Falmouth sophomore Tom Fitzgerald, left, is congratulated by junior Riley Reed after scoring one of his seven goals in Wednesday’s 14-4 victory at Scarborough.
Joe Carpine / 365digitalphotography.com photos.
More photos below.
BOX SCORE
Falmouth 14 Scarborough 4
F- 5 4 4 1- 14
S- 2 1 1 0- 4
First quarter
10:05 S Manfra (unassisted)
8:04 F Fitzgerald (unassisted)
6:14 F Fitzgerald (Reed)
3:52 F Valle (unassisted)
2:40 S Manfra (unassisted) (man-up)
2:16 F Fitzgerald (unassisted)
1:06 F Fitzgerald (unassisted)
Second quarter
11:42 F N. Farnham (Fitzgerald)
8:24 F Fitzgerald (N. Farnham)
6:42 F Fitzgerald (Valle) (man-up)
5:23 S DaRosa (Manfra)
50.9 F N. Farnham (unassisted)
Third quarter
6:16 S Granzier (Manfra)
5:58 F St. Louis (unassisted)
4:00 F Tucker (unassisted)
1:19 F Fitzgerald (unassisted)
28.7 F H. Farnham (unassisted)
Fourth quarter
6:08 F Gallup (unassisted)
Goals:
F- Fitzgerald 7, N. Farnham 2, H. Farnham, Gallup, St. Louis, Tucker, Valle 1
S- Manfra 2, DaRosa, Granzier 1
Assists:
F- H. Farnham, Fitzgerald, Reed, Valle 1
S- Manfra 2
Faceoffs (Falmouth, 15-5)
F- St. Louis 14 of 18, Zinn 1 of 2
S- Berry 5 of 20
Ground balls:
F- 38
S- 21
Turnovers:
F- 15
S- 18
Shots:
F- 38
S- 12
Shots on cage:
F- 26
S- 8
Saves:
F (Berry) 4
S (Hughes) 12
SCARBOROUGH—Falmouth’s boys’ lacrosse team is on a mission this spring and in the early going, no one has been able to keep up with the potent Yachtsmen.
Wednesday evening at the Kippy Mitchell Sports Complex, in the rain, host Scarborough hoped to stay close to Falmouth, but only was able to do so for a few minutes.
The Red Storm got the first goal, from senior Marco Manfra, but Yachtsmen sophomore Tom Fitzgerald then got going, scoring two goals to give Falmouth the lead for good. Then, after senior Kristian Valle added a goal and Manfra pulled Scarborough within one, Fitzgerald scored twice more for a 5-2 Falmouth lead after 12 minutes.
The Yachtsmen continued to pull away in the second period, as Fitzgerald set up senior Nick Farnham for a goal, then scored two more to make it 8-2. Senior Josh DaRosa answered for Scarborough, but Farnham’s unassisted tally made it a six-goal game at halftime.
Midway through the third quarter, junior Andrew Granzier scored the Red Storm’s final goal before junior Iyendae St. Louis, junior Reilly Tucker, Fitzgerald and senior Henry Farnham all struck for a 13-4 Falmouth advantage.
One final Yachtsmen goal, an unassisted strike from senior Aiden Gallup, closed the door on an impressive 14-4 victory.
Fitzgerald led a prolific attack with seven goals and St. Louis won 14 of 18 faceoffs as Falmouth improved to 3-0 on the young season, dropping the Red Storm to 1-2 in the process.
“Once we got going and shared the ball, we did a good job,” said Yachtsmen coach Dave Barton.
Title hopefuls
Scarborough lost last year’s Class A state final by a goal in overtime to Brunswick and welcomed a new coach in the offseason, as longtime assistant Zach Barrett replaced the highly successful Joe Hezlep. The Red Storm gave Barrett a 13-5 home win over Cheverus in his debut, but they fell, 16-8, at Brunswick in a state game rematch Monday night.
Falmouth, which lost by a goal to eventual Class B champion Cape Elizabeth in last year’s Class B South Final, opened by handling visiting Kennebunk (13-3) and host Gorham (15-3.)
The series has been pretty even over the years (see sidebar, below), but four straight victories (including an 11-10 road win in 2015, the most recent encounter) gave Falmouth a 7-5 edge dating back to 2002.
Wednesday, with the temperature 49 degrees and rain falling throughout, Scarborough hoped for its first win in the series since 2009, but the Yachtsmen prevailed again, dominating on both offense and defense.
Scarborough was hopeful when Manfra scored unassisted, beating Falmouth junior goalie Kai Berry, with 10:05 to play in the first quarter.
“On a night like this, we wanted to get out to an early lead,” Barton said. “It didn’t happen, so that’s still something we need to work on.”
That goal would be the Red Storm’s highwater mark.
Two minutes later, Fitzgerald scored unassisted and the fun was just beginning for Falmouth.
