Miles Lipton and the Waynflete boys’ lacrosse team took control in the second quarter.
Then Hank Duvall put the school’s first state championship in the bank with a dominant third quarter.
Duvall’s four straight goals on four distinctly different shots pushed Waynflete’s lead over Lincoln Academy of Newcastle to nine goals, and the Flyers cruised to an 18-4 win in the Class C championship game Friday night at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
“When Hank starts shooting well, he’s unstoppable,” said Waynflete Coach Parker Repko. “He’s been wanting this probably since he picked up a lacrosse stick. He set this as his goal when he first put on a Waynflete jersey.”
Duvall, a senior captain, and Lipton, a junior, each finished with seven goals and an assist. Zane Moorhead scored twice, Mitchell Adams had four assists, and Oliver Burdick and Matt Ogwudiegwu each scored once. Will Armstrong made eight saves for the Flyers.
The inaugural Class C title game was meaningful for both schools and represented a marked turnaround.
Waynflete (11-4), the No. 3 seed, missed the playoffs the previous two years while playing a tough Class B schedule against larger schools.
“This is special for me. We started from literally nothing last year. We were 3-9. We were terrible,” Duvall said. “We tried to shift the culture, and it feels great as a senior to complete this and get it done.”
Fourth-seeded Lincoln (13-2) went 4-9 last year, with a preliminary-round playoff loss. When the current seniors were freshmen, they played as a club sport to keep the program afloat.
“I think this team realizes what they’ve accomplished and what they’ve done for Lincoln Academy lacrosse,” said Coach Tom Farrell.
“This program has gone from nothing and we’ve put ourselves on the map,” said senior captain Nathan Simmons, who scored the Eagles’ first goal. “We fought. We didn’t give up. I mean, the southern teams, they have a lot of talent. We came out really good, and then we kind of got shell-shocked when they really started firing it into the net.”
Lincoln led 2-1 after a goal by its top scorer, Nolen Michael, with 4:50 left in the first quarter, and it was 2-2 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, Waynflete forced turnovers and Lincoln rushed other passes while looking for quick strikes. Waynflete piled up an 18-3 shot advantage. Lipton scored two of his four first-half goals in the final 50 seconds for a 9-3 halftime lead.
Lincoln opened the third quarter with a needed goal from Liam Cullina (two goals, one assist), assisted by Michael. Then Duvall went to work. He scored with a well-placed, right-handed shot, then with a lefty curl move. Next came a missile while on the run from 20 yards, and finally a quick catch-and-shoot after a pass from Adams.
“We recognize that (Lincoln’s) Ethan Avantaggio is the most talented defensive player we’ve played against this season, by far,” Lipton said. “We recognized that he was marking me, so we took him away from the ball, and Hank went to work, and that kid doesn’t miss when he has the shot.”
Lipton scored the next three goals to push the lead to 16-4.
Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or:
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Comments are no longer available on this story