The Riots charged through the first half of Saturday evening’s Class A State Final versus Brunswick, taking a 6-2 lead into the break before the Dragons writhed back in the game’s later stages.

South Portland, though, weren’t playing just for the crown; driven by something palpably deeper, the Riots, led by goals-machine Duncan Preston and imperturbable netminder T-Moe Hellier, put up 10 to Brunswick’s eight and emerged victorious, vindicated, and affirmed in their faith.

“This means a lot to us,” Hellier said. “Too bad the seniors we had last year couldn’t come with us this year.” South Portland suffered a dispiriting loss to Kennebunk in last year’s playoffs; only days later, Hellier’s father, Ted, succumbed to pancreatic cancer. The elder Hellier had helped coach the team, and in fact had coached a number of its players through the majority of their youth lacrosse years.

“Last year, we were playing for my dad most of the year,” T-Moe said, “and it seemed like right after the season was over, we lost him. All this year, we’ve just been playing it for him. It feels really good to finally get it.” To the man, the team wore “Ted” stickers on the backs of their helmets, and a handful had additional, similar adornments elsewhere on their gear.

A piece of tape on T-Moe’s neck guard reads “Ted 6-17-13 Dad.”

“T-Moe does a good job of keeping everything in perspective,” said South Portland head coach Tom Fiorini, wearing one of the team’s “Unfinished Business” T-shirts. “It’s important to him. He and his dad were very close. They shared a passion. I think he’s very happy to have accomplished this with these players in particular.

“Right now, he’s riding a good high…I think once he gets home and settles in, it’ll all hit him at once.”

The Dragons struck first, less than two minutes in, Cameron Glover snatching his first of three on the night. Almost four minutes elapsed before South Portland could answer, but when they did, they did so intimidatingly. Preston, with the ball, cut up the left side of the field, juking would-be defenders all the way, and ripped a hard shot from 30 feet out. 1-1.

The Riots trampled ahead from there: Jack Fiorini added the first of his pair at 2:26, cutting in from the low-right corner and shooting low, and Kam Andrews notched another with 20 seconds remaining in the first.

Just inside the second, Hellier took a hard slash in the helmet, which Preston clearly witnessed and took to heart. A flag went down. Ball-in-stick, Preston again barreled the length of the field, busted through the Brunswick defense, and scored. It appeared almost at-will.

“Our guys just worked hard,” Hellier said. “We have a bunch of workhorses on the midfield; those kids can run forever. So, with them just running up and down the field all game, keeping us in it, winning the battle in the midfield, that’s all that really needed to happen.”

Fiorini hashed his second about two minutes later, putting the Riots on top 5-1. The Dragons answered when South Portland eventually went man-down, but Preston completed his hat trick with a minute to spare before the interlude.

“Brunswick did a great job of slowing our offense down,” coach Fiorini said. “We like to think of ourselves as a high-powered offense, and they did a wonderful job of shutting off our key players. So other players had to step up.

“Their goalie played one heck of a game. When we thought we were going to break this thing open, he made some nice saves.”

The early third belonged to Brunswick. They tallied four in the opening minutes to pull within one, 7-6, and give onlookers something to hold their breath about. The action turned call-and-response then: The Riots’ Andrew Whipple called, inching his team further ahead when, lingering in the back left corner, he saw no good passing opportunities, and patiently circled out wide before driving in for the shot and the score.

Glover responded – on a beautiful zigzagging penetration of South Portland’s defensive perimeter – but Preston called again, another drive up the side, another plow through defenders, another blistering shot, another goal. It was the critical goal, as it would turn out – the team’s ninth, the difference-maker. Whipple hashed his second for 10-7 before Brunswick’s Tyler Sullivan earned his third of the night with just two and a half remaining, but the Riots hung on for the W.

South Portland finish their season at 15-1; that lone loss came at Scarborough’s hands. “That loss was pretty timely, actually,” coach Fiorini said. “Scarborough is a class act and a great team and they played a heck of game that day. It got our heads grounded, and back to being focused, and I think that helped carry us through the playoffs, absolutely.”

It’s South Portland’s first lacrosse title.

“It’s been a work in progress,” Fiorini said, “the seven-year climb to this moment. We felt we had a chance to do it this year, with this team and these players, and these kids held it together. They did their job.”

Finn Zechman trades a little pre-game chat just before the playing of the National Anthem at Fitzpatrick Stadium on Saturday.South Portland head coach Tom Fiorini and Brunswick head coach Don Glover embrace prior to their teams’ state final Saturday.The Dragons and Riots line up at midfield, just before game time.South Portland’s Andrew Whipple circles on the attack.Jordan Susi carries the ball for South Portland.South Portland’s Jack Fiorini elbows off a Brunswick checker.South Portland defender Trent Lloyd-Rees harasses a Dragon in Saturday evening’s Class A state final.South Portland goalie T-Moe Hellier ventures well beyond the confines of his crease.South Portland’s Chris Mitchell charges upfield with the ball.South Portland scoring machine Duncan Preston unwinds into a blast – the key blast, in fact; it gave the Riots their ninth goal, the goal they would need to take the game.Let the celebration begin.Just a riot of emotion now, South Portland lines up victorious across the field from their vanquished opponents, the Brunswick Dragons.South Portland hoists their Class A State Championship trophy.The Riots indeed are No. 1.South Portland senior captain Tom Leddy carries the state championship trophy off the playing surface to share with the team’s fans.The Riots linger on the field of victory even as Fitzpatrick Stadium empties and the day closes.

Copy the Story Link