Waynflete junior Miles Lipton, left, exults and is congratulated by senior Hank Duvall after scoring one of his seven goals in Saturday’s dramatic 12-11 win over Deering.

Mike Strout photos.

More photos below.

BOX SCORE

Waynflete 12 Deering 11

D- 2 4 2 3- 11
W- 3 1 3 5- 12

First quarter
9:01 W Lipton (unassisted)
7:37 W Lipton (unassisted)
4:34 W Lipton (unassisted)
2:39 D P. Harvey (Contreras)
51.1 D N. James (unassisted)

Second quarter
5:39 W Lipton (unassisted)
5:02 D P. Harvey (A. James)
2:16 D A. James (Z. Harvey)
40.4 D Peterson (unassisted)
23.1 D Peterson (P. Harvey)

Third quarter
10:23 D N. James (unassisted)
5:07 W Duvall (unassisted)
4:21 W Burdick (Duvall)
3:37 D Z. Harvey (unassisted)
2:06 W Lipton (unassisted)

Fourth quarter
9:47 D P. Harvey (N. James)
8:13 D Contreras (N. James)
4:48 W Lipton (unassisted) (MAN-UP)
4:09 D Peterson (Contreras) (MAN-UP)
3:48 W Duvall (unassisted) (TWO MEN-DOWN)
2:28 W Duvall (Burdick) (MAN-DOWN)
1:14 W Lipton (Duvall)
19.5 W Duvall (Burdick)

Goals:
D- P. Harvey, Peterson 3, N. James 2, Contreras, Z. Harvey, A. James 1
W- Lipton 7, Duvall 4, Burdick 1

Assists:
D- Contreras, N. James 2, P. Harvey, Z. Harvey, A. James 1
W- Burdick, Duvall 2

Faceoffs (Waynflete, 15-11)
D- A. James 9 of 24, Z. Harvey 2 of 2
W- Makinen-Hall 12 of 19, Parr 3 of 7

Ground balls
D- 23
W- 31

Turnovers:
D- 13
W- 17

Shots:
D- 31
W- 42

Shots on cage:
D- 19
W- 22

Saves:
D (Morrione) 10
W (Armstrong) 8

PORTLAND—Waynflete’s boys’ lacrosse team was seeking a signature victory.

Deering was seeking consistency.

One team went home happy, the other shaking its head after a compelling interclass, city showdown Saturday afternoon at Fore River Fields.

The Flyers, coming off a narrow loss at North Yarmouth Academy, when a late rally fell just short, got a second chance and made the most of it, while the Rams are probably still shaking their heads wondering how a seemingly sure victory slipped away.

Waynflete, behind three quick goals from junior standout Miles Lipton, got out to a fast start, but Deering got tallies from sophomore Payson Harvey and senior Nick James to cut the deficit to 3-2 after one quarter.

Lipton opened the second period with his fourth goal, but the Rams got the next four, as Harvey, freshman Andrew James, senior Jonah Peterson and Peterson again, all tickled the twine to produce a 6-4 halftime lead.

When Nick James opened the second half with a goal, Deering appeared primed to pull away, but the Flyers stopped throwing the ball away and pulled within one, thanks to goals from senior Hank Duvall and sophomore Oliver Burdick.

Senior Zack Harvey countered for the Rams, but Lipton answered and after Burdick had a late goal waved off for being in the crease, Deering clung to an 8-7 advantage heading for the fourth quarter.

Where Waynflete would save its best for last.

The Rams went back up by three, as Payson Harvey and Contreras scored.

With 4:48 to go, Lipton scored again, but after the goal, the Flyers were ruled to be playing with an illegal stick and on the ensuing man-up, Peterson scored to give Deering an 11-8 lead.

When Waynflete took another penalty, it appeared doomed, but despite being two men down, Duvall scored to cut the deficit to two and in a man-down situation, the Flyers made it an 11-10 game when Duvall scored again with 2:28 remaining.

Waynflete kept battling and with 1:14 on the clock, Lipton scored for the final time to tie it.

The Flyers won the ensuing faceoff and ran the clock down to 19.5 seconds, when Burdick set up Duvall for the go-ahead goal.

The Rams got a final chance to force overtime, but a last-second shot from Payson Harvey found the net of Waynflete senior goalie Will Armstrong and the Flyers were able to celebrate an improbable 12-11 victory.

Waynflete got seven goals from Lipton and four from Duvall as it improved to 4-3 on the season and dropped Deering to 2-5 in the process.

“The players showed a lot of character,” said Flyers first-year coach Parker Repko. “It took us being a couple men down to start scoring, but it’s a great win for the guys.” 