With 6:14 left in the period, in transition, junior defensive standout Riley Reed set up Fitzgerald for the go-ahead goal.
When Valle scored on a rebound with 3:52 on the clock, Falmouth had a two-goal advantage, but after a Yachtsmen penalty, Manfra scored a man-up goal with 2:40 remaining to cut the deficit to one.
Fitzgerald then took over again, scoring an unassisted goal 24 seconds later, then doing it again with 1:06 on the clock for a 5-2 Falmouth lead after one quarter.
“Tom’s a great player,” Barton said. “He’s a great athlete who is also a great soccer player. He’s come up big for us.”
Just 18 seconds into the second period, Fitzgerald decided it was better to give than receive and he set up Nick Farnham for the Yachtsmen’s sixth goal.
With 8:24 remaining in the half, Farnham fed Fitzgerald for his fifth goal and a 7-2 lead.
After a Red Storm penalty, Valle set up Fitzgerald for a man-up goal with 6:42 to go.
Scarborough got a goal back with 5:23 on the clock, as DaRosa finished a feed from Manfra, but with 50.9 seconds left before the break, Nick Farnham scored unassisted to make it 9-3.
In the first half, Falmouth had a commanding 25-8 shots advantage (14-6 on frame). Five saves from senior goalie Ben Hughes prevented the Red Storm’s deficit from being worse.
The Yachtsmen pulled away even more in the third quarter.
After Granzier scored from Manfra with 6:16 to go for what proved to be Scarborough’s final tally, St. Louis won the ensuing faceoff and raced in and scored to make it 10-4.
Unassisted goals from Tucker, Fitzgerald (his seventh and final goal) and Henry Farnham stretched the lead to 13-4.
The only score of the fourth period came with 6:08 remaining, as Gallup finished to bring the curtain down on Falmouth’s 14-4 triumph.
“We’re putting it together,” Barton said. “The kids are buying in. So far, so good.”
Fitzgerald had a tremendous effort, scoring seven goals and adding an assist.
“Any day is a good day when you’re out playing,” Fitzgerald said. “We just had to move the ball, stay close together and cut. We’re playing as a team and we’re just having fun out there.”
Nick Farnham had two goals and an assist and Henry Farnham, Gallup, St. Louis, Tucker and Valle also scored. Reed and Valle added assists.
Berry made four saves.
The Yachtsmen won 15 of 20 faceoffs, as St. Louis prevailed on 14 of 18 opportunities.
“Iyendae has come in and done a really nice job,” Barton said. “We’re switching off with him and (senior) Emmitt Zinn and they’re both good.”
Falmouth enjoyed a 38-21 edge in ground balls (St. Louis had a game-high nine) and had a 38-12 shots advantage (26-8 on frame). Falmouth only turned the ball over 15 times.
Scarborough was paced by two goals and two assists from Manfra. DaRosa and Granzier also scored.
Hughes stopped 12 shots.
Senior Reece Lagerquist had a team-high five ground balls.
The Red Storm turned the ball over 18 times.
“It’s been tough playing two of the best teams back-to-back and getting beaten like this, but it will pay off for us down the road,” Barrett said. “They have such a great defense, it’s hard to get anything going against them.”
Big week
Scarborough hopes to bounce back Wednesday of next week, when it plays at South Portland.
“I think these tough games will make us stronger for the end of the season,” Barrett said.
Falmouth, meanwhile, plays at Cheverus Wednesday, then faces rival Cape Elizabeth for the only scheduled time this spring, Friday night, May 4.
“We’re getting ready for Cheverus, then Cape,” said Fitzgerald. “We treat every game like a big one.”
“We’ll get ready for Cheverus next, then we have that next game,” Barton said.
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.
Falmouth junior Riley Reed runs past a Scarborough defender.
Scarborough junior Nathan Taggart looks to pass.
Falmouth senior Nick Farnham and Scarborough senior Reece Lagerquist battle for the ball.
Falmouth junior Iyendae St. Louis wins a faceoff against Scarborough junior Callaghan Berry.
Falmouth senior Nick Farnham (22) is congratulated by his teammates after one of his two goals.
Recent Falmouth-Scarborough results
2015
Falmouth 11 @ Scarborough 10
2014
@ Falmouth 15 Scarborough 11
2011
Falmouth 13 @ Scarborough 3
2010
@ Falmouth 4 Scarborough 3
2009
Scarborough 7 @ Falmouth 5
2008
@ Scarborough 11 Falmouth 5
Scarborough 14 @ Falmouth 6
2007
Scarborough 10 @ Falmouth 4
2006
@ Scarborough 8 Falmouth 7
2004
@ Falmouth 11 Scarborough 7
2003
Falmouth 15 @ Scarborough 5
2002
Falmouth 7 @ Scarborough 6
Send questions/comments to the editors.
