Yarmouth sophomore Annie Lowenstein, left, is congratulated by freshman teammate Katelyn D’Appolonia after scoring one of her five goals in Tuesday’s 17-7 home win over St. Dom’s.

Derek Davis / Press Herald photos.

More photos below.

BOX SCORE

Yarmouth 17 St. Dom’s 7

SD- 5 2- 7
Y- 14 3- 17

First half
24:31 Y Abi Thornton (unassisted)
23:49 Y Teare (free position)
23:04 SD Lutrzykowski (unassisted)
22:34 Y Lowenstein (unassisted)
22:18 Y Lowenstein (D’Appolonia)
20:01 Y Groothoff (Lowenstein)
18:06 Y Groothoff (unassisted)
17:29 SD Theriault (Cote)
14:05 SD C. Gastonguay (free position)
12:35 Y Lowenstein (Anna Thornton)
11:32 Y Lowenstein (unassisted)
9:28 Y Anna Thornton (Abi Thornton)
8:41 Y Groothoff (Teare)
6:12 SD Lutrzykowski (unassisted)
5:20 Y Groothoff (Abi Thornton)
4:29 Y Lowenstein (unassisted)
2:27 SD Lutrzykowski (free position)
52.8 Y Abi Thornton (Anna Thornton)
10.4 Y Anna Thornton (Abi Thornton)

Second half
24:09 Y D’Appolonia (unassisted)
22:26 Y Abi Thornton (unassisted)
20:31 Y Grant (free position)
7:52 SD C. Gastonguay (unassisted)
1:12 SD C. Gastonguay (Theriault)

Goals:
SD- C. Gastonguay, Lutrzykowski 3, Theriault 1
Y- Lowenstein 5, Groothoff 4, Abi Thornton 3, Anna Thornton 2, D’Appolonia, Grant, Teare 1

Assists:
SD- Cote, Theriault 1
Y- Abi Thornton 3, Anna Thornton 2, D’Appolonia, Lowenstein, Teare 1

Draws (St. Dom’s, 15-11)
SD- C. Gastonguay 15 of 26
Y- Groothoff 3 of 11, Grondin 3 of 8, D’Appolonia 5 of 7

Ground balls:
SD- 23
Y- 42

Turnovers:
SD- 14
Y- 11

Shots:
SD- 11
Y- 27

Shots on cage:
SD- 11
Y- 25

Saves:
SD (Long) 8
Y (Serrano) 4

YARMOUTH—Youth is being served and served very well in Yarmouth and as a result, the Clippers girls’ lacrosse team is running roughshod on the opposition.

Tuesday afternoon, Yarmouth hosted undefeated St. Dom’s and didn’t need long to assert control in an interclass showdown in the rain.

It took all of 29 seconds for the Clippers to take the lead for good, as senior Abi Thornton scored.

Yarmouth’s underclassmen then opened it up.

Sophomore Natalie Teare scored once, sophomore Annie Lowenstein scored twice in succession, then junior Ehryn Groothoff had consecutive goals for a 6-1 lead.

The Saints drew back within 6-3, but Lowenstein scored twice, sophomore Anna Thornton and Groothoff scored, then Groothoff, Lowenstein, Anna Thornton and Abi Thornton all added goals for a commanding 14-5 halftime lead.

Freshman Katelyn D’Appolonia then scored 51 seconds into the second half to induce a mercy rule running clock and the Clippers were content milking the clock most of the rest of the way before going on to an emphatic 17-7 victory.

Lowenstein led the way with five goals, Groothoff added four and seven different players tickled the twine as Yarmouth improved to 5-1 and in the process, handed St. Dom’s its first loss in six outings.

“We’ve worked hard every day and it’s been showing,” said Lowenstein. “We had our pre-game jitters, as we always do, but we knew what we wanted to do. We knew we had to come out strong and get a lead.”

Best in class

The St. Dom’s program has come a long way in a short time, reaching the Class C state final a year ago in just its fourth season at the varsity level, before losing to Lake Region, 19-9.

Yarmouth, meanwhile, is the state’s second-most decorated program all-time, second only to Waynflete in championships won with seven. 

This spring, both teams have set the pace in their respective classes.

The Saints started with decisive wins at Fryeburg Academy (20-6) and Morse (16-5), then downed visiting Wells (10-6), earned a measure of revenge from last year with a 6-4 home victory over Lake Region, then Monday, edged visiting rival Lewiston, 5-4.

The Clippers started with a 14-7 home win over Freeport and after losing late to visiting Massabesic, 10-9, Yarmouth eked out a pivotal 7-6 victory at Kennebunk, then got a measure of revenge from last year with a 14-11 home win over Cape Elizabeth in a Class B state final rematch and Saturday, rolled at North Yarmouth Academy, 13-2.

Last year, in Auburn, Yarmouth outscored St. Dom’s, 14-11. The teams also met in the 2016 Class B North semifinals, a 13-6 Clippers win in Auburn, and the 2017 Class B North semifinals, a 16-6 Yarmouth victory at home.

Tuesday, on another rainy, chilly afternoon (43 degrees at gametime), the Saints sought their first-ever win over the Clippers, but Yarmouth kept the good times rolling, thanks to a balanced, dominant attack.

Groothoff won the opening draw, the Clippers worked into the offensive zone, then Abi Thornton fired a shot past St. Dom’s junior goalie Simone Long for a 1-0 lead just 29 seconds in.

