OAKLAND — When a weather delay happened with 5:26 left in the first quarter, the Greely girls’ lacrosse team remembered what it did during the weather delay in the Class B state championship game a year ago. While waiting out the 39-minute delay in the Messalonskee High weight room, the Rangers had a dance party.

“That kept our energy going. We talked about some of the plays that happened in the game,” Greely senior Asja Kelman said. “A lot of our players are used to a delay. Last year we went to states and had a delay after 30 seconds. We know how to deal with it, keep our composure, and it didn’t slow us down.”

Already ahead by two goals when the thunder rolled, the fourth-seeded Rangers dominated the first quarter and scored the game’s first six goals. That was enough to take a 13-9 win over top-seeded Mt. Ararat and advance to the Class B state championship game for the fourth straight season.

Greely (12-4), the two-time defending state champion, will face Freeport, which won the Class C title last season, on Saturday at Portland’s Fitzpatrick Stadium. Mt. Ararat ends the season at 15-1.

Neither team thought the weather delay was a factor. Greely Coach Becca Koelker said the delay in last season’s state final made the Rangers realize they had to stay loose, hence the dance party.

“It was kind of nice to get the break and regroup a little bit. You kind of try to stay positive in those situations,” Mt. Ararat Coach Brittany Vogt said.

Kelman scored five goals and assisted on two. Her first two goals, with 8:48 and 5:40 left in the first quarter, staked Greely to a 2-0 lead before the game was halted at 5:11 p.m. because of thunder.

When play resumed at 5:50 p.m., the Rangers’ offense continued to surge. Kelsey Crocker’s goal with 11:07 left in the second quarter pushed Greely’s lead to 6-0.

“At first, it was kind of challenging to get out attack cohesively moving, but just clearing through for each other, and just having the confidence to take those drives and trust your teammates really helps,” Kelman said.

From then on, the Eagles made it a competitive game. Mt. Ararat scored three straight goals, cutting Greely’s lead in half when Evelyn Goudreau (four goals) scored with 3:30 left in the second quarter. Koelker called a timeout to regroup her team, and the Rangers responded with two quick goals for an 8-3 halftime lead.

“We’ve been talking all season about taking care of the little things, making sure we do those to keep possession. We were just making errors we don’t characteristically make,” Koelker said.

Mt. Ararat stayed in the game by staying patient offensively.

“We just wanted to pass the ball fast. Against a good zone defense like Greely, you really want to pass the ball as much as you can so you can get them off and overloaded on one side,” Vogt said.

Islah Godo had two goals and two assists for the Eagles. Eva Williams recorded three goals and an assist for the Rangers, while Kylie Lord and Jane Flynn each scored twice.

“I give (Mt. Ararat) credit. They won the second half, it was 6-5 them. We were having trouble matching their intensity,” Koelker said. “That’s what we have to work on for Saturday, matching that intensity level.”