MASSABESIC — When the Massabesic girls’ lacrosse team jumped out to a quick three-goal lead Monday night against Falmouth, it seemed like the Madison Drain-Morgan Pike offensive duo would be too much for the Yachtsmen to handle.
Falmouth quickly bounced and had a two-goal lead with a minute left in the half, but the Mustangs scored twice in the final 40 seconds to reassert themselves on their way to an 11-9 win in what could be a state championship game preview.
“It was an odd game,” Massabesic Coach Brooks Bowen said. “They ramp it up and all of a sudden, it’s a tied lacrosse game.”
Drain scored on the opening draw and Pike quickly added a pair of goals to give Massabesic, the defending Class A champ, a 3-0 lead.
Falmouth then outscored the Mustangs 6-1 over the next 17 minutes for a 6-4 lead with a minute left in the first half.
“Our coach came in at halftime and said, ‘This is a dog fight and we need to come out a lot harder than we went in,'” said Drain, who scored twice for Massabesic (3-0). “Ending the half tied pushed us a little harder to come out and finish it.”
The Yachtsmen (4-2) may have lost the game but they won 16 of 22 draws and got seven saves from their goalkeeper, Hannah Dubinsky. Caitlyn Camelio led Falmouth with five goals.
“Winning the draw is huge and that’s something Massabesic has traditionally been very good at,” Falmouth Coach Ashley Pullen said. “That was big for us.”
But the Mustangs’ defense, backed by goalkeeper Lydia Wasina (six saves), forced turnover after turnover to generate Massabesic’s dynamic offense.
In the opening two minutes of the second half, Logan Champlin and Cailyn Forrester gave the Mustangs an 8-6 lead. Following a pair of point-blank saves by Dubinsky, Camelio scored from Kayla Sarazin to pull the Yachtsmen within a goal with 19 minutes left.
“Those are not easy saves to makes – you barely have any reaction time at all,” Pullen said of Dubinsky. “Anytime you have a keeper that can make great saves like that, your offense starts with her.”
Drain scored from Pike with 15:23 left before Forrester added her second goal less than a minute later to put Massabesic up 10-7. The Mustangs could never quite put the game away. Shortly after Camelio’s shot from the free position hit the crossbar with 11 minutes left, she capitalized on a turnover for her final goal. Avi Fishman scored from Sarazin to cut Massabesic’s lead to 10-9 before Skylar Renaud answered for the Mustangs.
In the first half, Falmouth bounced back from a three-goal deficit with two goals from Camelio and one from Sarazin. Pike (four goals) gave Massabesic a 4-3 lead before Falmouth went on another run with goals from Chelsey Smithwick, Sarazin and Camelio. Massabesic’s Hallie Benton and Pike rounded out the scoring for the first half.
Taylor Vortherms can be contacted at 791-6417 or
tvortherms@pressherald.com
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