Falmouth boys lacrosse surges past Yarmouth in Class A final
PORTLAND — For the Falmouth boys lacrosse team, the message at halftime was simple: relax and have fun.
Trailing Yarmouth by a goal in Saturday's Class A state championship game at Deering High's Memorial Field, the Navigators received a counterintuitive directive from coach Dave Barton. Rather than deliver a fiery speech about redemption or legacy, Barton told his team to enjoy themselves.
Senior Hayden Davis said the approach worked perfectly.
"We were a little stressed out there in the first half. Big game, we don't get many close games in this state, and the close game kind of freaked us out. When we relax and have fun, that's when we play well," Davis said.
The Navigators responded by scoring the first four goals of the third quarter and eventually pulling away for a 13-8 victory, completing a perfect 17-0 season and claiming their second state championship in three years.
Third-seeded Yarmouth, which had won Class B titles the previous two seasons before moving up to Class A, finished 13-4.
"We gave ourselves a chance today. It didn't go our way," Yarmouth coach Jon Miller said.
The Clippers controlled possession for much of the first half, taking a 5-4 lead into intermission thanks to two late goals from Ian Minihan in the second quarter. Yarmouth also scored the game's first two goals, jumping out to an early advantage that tested a Falmouth team unaccustomed to playing from behind.
Falmouth nearly suffered a similar fate last year, when an undefeated team lost to Thornton Academy in the state final. That memory made Barton's halftime message resonate.
"We were gripping the sticks a little too tight. Things that we normally execute, we weren't executing. They're high school boys and get nervous," Barton said. "We decided we need to have more fun. We need to have more fun than we did in the first 24 minutes, and we need to have more fun than (Yarmouth)."
The shift was immediate. T.J. Saulter tied the game just 49 seconds into the third quarter, and Ian Christie followed with a goal off a feed from Davis to give Falmouth the lead for good. Davis and Christie each scored again before the quarter ended, and the Navigators carried an 8-5 advantage into the final period.
Falmouth put the game away with five consecutive goals in the fourth quarter, with Zack Small's strike with under three minutes remaining making it 13-6. Minnihan and Hakon Yeo scored late for Yarmouth.
The turnaround was fueled in large part by senior faceoff specialist Peter Kearns, who dominated the X and gave the Navigators consistent possessions throughout the second half.
"He showed why he's an All-American. I think he won 90 or 95 percent of the faceoffs. The number of possessions off the faceoff was too many for us to handle," Miller said.
Kearns deflected the credit toward his teammates.
"A lot of people say it's one versus one, but I've got to say it's three versus three, man. Personally, I don't think I played my best off the clamp. Our wings just gutted it out and won a lot for me. I appreciate them a lot," Kearns said.
While Falmouth's playoff run featured several lopsided victories, Barton said earlier challenges prepared his team for Yarmouth's test. The Navigators withstood runs from Cape Elizabeth in the quarterfinals and Deering in the semifinals.
"We got tested, and I think it was exactly what we needed. All of those matchups, I don't care about the score, they got us ready for this," Barton said.
William Davis added three goals and an assist for Falmouth, while Jamie Frueh and Cam Day combined for 13 saves in goal. Will Redfield made 11 saves for Yarmouth.