Teare added a free position goal with 23:49 left in the first half and after the Saints got on the board 45 seconds later on an unassisted tally from senior Avery Lutrzykowski, Lowenstein forced a turnover and scored unassisted with 22:34 left, Lowenstein (from D’Appolonia in transition) added a goal 16 seconds later and with 20:01 on the clock, Lowenstein set up Groothoff for her first goal and a 5-1 advantage.

St. Dom’s coach Leslie Klenk called timeout, but it didn’t help, as Groothoff scored unassisted again with 18:06 on the clock.

The Saints did creep back to 6-3 after senior Emma Theriault scored (from sophomore Anna Cote) with 17:29 left and sophomore Charlotte Gastonguay scored on a free position with 14:05 remaining, but that’s as close as they would get.

Lowenstein stemmed the tide with a transition goal (from Anna Thornton) with 12:35 left in the half, then she rebounded D’Appolonia’s shot past Long 63 seconds later to make it 8-3.

“We’re all about teamwork and effort and passing,” Lowenstein said. “No matter who is on attack, we figure it out and work together well. We have such a deep team.”

With 9:28 remaining, Abi Thornton set up Anna Thornton and 47 seconds later, Teare fed Groothoff for a 10-3 lead.

Lutrzykowski got a goal back (unassisted) with 6:12 on the clock, but Groothoff (from Abi Thornton) scored with 5:20 left and 51 seconds later, Lowenstein scored her fifth and final goal (unassisted) to make the score 12-4.

Lutrzykowski answered with a free position with 2:27 to go, but Anna Thornton set up Abi Thornton with 52.8 seconds on the clock and with 10.4 seconds left, Abi Thornton returned the favor, assisting on Anna Thornton’s goal, which made it 14-5 at the half.

In the first 25 minutes, Yarmouth enjoyed a 24-7 shots advantage.

The outcome was never in doubt in the second half, but the Clippers still scored three more times.

With 24:09 to play, D’Appolonia scored an unassisted goal to get the clock running.

Abi Thornton scored unassisted with 22:26 remaining and Yarmouth’s final goal came with 20:31 left, when senior Hannah Grant finished.

With 7:52 to play, Gastonguay scored unassisted and with 1:12 to go, Gastonguay (from Theriault) beat Clippers senior goalie Izzy Serrano to account for the 17-7 final score.

“We expected a hard challenge and at the beginning, it was,” Groothoff said. “It’s so fun this year. We have some standout freshmen and sophomores who have added a lot to the team. We came in expecting to be an underdog, but we’re learning to work together as a team. That’s helped us a lot. Last year, we had a lot of superstars. This year, it’s more team-oriented.”

“The girls played really well today,” said Yarmouth coach Dorothy Holt. “We’re starting to work really well as a team. Our youngsters have been stepping up. You can see our seniors are leading by example and I always say, you’re only as good as your senior leadership. That showed today. The girls I expected to step up stepped up. We showed we have some balance.”

Lowenstein continued her superb early season play with five goals and one assist.

“I came into the season looking to have fun and help the team,” said Lowenstein. “I love being here and the team is awesome this year.”

“Annie has a lot going for her,” said Holt. “She sees the field, she’s a good defender, she communicates with her teammates.”

Groothoff scored four goals, Abi Thornton had three (to go with three assists), Anna Thornton had two and D’Appolonia, Grant and Teare each scored once.

Anna Thornton added two assists and D’Appolonia and Teare had one apiece.

Serrano made four saves.

The Clippers enjoyed a 42-23 edge in ground balls (Teare led the way with seven and Groothoff collected five), out-shot the Saints, 27-11 (25-11 on frame) and only turned the ball over 11 times.

St. Dom’s got three goals apiece from Gastonguay and Lutrzykowski, while Theriault added one. 

Cote and Theriault each had an assist.

Long made eight saves.

Cote and Lutrzykowski each had six ground balls.

Gastonguay won 15 of 26 draws.

The Saints committed 14 turnovers.

“We expected it,” Klenk said. “(The Clippers have) been our nemesis for awhile. We’re a really young team. We lost some good seniors last year. I was happy with our performance on defense. I thought they did a really good job communicating. We have a lot of work to do in transition. On offense, we need to be a little more patient.”

Back in class

St. Dom’s looks to bounce back Friday when Brunswick pays a visit. Saturday, the Saints are at South Portland. Next week brings key home tests against Freeport and Greely and a trip to defending Class B champion Cape Elizabeth. St. Dom’s then finishes the regular season May 28 at Waynflete.

“We’ll just go back to the drawing board,” Klenk said. “This is the toughest opponent we’ve had yet. We take every game as a learning experience. Every game shows you what you need to improve on and this was no different. We have two days to prepare for our next game. We’ll have to improve a lot to make sure we’re competitive.”

Yarmouth, meanwhile, is at Marshwood Friday and visits defending Class C champion Lake Region Saturday in a makeup game. After going to York, the Clippers host Messalonskee, visit Greely, then close at home versus Waynflete.

“We’re going to keep coming out and practicing hard every day,” Lowenstein said. “We’ll never take anything for granted.”

“I think we’re right where we should be,” Holt said. “We have work to put in, but this team is fun. It’s a different vibe from last year. It’s fun to watch the younger players. They’re a little giddier. It’s a tight-knit group. We have a couple road games next and we’ll see how it goes.”

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

Yarmouth junior Ehryn Groothoff beats St. Dom’s junior goalie Simone Long for one of her four goals.

Yarmouth sophomore Natalie Teare fights for possession between St. Dom’s senior Avery Lutrzykowski, left, and sophomore Anna Cote.

Yarmouth sophomore Anna Thornton fires a shot on goal.

Yarmouth senior Abi Thornton is defended by St. Dom’s junior Mia-Angelina Leslie.

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