Greely girls surge past Yarmouth in second half

YARMOUTH—Greely’s girls’ lacrosse team has finally solved longtime nemesis Yarmouth.

In fact, the Rangers have solved just about everyone this spring as they’ve built on last year’s Class B state title by emerging as the prohibitive favorite to repeat.

Box score

Greely 13 Yarmouth 5

G- 4 9- 13
Y- 3 2- 5

First half
22:52 Y Panozzo (free position)
21:27 G Medrano (Tylor)
14:02 Y L. Keaney (Powers)
11:23 G Dennen (Taylor)
8:52 Y L. Keaney (free position)
5:36 G Taylor (Read)
2:50 G Taylor (free position)

Second half
24:10 G Taylor (Dennen)
23:12 G Kelman (Read)
19:56 G Medrano (unassisted)
17:51 G Dennen (Kelman)
15:24 Y Powers (Panozzo)
14:04 G Dennen (Read)
11:35 G Dennen (Provencher)
10:11 G Kelman (free position)
5:35 Y L. Keaney (Carnes)
3:50 G Taylor (unassisted)
2:34 G Kelman (unassisted)

Goals:
G- Dennen, Taylor 4, Kelman 3, Medrano 2
Y- L. Keaney 3, Panozzo, Powers

Assists:
G- Read 3, Taylor 2, Dennen, Kelman, Provencher
Y- Carnes, Panozzo, Powers

Draws (10-10)
G- Taylor 10 of 20
Y- L. Keaney 6 of 12, Powers 4 of 8

Ground balls:
G- 27
Y- 25

Turnovers:
G- 10
Y- 19

Shots:
G- 25
Y- 11

Shots on cage:
G- 23
Y- 8

Saves:
G (Babcock) 3
Y (G. Keaney) 10

Wednesday afternoon, 13 days after beating the Clippers at home, Greely traveled to Yarmouth and thanks to a super second half, came away with a surprisingly decisive victory.

On three different occasions in the first half, the Clippers took a one-goal lead, but it didn’t last and when Rangers senior standout Charlotte Taylor scored a pair of late goals, Greely went ahead to stay and took a 4-3 advantage to the half.

The Rangers then seized control for good by scoring four times in the first seven-plus minutes of the second half, never led by fewer than four goals from there and went on to prevail, 13-5.

Taylor and senior Lauren Dennen both scored four times as Greely won its ninth successive game, improved to 10-1, dropped the Clippers to 7-3 and in the process, swept its rival for the first time this century, perhaps ever.

“We had beaten (Yarmouth) once, so it was less of a mental battle to beat them a second time,” said Rangers coach Becca Koelker. “We told the girls it was historic. Our goal for this program is to be one of the best places in Maine to play high school lacrosse and I think we’re getting very close to that.”

Turnabout

From the 2006 season into 2022, Yarmouth absolutely owned Greely, winning 17 straight meetings, including a 13-8 victory in the 2021 Class B state final (see sidebar, below). Last spring, however, the Rangers beat the host Clippers, 13-7, to finally snap the hex. Yarmouth then won the rematch at Cumberland, 16-13.

On May 4, Greely held off the visiting Clippers again, 8-7, as Taylor scored four times, including the go-ahead goal with just over two minutes left.

That was just one small piece of the Rangers’ nearly season-long brilliance.

Greely started with a 20-0 home win over Gray-New Gloucester, then fell at reigning Class A champion Kennebunk, 14-4, before bouncing back with a 13-8 home win over York in a rematch of last year’s state game. The Rangers then knocked off host NYA, the reigning Class C champion (10-4), won at Windham (14-4) and Freeport (5-4), beat Yarmouth, then handled visiting Messalonskee (14-3), held off host Waynflete (15-9) and Friday, dispatched visiting Fryeburg Academy (16-1).

Yarmouth, meanwhile, won at Windham in the opener, 16-6, then handled visiting Massabesic (14-1) and Cape Elizabeth (14-3), before losing at Kennebunk (15-5). After downing visiting Waynflete (11-5) and losing at Greely, the Clippers took care of visiting Scarborough (12-6) and beat host York (15-5) and Oxford Hills (15-3).

Wednesday, Yarmouth hoped to hold serve on its home turf, but instead, the Rangers made another powerful statement.

Greely senior Allie Read tries to pick up a ground ball as Yarmouth junior Aine Powers defends early in the Rangers’ 13-5 victory Wednesday. Hoffer photos.

Yarmouth got the ball first and ran over two minutes off the clock before opening the scoring when junior Neena Panozzo buried a free position shot with 22:52 to go in the first half.

Greely then answered with 21:27 to go, as Taylor fed senior Jenny Medrano for the goal.

After more than seven scoreless minutes elapsed, the Clippers went ahead, 2-1, with 14:02 remaining before halftime, as junior Aine Powers set up classmate Lauren Keaney for a shot that Rangers senior goalie Addyson Babcock couldn’t stop, but with 11:23 on the clock, Taylor found Dennen for her first goal to tie it again.

With 8:52 left, Keaney converted a free position, but that proved to be the Clippers’ highwater mark.

