Yarmouth gets back on track with rainy day win over Greely

Yarmouth juniors Henry Venden, left, Joe Truesdale and Cooper May congratulate classmate Silas Chappell after a Chappell goal during the Clippers’ 15-8 win over Greely Saturday afternoon.

Mike Strout photos.

More photos below.

BOX SCORE

Yarmouth 15 Greely 8

G- 0 3 3 2- 8
Y- 4 4 3 4- 15

First quarter
8:26 Y Jacobs (Corey) (MAN-UP)
5:52 Y Leblanc (unassisted)
5:12 Y Corey (Venden)
1:34 Y Ramsay (Chappell)

Second quarter
9:18 Y Chappell (unassisted)
6:54 Y Chappell (May)
4:53 G O’Keefe (unassisted)
4:28 Y Corey (unassisted)
2:59 G Lawrence (Wetmore)
59.5 G O’Keefe (unassisted)
4.1 Y Jacobs (unassisted)

Third quarter
10:02 Y May (unassisted)
8:56 G Lawless (unassisted)
7:31 G Schumacher (unassisted)
6:42 Y Venden (Chappell) (MAN-UP)
3:14 G Wetmore (Lawrence)
1:25 Y Jacobs (unassisted)

Fourth quarter
10:06 Y Venden (unassisted)
8:36 Y Corey (Venden) (MAN-UP)
8:02 G Lawless (unassisted)
7:38 Y Leblanc (Chappell) (MAN-UP)
5:56 G Kenney (O’Keefe) (TWO-MEN-UP)
5:28 Y May (unassisted)

Goals:
G- O’Keefe, Wetmore 2, Kennedy, Lawless, Lawrence, Schumacher 1
Y- Corey, Jacobs, May 3, Chappell, Leblanc, Venden 2

Assists:
G- Lawrence, O’Keefe, Wetmore 1
Y- Chappell 3, Corey, Leblanc, May, Venden 1

Faceoffs (Yarmouth, 16-11)
G- Williams 8 of 20, Coyle 3 of 7
Y- Jacob 11 of 18, Jancovic 3 of 7, Pearl 2 of 2

Ground balls (Yarmouth, 32-28)
G- Coyle 5, Kennedy, O’Keefe, Schumacher, Williams 3, Borden, Bourgeois, Colesworthy, Wetmore 2, Lane, Lawrence, Wood 1
Y- Jacobs, Jancovic 5, Barton, May 3, Mallett, Guertier, Ramsay, Venden, Winkel 2, Birkbeck, Corey, Hamm, Hook, Leblanc, Moore 1

Turnovers:
G- 18
Y- 14

Shots:
G- 34
Y- 46

Shots on cage:
G- 25
Y- 32

Saves:
G (Wood) 17
Y (King) 4 (Harke) 13

YARMOUTH—After a pair of decisive defeats, Yarmouth’s boys’ lacrosse team’s pride had suffered a blow.

Which spelled trouble for the Clippers’ next foe.

Saturday afternoon, one week after losing by 17 goals at Brunswick and three days after falling by 10 at Falmouth, the Clippers welcomed Greely and Yarmouth raced to a six-goal lead and didn’t look back.

Senior Billy Jacobs, who set the tone by winning a majority of faceoffs in the first half, opened the scoring and senior Remi Leblanc, freshman phenom Anders Corey and junior Henry Venden tickled the twine as well to build a 4-0 advantage after one quarter.

In the second period, junior Silas Chappell scored twice to make it 6-0, but the Rangers came to life and pulled within 7-3 when junior Devlin O’Keefe scored his second goal with just under a minute to play.

Greely got the ball and had a chance to draw even closer, but turned it over and with just 4.1 seconds showing, Jacobs scored a momentum-turning goal for an 8-3 lead.

When freshman Schuyler Wetmore scored with 3:14 left in a rainy third quarter, the Rangers were within four, but Jacobs again squelched their hopes with a late goal and Yarmouth was up, 11-6, heading for the fourth period.

There, goals from Venden and Corey helped the Clippers pull away and they went on to a 15-8 victory.

