakes at the beginning,” said Olson. “We tried to rush everything on offense and we didn’t give the defense a break. Second half, we had to pick it up a little bit and take more time. We went to a different offense and shot for the corners instead of at the goalie. For me, the first half, I forced bad passes that weren’t really open and in the second half, I decided I had to shoot more.”
With 7:57 left in the quarter, Yarmouth made it 9-4, as in transition, sophomore longstick middie Nate Buchanan, who had a terrific outing, set up Carnes for a goal in transition.
“Huge shout out to Nate Buchanan,” said Olson. “He played every single possession at LSM. He didn’t come off the field. He played unbelievable.”
Finally, with 5:56 remaining, Scarborough was able to answer, as in transition, Pedersen took a pass from sophomore Kyle Gambardella and scored, ending a 7-0 Clippers’ run and a 15 minute, 20 second scoring drought.
Yarmouth didn’t allow the Red Storm to creep closer, however, as after Kerbel saved a shot from Cain, he denied Buchanan, then Yeo on the rebound, but Yeo got the ball back and finished with 4:30 left.
Fifty-six seconds later, Brown added an unassisted goal, then with 2:33 to go in the quarter, Yeo set up Olson for another goal.
Redfield preserved the lead by twice denying Wandell, then with 18.7 seconds showing, the Clippers capped their quarter of brilliance, as Yeo took a pass from Ahrens and finished to make the score 13-5.
Six straight faceoff wins by Tippie helped Yarmouth break it open.
“We realized that (the first half wasn’t) how we normally play and that we could play a lot better,” Buchanan said. “The team came together, moved the ball better and got the job done. Noah was just an absolute beast out there, winning everything. That gave us the ball and allowed us to flip the switch.”
“This is Noah’s first year and he’s starting to figure it out,” said Miller. “Today, he started doing some different tactics that were clearly working and it was a good day for him.”
The Clippers began the fourth quarter man-up and just 28 seconds in, Olson found the net, off a feed from Brown.
Furr answered with an unassisted goal with 7:24 on the clock, then Redfield denied Furr, sophomore Owen Pepler, Pedersen on a rebound, then Furr again.
“Will picked it up,” said Olson. “Our defense did a better job giving him shots he liked the looks of instead of wide open shots from seven yards and he really elevated his game in the second half.”
Olson then struck for the final time, taking a pass in transition from junior Johnny Weinrich before beating Kerbel with a shot that hit the post, then ricocheted off the underside of the crossbar and in and was ruled good by the officials with 3:50 left.
That would be it for Yarmouth’s offense and down the stretch, Scarborough got goals from Pepler (unassisted with 1:36 remaining) and Wandell (set up by Pedersen with 56.4 seconds to go), but the Clippers were able to slam the door from there and prevail, 15-8.
Yarmouth players race to congratulate sophomore goalie Will Redfield at the final horn.
“We came into the game missing a lot of younger impact players, who are glue guys, but we showed resilience,” Olson said. “It’s good to know we can start a game not great and can still come back. We just flipped the switch, decided it was time to get going and that was nice to see.”
“It was good to face some adversity in the first half,” Miller said. “Scarborough came out flying. They were all over us, forcing us to make bad passes and we weren’t working hard enough off-ball. The boys cleaned it up, were patient, took care of the ball and we were able to run an effective offense in the second half.”
Olson, who will play next year at Rutgers University in New Jersey, had another tour de force performance, scoring seven goals and adding a pair of assists.
“(Colter’s) magical,” said Buchanan. “He’s a wizard.”
“(Colter’s) impressive,” Miller said. “We’re lucky to have him. He’s just such a beast. So effective on the ride, scoring and feeding. He took over the game.”
Brown and Yeo added three goals apiece and Carnes tickled the twine twice.
Ahrens, Brown, Buchanan, Weinrich and Yeo all had one assist.
Redfield made 15 saves.
Tippie won 13 of 25 faceoffs.
The Clippers had a 37-21 advantage in ground balls (Tippie had 10 and Buchanan finished with five).
“I’m happy that I can work as hard as I can for the team and the players around me,” Buchanan said.
Yarmouth had an edge in shots on cage (31-23) and overcame 18 turnovers.
Scarborough was paced offensively by Pedersen, who scored three goals and assisted two others. Furr finished with two goals, while Merrill, Pepler and Wandell all had one.
Gambardella and Sellinger also had assists.
Kerbel was his usual strong self in goal, stopping 16 shots, many point blank.
“Ben is a good friend of mine and he made phenomenal saves on the doorstep,” said Olson.
Gambardella and Pedersen led the team with three ground balls apiece.
The Red Storm had an edge in overall shots (38-35), but turned the ball over 23 times and couldn’t recover from Yarmouth’s third period outburst.
“(Yarmouth’s) a great team and I give them credit,” said Scarborough coach Zac Barrett. “They’re more talented. They overpowered us. We made a lot of mistakes and they took advantage, but I’m proud of how we came out first half and I’m proud of how we finished the game strong. We had chances at ground balls, at possessions, but against a team like that, you can’t afford to lose them. Ben played an incredible game in goal. (Senior) Drew Witas played a great game on Colter, but Colter is smart. He found ways to get himself away from the coverage we tried to put on him and he took advantage. If he’s in a matchup he can win, he’s going to win it and that’s something we just couldn’t control.”
Time off
Both teams have time to rest up before returning to action next week.
Scarborough (currently ranked eighth in the Class A state Heal Points standings) doesn’t play again until Friday the 17th, when Brunswick pays a visit.
“We’re a young team just trying to grow and learn and unfortunately, it hurts,” said Barrett. “I feel pretty good about the rest of the year. I hope the Heal Points shake out in a way we can finish as high as we can.”
Yarmouth (first in Class B) has two huge home tests next week, versus reigning state champion York in a playoff rematch Wednesday, then versus Class A power Falmouth Saturday the 18th.
“We have more of a pep in our step,” said Olson. “We have confidence. It’s unfortunate to have injuries, but we have to suck it up and play lacrosse. We’re excited for those games. We really enjoyed the Cape test and we’ve been waiting for another big test. I’m a little more focused to play York (after last year’s playoff loss). I’ve had that one circled.”
“I think we showed against Cape that we’re one of the top teams,” Buchanan said. “Cape’s a powerhouse and I hope we can get them when we play them (again). We just need to move the ball. Simple, no fancy stuff, and just play our game.”
“We have two big tests next week,” Miller added. “York runs that zone. That’s their thing. We started practicing against the zone day one and we’ll be ready for them.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.
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