In the hunt

With the establishment of three classes this spring, Waynflete is finally free of longtime tormentors Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth and believes it has a legitimate shot at a Class C title. The Flyers started with home losses to defending Class B champion Cape Elizabeth (18-9) and Greely (18-11), then downed visiting Wells (16-5), host Freeport (15-7) and host Gardiner (16-9) before dropping a tough 9-8 decision at North Yarmouth Academy Wednesday.

Deering also started 0-2, falling at home to South Portland (14-10) and at Thornton Academy (12-5). After downing visiting Lewiston (13-11), the Rams dropped an overtime decision to visiting Kennebunk (8-7) and lost at Messalonskee (11-5) before getting back in the win column Wednesday, 10-3, over visiting Gorham.

Entering play Saturday, the Rams and Flyers hadn’t met in a countable game since May 12, 2007, a 5-2 Deering win at Waynflete. The teams also squared off in the 2006 regular season (a 7-4 home victory for the Rams) and the 2005 West Region quarterfinals (an 11-5 Deering win).

This time around, on a 54 degree afternoon, both teams had their moments, but it would be the Flyers who laughed last.

Waynflete was frustrated early, as Burdick had a shot saved by Rams sophomore goalie Max Morrione and Lipton hit the post, but with 9:01 to go, Lipton scored unassisted to break the ice.

After Morrione denied Duvall, Lipton scored again with 7:37 on the clock, as Morrione appeared to have made the stop, but the ball crossed the line anyway.

When Lipton cut through the defense before finishing unassisted with 4:34 left in the first, the Flyers had a three-goal lead, but the Rams eventually awakened.

With 2:39 on the clock, Payson Harvey planted himself in front of the goal and after getting a pass from Contreras, beat Armstrong to put Deering on the board.

The Rams then pulled within one on an unassisted goal from Nick James, and the score was 3-2 after 12 minutes.

Deering continued to surge in the second period.

After Armstrong preserved the lead by denying Contreras and Payson Harvey, Morrione robbed Duvall on the doorstep, but with 5:39 left in the half, Lipton scored unassisted again to make it 4-2.

That would be the end of Waynflete’s offense for a long stretch.

The Rams controlled the rest of the quarter, as in transition, Andrew James set up Payson Harvey with 5:02 on the clock and with 2:16 left, Zack Harvey assisted Andrew James on a goal which tied the score, 4-4.

After Deering killed a penalty, it took the lead for the first time, as Peterson scored unassisted with 40.4 seconds to go.

Then, with 23.1 seconds remaining, in transition, Payson Harvey fed Peterson for another goal and the Rams, thanks to a 6-1 surge, took a 6-4 advantage to halftime.

In the first half, the Flyers won eight of 12 faceoffs, but Deering had a 10-8 edge in shots on cage.

There wouldn’t be much separation in the second half and the game would come down to the final horn.

With 10:23 left in the third period, an unassisted tally from Nick James gave the Rams a three-goal lead.

After Lipton just missed twice and Burdick was robbed by Morrione, Duvall scored for the first time, unassisted, with 5:07 to go in the quarter, to snap a 12-minute, 32-second drought.

Just 46 seconds later, Duvall passed in front to Burdick, who managed to finish despite being shoved to the ground, and just like that, Waynflete was only down by one, 7-6.

The Rams would answer, as Zack Harvey scored unassisted with 3:37 on the clock, but with 2:06 left, after a nice spin move left the Deering defense in his wake, Lipton scored unassisted to make it a one-goal game again, 8-7.

Late in the frame, Lipton was denied by Morrione and an apparent Burdick goal was waved off when he was ruled to be in the crease and the contest went to the fourth period with the Rams clinging to a one-goal advantage.

Early in the final stanza, Lipton looked to tie the score, but Morrione made the save.

Deering then opened its lead back to three, as Nick James set up Payson Harvey for a goal with 9:47 to go and after Morrione robbed Lipton at one end, Nick James threw a high pass to Contreras, who one-timed a shot past Armstrong to make it 10-7 with 8:13 remaining.

With 5:05 left, a slashing penalty on Nick James gave the Flyers life and Lipton scored unassisted, man-up, 17 seconds later to cut the deficit to two.

After the goal, Rams coach Jon Dubois had Waynflete sophomore faceoff specialist Tafari Makinen-Hall’s stick checked and it was found to be illegal, forcing him to sit for three minutes as a result.

Deering capitalized, as Contreras fed Peterson with 4:09 remaining and on the play, Flyers senior John Veroneau was called for a cross-check, allowing the Rams to go two men-up and seemingly put themselves in position to deliver the knockout blow.

Instead, Waynflete delivered a stunning haymaker of its own.

The Flyers got possession of the ball and with 3:48 left, Duvall scored unassisted to cut the deficit to 11-9.