Jacobs had three goals and won 11 faceoffs and Corey and junior Cooper May also scored three times as Yarmouth snapped a two-game skid and improved to 3-2, dropping Greely to 1-3 in the process.

“I’m proud of how our guys responded,” said Clippers coach David Pearl. “We played well and played with confidence. When you do that, the game slows down and you see success build. The guys put those losses behind them quickly. I think we had the best two practices we’ve had all season Thursday and Friday. They worked hard and were really focused.”

Rivalry of the future

With lacrosse going to three classes next school year and the possibility that powerhouses Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth will apply to play up in Class A, Yarmouth-Greely could become a premier rivalry in Class B South.

For now, both teams are trying to improve and hope to be at their best by June.

The Clippers started by handling visiting rival North Yarmouth Academy (15-6) and visiting Kennebunk (14-6) before running into reality in the form of host Brunswick (a 22-5 loss in a crossover last Saturday) and host Falmouth (16-6 in a state game rematch Wednesday).

The Rangers opened with a gutwrenching 11-10 overtime loss to Kennebunk in a “home” game played at Falmouth. Greely then fell at York, 14-5, before getting in the win column Wednesday, 14-6, at Waynflete.

Yarmouth has had the better of Greely over the years, winning 13 of 16 meetings dating back to the 2002 season (see sidebar, below).

Saturday, on an overcast and chilly day which turned rainy in the second half, the Rangers sought their first win over the Clippers since June 1, 2011 (13-12), but Yarmouth made it four in a row in the series.

The Clippers’ first goal came playing man-up, as they worked the ball around until Corey fed Jacobs for one of his patented rockets, which eluded Greely senior goalie Grady Wood for a 1-0 lead with 8:26 left in the first period.

After Rangers junior Tim Coyle hit the post, Leblanc eluded a defender and finished to make it 2-0 with 5:52 to go.

Forty seconds later, Venden set up Corey for another goal, forcing Greely coach Mike Storey to call timeout.

It didn’t help, as after Yarmouth killed a two-man-down penalty, Chappell set up Ramsay for a goal to make the score 4-0 after one quarter.

The Clippers added to their lead in the second period, as after Leblanc hit the post, Chappell finished unassisted with 9:18 remaining in the half and with 6:54 left, May set up Chappell for another goal and a 6-0 lead.

To their credit, the Rangers didn’t buckle and made things interesting.

With 4:53 to go in the half, O’Keefe scored unassisted and after Corey answered for the hosts, freshman Schuyler Wetmore finished a feed from freshman Andrew Lawrence with 2:59 remaining and with 59.5 seconds showing, O’Keefe’s second unassisted goal cut the deficit to 7-3.

After Coyle won the ensuing faceoff, Greely had a chance to draw even closer, but the Rangers turned the ball over and that proved pivotal, as with just 4.1 seconds to go, Jacobs beat Wood and Yarmouth took a five-goal lead to the break.

The Clippers, who trailed Brunswick, 16-0, and Falmouth, 11-1, at halftime of their previous two games, had to feel much better after 24 minutes Saturday.

Yarmouth had a 7-6 edge in faceoffs and a 27-12 shots advantage in the first half, but eight Wood saves kept the Rangers within hailing distance.

The Clippers added to their lead two minutes into the second half, when May intercepted a pass and raced in alone on Wood, whom he beat to make it 9-3.

Again, the Rangers responded, as senior Josh Lawless scored unassisted with 8:56 to go in the third quarter and with 7:31 to play, Schumacher managed to finish while flying to the turf to cut the deficit to 9-5.

Again, Yarmouth responded and opened its lead back up.

With 6:42 left, Chappell set up Venden for a man-up goal and after Corey hit the post, Greely again pulled within four when Lawrence fed Wetmore with 3:14 remaining, but after another Rangers’ turnover, Jacobs finished for an 11-6 advantage heading to the final stanza.

There, the Clippers kept the offensive pressure on and that, combined with some big-time saves from sophomore goalie Liam Harke, who replaced freshman Spencer King for the second half, spelled the path to victory.

