A little over a year ago when The Forecaster chose the top 10 girls’ lacrosse teams from our coverage area over a 20-year span, it was a time to celebrate the past, as the present was discouraging (the 2020 spring sports season had been canceled) and the future was unknown.

Thankfully, that future came into focus in a positive manner and led to a nearly normal 2021 campaign, which produced two local champions, including one that deserves to be considered as an all-time great squad.

After several years of agonizing close calls, Yarmouth was nearly perfect this spring and rolled to a Class B state title. The Clippers’ play was so impressive that as soon as the final game ended, discussion began on where the team ranked in the pantheon.

Here’s a look at the original list:

Honorable mentions (in chronological order):
2002 Yarmouth Clippers (state champions)
2009 Waynflete Flyers (Class B champions)
2019 Cape Elizabeth Capers (Class B champions)
2019 Falmouth Yachtsmen (Class A champions)

Super-six
6) 2010 Scarborough Red Storm (Class A champions)
5) 2007 Yarmouth Clippers (Class B champions)
4) 2005 Waynflete Flyers (state champions)
3) 2011 Yarmouth Clippers (Class B champions)
2) 2006 Yarmouth Clippers (state champions)
1) 2013 Waynflete Flyers (Class B champions)

Suggesting that Yarmouth entered this past spring season on a mission would be an epic understatement. After losing the Class B state final to Cape Elizabeth in overtime in 2018 and to the Capers in triple-OT in 2019 before not being able to play a single game or take part in a single practice in 2020 due to the pandemic, the Clippers were chomping at the bit to not only return to action but to prove their greatness, and did they ever do that.

Yarmouth opened by getting a measure of revenge with a win at Cape Elizabeth, then took powerhouse Kennebunk, the eventual perfect Class A champion, to the wire before falling by two goals. The Clippers wouldn’t lose again. In their final 10 regular season contests, Yarmouth’s offense – featuring the likes of Annie Bergeron, Katelyn D’Appolonia, Annie Lowenstein, Natalie Teare, Anna Thornton and freshman sensation Aine Powers – scored 134 goals, while the defense – paced by Lizzie Guertler, Kathryn Keaney, Maddie Marston and goalie Juliet Meas – gave up only 61. Yarmouth scored in double figures its final nine times out.

The playoffs were more of the same as the Clippers sailed to their coronation. This time, Yarmouth had to play nemesis Cape Elizabeth in the state quarterfinals, but it was up for the challenge, rolling to a 17-4 victory behind five goals from Powers. In the semifinals, the Clippers handled York, 19-8. Back in the state game, Yarmouth never trailed against Greely and pulled away in the second half for a therapeutic 13-8 victory, as D’Appolonia and Powers each scored four times and Lowenstein added two goals, including the 100th of her career.

“The girls worked really hard,” said longtime Clippers coach Dorothy Holt. “As coaches, we gave them the recipe and they had to execute. Everybody, all 25 of them, stood in there and performed when they needed to. We were so blessed to have this season. I’d have loved to have seen what our 2020 team could have done. This win was for them and for us.”

Now that Yarmouth has proved it was an all-time great team, our revised ranking reads like this:

Honorable mentions (in chronological order)

Waynflete Flyers, 2009 Class B state champion

Waynflete featured a bevy of offensive weapons – including Amy Allen, Ellie Cole, Scout Haffenreffer, and All-Americans Anna Libby, Mariah Monks and Morgan Woodhouse – and scored in double figures in each of its first 11 games, beating top teams from Classes A and B and going undefeated. In the playoffs, the Flyers eliminated Falmouth (12-4) and Cape Elizabeth (9-5) in the regional tournament before knocking off North Yarmouth Academy for the second straight season in the state game, 9-5, as Woodhouse scored three goals and had a pair of assists. Waynflete finished 15-0.

Scarborough Red Storm, 2010 Class A state champion

These Red Storm were a perfect 15-0 champion as well, as Ellie Morin and Brittany Ross completed their perfect school years, also going undefeated and winning championships in field hockey and basketball. Scarborough also boasted Lindsay Hagerman, Jackie Morin and Meghan Quirk and navigated its regular season without a blemish for the first time, knocking off Yarmouth for the first time in program history in the process. The Red Storm beat nemesis Kennebunk in the semifinals, 11-3, then rallied for a scintillating 15-14 overtime victory over Gorham in the regional final, as Hagerman scored four goals and Morin and Ross added three apiece. The final chapter came with a scare as well, but Scarborough held off Mt. Ararat, 11-7.

Cape Elizabeth Capers, 2019 Class B state champion

The Cardiac Capers again ripped victory from the jaws of certain defeat and won a repeat title in mesmerizing fashion. Cape Elizabeth returned Erin Foley, who was always at her best in goal when the stakes were the highest, a solid defense and an offense featuring Karli Chapin, Charlotte Graham, Brooke Harvey, Allie Lynch and Tory McGrath. The Capers went 10-2 in the regular season, then downed Waynflete (13-2) and Greely (10-4) to return to the Class B state final where again Yarmouth awaited. After beating the Clippers in overtime the year before, this time, it took three overtimes before Chapin etched her name in legend with the goal that produced a 12-11 victory and capped a 13-2 campaign.

