PORTLAND – Sadie Cole couldn’t wait for the girls’ lacrosse season to start.

Maybe that’s why the Waynflete junior came out firing. Cole scored three times in the first five minutes Friday as Waynflete rolled to a 15-5 win over visiting North Yarmouth Academy in the season opener for both teams.

Additional Photos

Martha Veroneau of Waynflete prepares to shoot Friday against North Yarmouth Academy goalie Mallory Ianno. Veroneau scored four goals, helping Waynflete to a 15-5 victory. Photos by Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Sadie Cole of Waynflete takes a shot as NYA’s Mallory Ianno tries to protect the net. Cole finished with five goals, including three in the first five minutes.

Walker Foehl, left, of Waynflete is pressured by North Yarmouth Academy’s Katie Cawley, center, and Hannah Twombly. Waynflete built a 14-1 halftime lead on the way to a 15-5 win.

Cole was just part of the offense. She collected five goals as the Flyers scored 14 times in the first half to build a 14-1 lead. Not bad, considering Waynflete lost nine players from a varsity roster of 15 last year.

“It was really good to see (the start),” Waynflete Coach Cathie Connors said.

“Martha (Veroneau) and Sadie were winning the draws but everybody was really strong. There wasn’t just one person running down the field and trying to score a goal by themselves.”

Six Waynflete players scored as the Flyers pelted the Panthers’ net with 22 shots. NYA managed seven shots.

Cole, who finished third in Class B scoring last year with 58 goals, said she was confident in her teammates, though some have never played lacrosse before this season.

“Coming into this season, I really had no idea what kind of team we’d have,” she said. “We’ve just had a couple of weeks of practice, but we’ve really meshed as a team. I knew we would play really well.”

Everybody played well in the first half for the Flyers. Cole started the scoring just 45 seconds into the game.

Veroneau scored four times as Waynflete effectively secured the victory in the first half.

In the second half, Cole and Veroneau were moved to defensive positions to give other Flyers a chance at playing offense.

Despite the lopsided score, NYA Coach Lynn Sullivan met Connors with a hug and affectionate words after the game. Sullivan was Connors’ assistant coach when she started coaching Waynflete in 1993.

Sullivan is just starting her second stint as the head coach at NYA. The drubbing was not pleasant, but it wasn’t a complete surprise. The Panthers also have heavy turnover from last year’s varsity.

That left a lot of new players asking referees where to stand.

“They’re nervous,” Sullivan said. “They’ve got a lot to learn, especially the kids coming up from the eighth-grade team. The game is totally different. They’ve gotta learn it.”

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