With 10:06 left, Venden eluded a defender and scored and with 8:36 to play, Venden set up Corey for a man-up goal and a 13-6 lead.

Lawless got a goal back unassisted at 8:02, but 24 seconds later, Leblanc (from Chappell) scored man-up to make it 14-7.

Greely got its final goal with 5:56 left, when O’Keefe fed junior Ben Kennedy for a two-men-up tally, but 28 seconds later, May scored unassisted to bring the curtain down on the Clippers’ 15-8 victory.

“We had a couple days of practice before the game and the guys worked as hard as they can,” Jacobs said. “The captains settled things down. We moved some things around. We have a new practice mentality of throwing crisp passes and being sharp. We had unforced turnovers against Falmouth that really cost us. It’s early in the season. We know what we need to fix. I think we came out today and strung it together.”

“I have to say I have the best coaching staff around,” Pearl said. “Jon Miller and John Curry are Yarmouth grads. Ben Lewis joined us this year and made an immediate impact. I feel like our players are getting the most incredible coaching, role modeling, intensity and dedication.”

Yarmouth showed tremendous balance on offense, as six different players scored multiple goals. Corey, Jacobs and May had three apiece, while Chappell, Leblanc and Venden all scored twice.

Chappell also had three assists, while Corey, Leblanc, May and Venden had one each.

“I think we settled the ball down more today and ran our offense, ran our sets,” said Jacobs. “It paid off playing as a team. If everyone gets a goal or an assist, it gives them confidence.”

“The mark of a good team is when you can play a six-man offense,” Pearl said. “What I’m most excited about is seeing some of our younger guys learn on the clear. We made a few mistakes and guys were hard on themselves and each other, because they know how important clears are.”

Jacobs’ value went beyond his goals, as he won 11 faceoffs (Yarmouth won 16 of 27 for the game) and helped the Clippers enjoy a 32-28 edge in ground balls by collecting five (freshman Preston Jancovic also came up with five).

“I took faceoffs in middle school and I stopped and played attack for most of high school,” Jacobs said. “I told Coach that maybe I could help out with faceoffs and he gave me an opportunity.”

“I really like how Billy wanted to take faceoffs today,” Pearl said. “He wanted to do it during the Falmouth game and in this game. He’s been adamant about it. He’s worked on it in practice. He’s been focused and locked in. That set the tone and set the tone early. He’s showed incredible poise and leadership.”

Harke made 13 second half saves, while King stopped four shots in the first half.

Yarmouth only turned the ball over 14 times and had a 46-34 shots advantage (32-25 on cage).

Greely was paced by two goals apiece from O’Keefe and Wetmore and one each from Kennedy, Lawless, Lawrence and Schumacher.

Lawrence, O’Keefe and Wetmore all had assists.

Coyle had a team-high five ground balls.

The Rangers committed 18 turnovers.

“We realize when we play these top teams that we need to limit our own mistakes, but we made a lot of mistakes that were costly,” Storey said. “We did it to ourselves. The guys worked hard and didn’t shy away from stepping up against a team like Yarmouth. The guys stayed positive.”

Heavy lifting

The road gets no easier for either team.

Greely has a home game Tuesday against Fryeburg, Academy then has a crossover at Class A North contender Cheverus Saturday before hosting Cape Elizabeth and Thornton Academy.

“If we clean it up, we have some nice talent coming up,” Storey said. “We’re heading in the right direction. Cape and Falmouth and Yarmouth are always at the top and that’s where we strive to get. We had a slow start (this season), but we feel positive about our team. We would rather have tough games and improve our program.”

Yarmouth hosts the Capers, a team it hasn’t beaten since 2010, Wednesday, then has the daunting challenge of hosting defending Class A champion Scarborough in a crossover Saturday.

“If we play our game, I think we can hang with anybody,” Jacobs said. “I think things are heading in the right direction.”

“We have another big week looming,” Pearl said. “Out of the frying pan into the fire. This is something to build on. We proudly embrace the underdog role.”