Falmouth Yachtsmen, 2019 Class A state champion

Like Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth, led by All-Americans Caitlyn Camelio, Eva Clement and Kayla Sarazin, also repeated in 2019, in Class A. The Yachtsmen lost by a goal at Windham early in the regular season, but ran the table from there. In the semifinals, Falmouth got a scare from Cheverus before eking out an 11-10 victory on standout Caitlyn Camelio’s seventh goal. The Yachtsmen then avenged their loss in the regional final against Windham, prevailing, 13-6, as Camelio again scored seven times. The state final versus Kennebunk was a defensive struggle, but Clement scored twice, Camelio gave Falmouth the lead for good and goalie Hannah Dubinsky made five saves to produce a 5-3 victory, a repeat title and a 14-1 campaign.

Super-six

6) Yarmouth Clippers, 2007 Class B state champion

Coming off a state championship and riding a 13-game win streak, the Clippers had to replace All-Americans Molly Dilworth and Emily Johnson, but had plenty of talent returning, including soon-to-be-All-Americans Laurie Baker, Jess Martineau and Abby Saucier, as well as speedster Tierney Minte, All-American defender Anna Van Slyke and goalie Annalisa Carson, and they passed every test. Yarmouth handled Freeport, 17-2, in the semifinals, then got tested by rival NYA in the regional final before winning, 10-7. The final step, the state final versus Kennebunk, provided some anxious moments, but Saucier’s goal clinched a 7-5 victory and the Clippers’ finished 15-0 and went back-to-back for the first time.

5) Waynflete Flyers, 2005 state champion

All eyes were on the Flyers after they won it all in 2003 and 2004, and while those squads were beatable in the regular season, the 2005 team went unblemished in the regular season and in the playoffs, giving Waynflete its only three-peat. The Flyers featured a sensational junior core of players who would come to be immortalized as the “Magnificent Seven.” Betsy Critchfield (All-American), Maggie DeFanti, Glennie Hill, goalie Lily Hoffman, Gretchen Koch (All-American), Carrie Schnell and Karla Stockmeyer were in the midst of a personal 36-game win streak. After a 12-0 regular season, all eyes were on Waynflete in the playoffs where the Flyers handled Bonny Eagle (11-6) in the quarterfinals, outlasted Greely in a defensive struggle in the semifinals (5-3), then downed Kennebunk, 11-6, in the regional final. The state game would need overtime before Waynflete edged NYA, 5-4, as Amanda Allen played the hero, capping a 16-0 campaign.

4) Yarmouth Clippers, 2021 Class B state champion

3) Yarmouth Clippers, 2011 Class B state champion

After losing to rival/nemesis NYA in the regional final three years running, these Clippers had one collective goal coming into the 2011 campaign – winning the title – and they achieved their destiny. With prolific scorers like Becca Bell (All-American), Devin Simsarian and Danielle Torres (All-American, honorable mention) on the field, Yarmouth scored goals with abandon during an 11-1 regular season, blemished only by a one-goal loss at Waynflete. In the playoffs, the Clippers dominated Morse, 21-3, in the semifinals, then had to rally to hold off NYA in the regional final, 6-5, on a late goal from Lindsey Purpura. A strong Waynflete team awaited in the state game and the contest turned into an epic, which was won by Yarmouth, 9-8, on a late Torres goal. The Clippers finished 14-1.

2) Yarmouth Clippers, 2006 Class B state champion

Yarmouth wasn’t seen as the favorite entering the year, but by season’s end, the Clippers had taught everyone just how dazzling a team can be when it peaks at the right time. Yarmouth lost early to visiting Waynflete, 8-7, but the Clippers nearly erased a seven-goal deficit before falling. That effort sparked a 10-game surge to end the regular season as Yarmouth – behind a dynamic, prolific offense featuring All-Americans Molly Dilworth and Emily Johnson, as well as Laurie Baker, Hannah Coleman, Nicole Grover, Jess Martineau, Tierney Minte and Abby Saucier – scored goals with abandon. In the semifinals, the Clippers eliminated Camden Hills, 15-1. They then ousted rival NYA in the regional final, 10-6. That set up a rematch with Waynflete and Yarmouth shocked everyone on hand by racing to an early 6-0 lead before cruising to a 12-5 victory. Johnson scored a then-state record six goals and the Clippers finished 14-1.

1) Waynflete Flyers, 2013 Class B state champion

The top spot remains populated by the team which featured Martha Veroneau. As well as All-American-to-be Sadie Cole, Walker Foehl, emerging star Cat Johnson, multiple sport champions Leigh Fernandez and Rhiannan Jackson, and goalie Katherine Torrey, along with several other big-time contributors. The Flyers scored 155 regular season goals and surrendered only 62 en route to a 12-0 record. The playoffs began with an 18-8 win over York in the semifinals, as Cole scored seven goals. Veroneau was even more prolific in the regional final versus Cape Elizabeth, scoring a program-record 10 times in a 16-9 triumph.. Despite beating Yarmouth twice by a combined 33-15 margin in the regular season, the state game was another story as Waynflete had to scratch and claw for 50 minutes before winning, 7-4, to cap a 15-0 season of dominance. This Flyers championship team was the most memorable of all.

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

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.

« Previous

Best of the Best boys’ lacrosse teams … revisited

Next »

Cheverus Stags Fall Sports Preview