After Armstrong kept Waynflete alive by denying Zack Harvey, Burdick set up Duvall for a man-down goal with 2:28 on the clock and suddenly, the Flyers had all the momentum.

That momentum turned into euphoria with 1:14 remaining, as Lipton scored for the final time, taking a pass from Duvall and beating Morrione into the upper right corner to tie the game, 11-11.

“I felt the momentum there,” Lipton said. “That was great. I knew we had it there.” 

Waynflete senior Makany Parr won the ensuing faceoff and after running nearly a minute off the clock, the Flyers struck again, as Burdick got the ball to Duvall in close.

Duvall, who missed several open nets during the course of the game, wouldn’t be denied this time, as he tickled the twine for a 12-11 lead with just 19.5 seconds showing.

“I had that look all day,” Duvall said. “I missed a lot of finishes, but luckily, the last one fell.”

Deering refused to go quietly, however, as Andrew James won the faceoff and Dubois called timeout.

Out of the timeout, the Rams worked the ball around and it appeared time might run out, but with a second to go, Payson Harvey caught the ball up top and had a great look, but just before the horn, his shot was saved by Armstrong and the Flyers celebrated their dramatic 12-11 victory.

“I was just trying to figure out where the ball was going and make the save,” Armstrong said. “It felt awesome. The best part is seeing all the guys coming at me to congratulate me. It was a big win.”

“It was a great game,” Lipton said. “A great time. We just kept at it. Hank gave us a big pep talk and we kept grinding. We focused less on goals and more on getting the ball off the ground. Ground balls equals goals. We just calmed down. I’ve played with Hank since seventh grade. It’s sad to think he’s going away next year and I’ll miss Will too. I’m just trying to leave it all on the field for them.”

“We’ve been close in games and we needed a season-defining comeback win,” said Duvall. “I just asked everyone to step up and they did.”

“We got knocked down pretty hard in the previous game, but the guys responded well,” Repko added. “It’s a great win for the guys. They definitely earned it. Our defense really stepped up. We told the guys at halftime we had to do better at ground balls. We shared the ball at the end. Oliver had some great looks. The other guys made sure the ball stayed moving. We finally put a couple in when it mattered. We emphasized playing each quarter.”

Lipton had himself an afternoon, scoring seven times.

Duvall finished strong with four goals and two assists.

Burdick had the other goal and added a pair of assists.

Armstrong finished with eight saves.

“We expect that from him,” Repko said. “He’s one of our captains. He kept us in it and made the big save at the end.”

Waynflete had a 15-11 edge in faceoffs, a 31-23 edge in ground balls (junior Mykel Henry led the way with seven) a 42-31 shots advantage (22-19 on cage) and overcame 17 turnovers.

Deering got three goals apiece from Payson Harvey and Peterson. Nick James scored twice and Contreras, Zack Harvey and Andrew James had one goal apiece.

“A lot of teams we play focus on Nick James and that creates a lot for our offense,” Dubois said.

Contreras and Nick James each had two assists, while Payson Harvey, Zack Harvey and Andrew James all added one.

Morrione had 10 saves, Nick James had a game-high 10 ground balls and the Rams turned the ball over 13 times.

“It should have been an easy ‘W,’ but sometimes with high school kids it gets undisciplined,” Dubois lamented. “We went on runs where we’d score two or three in a row, then give it back. We let them back in the game.”

Heals to be had

Deering (fifth in the Class A South Heal Points standings) has the tall task of hosting undefeated Falmouth Wednesday. The Rams then play at Mt. Ararat Friday.

“We’ll get back to it on Monday,” said Dubois. “We need a short memory. We’ll go forward. We have to find Heal Points somewhere else. We’re trying to get 48 minutes out of the kids. It’s a struggle to do it.”

Waynflete looks to keep the good times rolling Saturday of next week, when Cony comes to Fore River Fields. Key games against Cheverus, Lake Region, York and Yarmouth also remain.

“If we got on a bus to Fitzy right now, we’d lose, so we have to take it day-by-day and get better every day,” Duvall said.

“We’re just trying to win every game and see where we are at the end,” said Armstrong.

“We have a week off to look at some film and figure out what we need to work on,” Repko added.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

Waynflete sophomore Oliver Burdick takes a shot.

Waynflete senior goalie Will Armstrong denies Deering senior Nick James.

Waynflete junior Miles Lipton shoots and scores.

Deering sophomore goalie Max Morrione denies Waynflete senior Hank Duvall.

Deering senior Jonah Peterson is defended by Waynflete junior Musaid Mohammed.

Deering freshman Andrew James shoots and scores.

Deering sophomore Payson Harvey, left, congratulates senior Jonah Peterson after a goal, as senior Zack Harvey cheers.

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