YARMOUTH — For three quarters Wednesday evening in the rain, Greely’s boys’ lacrosse team put together its finest performance of the season, hanging tough against favored Yarmouth.
Then came the fourth quarter. The Clippers began to dominate possession, which led to good scoring chances, and they produced five goals to complete a 14-10 comeback victory.
Aksel Yeo scored four goals, including the go-ahead tally, and Colter Olsen also netted four goals as Yarmouth improved to 9-3.
“We know we can’t take any team lightly,” said Yeo. “We got down and we didn’t think we were going to, but we came back. We just needed to play as a team and take our time. When we don’t have unforced turnovers, we’re fine.”
The contest was scheduled to be played at Greely, but it was moved to Yarmouth’s artificial turf because of the rain.
Greely (5-7) started strong, leading 3-2 after one quarter, then going up by as many as three goals before holding a 7-5 advantage at halftime. Lukas Cook impressed with two goals and three assists, while Ben Hanson and Angus Perry also beat Clippers freshman goalie Will Redfield twice.
Matt Kennedy gave the Rangers an 8-6 lead with 8:37 to play in the third quarter, but Yarmouth roared back. After Killian Marsh made it 8-7, Yeo scored the twice, including the go-ahead goal with 45 seconds remaining in the third.
“Aksel had great shots up top,” said Clippers Coach Jon Miller. “He leads by example and he did great.”
Yarmouth then broke it open with four more goals to begin the fourth, as Yeo, Marsh, Olson and Owen Walsh scored against Greely goalie Sam Dudek (18 saves).
Kennedy got a goal back before freshman Colton McCann answered for Yarmouth.
McCann finished with three goals. Redfield made a dozen saves.
“The guys came into this game happy we got to play at home, but we knew we’d have a battle,” said Olson.
“We’ve had a few games this year where we started slow and it was a tight game, so it was good to have that coming into this game,” Miller added. “Greely played really well in the first half. The guys responded well in the second half and took care of business, and I give all the credit to them.”
Greely got two goals apiece from Cook, Hanson, Kennedy and Perry, but ran out of gas down the stretch.
“It’s exciting and frustrating at the same time,” said Rangers Coach Mike Storey. “We know we can compete with anybody, but we haven’t put a full 48 minutes together.”
Greely knows it’s in the playoffs and could be a team that no one wants to face.
“We’ll let the cards fall where they may and be excited,” Storey said. “The way we see it, we have a week-and-a-half to have great practices, have great outings and get ourselves in the best position for playoffs.
“We’re so close.”
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