After Yarmouth freshman goalie Grace Keaney saved a free position from senior Allie Read, Read set up Taylor for her first goal with 5:36 to go to tie it and with 2:50 showing, a Taylor free position gave Greely the lead for good.

The Rangers nearly extended their lead just before the break, but Grace Keaney robbed Taylor on the doorstep, then saved a rebound bid from freshman Kelsey Crocker.

Greely then opened it up when the second half started.

Yarmouth junior Neena Panozzo races up the field as Greely junior Katie Dubbert gives chase.

Just 50 seconds in, Dennen found Taylor for her third straight goal and a 5-3 advantage.

Fifty-eight seconds later, Read set up Kelman for her first goal.

After Grace Keaney denied a free position shot from sophomore Kylie Lord, Medrano scored unassisted with 19:56 remaining to make the score 7-3.

Longtime Clippers coach Dorothy Holt called timeout, but it didn’t stem the tide, as after Lauren Keaney shot just wide, she had a free position opportunity, only to have it saved by Babcock.

Then, with 17:51 to go, in transition, Kelman found Dennen for another goal.

Finally, with 15:24 on the clock, Powers finished a feed from Panozzo to end the Rangers’ 6-0 run and an 18 minute, 28 second scoring drought.

Yarmouth wasn’t able to string together consecutive goals, however, as with 14:04 to play, Read fed Dennen for a one-timer which Grace Keaney couldn’t stop.

With 11:35 to go, senior Elise Provencher found Dennen for a goal and with 10:14 remaining, a Kelman free position shot made the score 11-4.

Lauren Keaney then scored the Clippers’ final goal, from senior Sadie Carnes, with 5:35 left, but down the stretch, Taylor scored her final goal, unassisted, with 3:50 remaining, and Kelman scored unassisted in transition with 2:34 to play to bring the curtain down on Greely’s 13-5 victory.

Greely celebrates at the final horn.

“This game, we played fully as a unit,” Dennen said. “We were ready. Our chemistry on and off the field is awesome and we knew what we needed to do and we knew we have the skills. We knew it was possible to beat them again. We played heads up in the second half. People knew where they needed to be and we saw cutters and we pushed and gave our all.”

“It’s awesome,” said Read. “We’ve worked really hard the past three years learning to play as a team and play connected and this season especially, it shows.”

“I knew it would be a great game,” added Koelker. “We were evenly matched the first half. Our team has a second gear and when we connect, we’re tough to stop. The girls have worked hard to get to this point. First half, we struggled to keep possession. Then, we adjusted to their defense and to their pressure. We moved the ball in transition. Stuff we normally do, but we didn’t do it in the first half.”

The Rangers’ prolific offense remained balanced, as four different players scored multiple goals.

Taylor had four goals and two assists, while Dennen also scored four times and had one assist. Kelman finished with three goals and one assist and Medrano added a pair of goals.

“We have many, many good scorers, which takes us a long way,” Dennen said.

“It’s tough to shut down just one girl,” said Koelker. “Others pick up the slack. That makes us so dangerous.”

Read had three assists.

“As much as Char does everywhere, Allie does too,” said Koelker. “She leads our defense. She’s on the draw circle. She got her assists. She sees the field well. She brings energy and has embraced her role.”

Provencher also had one assist.

Babcock saved three shots and the Rangers’ defense was smothering from start to finish.

“Our defense has come a long way,” Read said. “We work hard on communication. Addyson is incredible. She saves us all the time. We’ve spent a lot of time on our backer defense and it’s coming together.”

Greely had a 27-25 edge on ground balls (Taylor had a game-high eight), enjoyed a 25-11 shots advantage (23-8 on cage) and only turned the ball over 10 times.

For Yarmouth, Lauren Keaney had three goals and Panozzo and Powers each added one.

Carnes, Panozzo and Powers all had one assist.

Sophomore Madeleine Jones had a team-high seven ground balls and Powers picked up five.

Grace Keaney impressed with 10 saves, many on point-blank shots.

“Grace is doing really well,” Holt said. “Look at some of the saves she made and the team loves her.”

The Clippers turned the ball over 19 times.

“Greely’s playing really well and they have more upperclassmen,” said Holt. “It just wasn’t our day and they looked really good. We couldn’t control the ball in the second half. We’re just young and we’ll make silly mistakes and good teams take advantage of silly mistakes.”

Tough turnaround

Yarmouth (ranked fourth in the Class A state-wide Heal Points standings) gets less than 24 hours of rest before returning to action Thursday night at home versus another red-hot powerhouse, Falmouth, in a rematch of last year’s Class A North Final (see our website for game story). The Clippers then go to Cheverus Monday.

“We like the tough schedule,” Holt said. “We’re ready. We just have to trust each other and we’ll get there. We have two more weeks.”

Greely (second behind Brunswick in Class B) has a couple rivalry games upcoming, as it hosts Cape Elizabeth Friday, then welcomes Falmouth Monday.

“We talk about getting one percent better every day and that’s something we’re working on,” Dennen said. “We want to win (states again) badly. We just have to keep our foot on the gas. Our team is so fun. It’s a good balance of fun, determination and hard work.”

“I think we just need to put our heads down,” said Read. “We just have to be confident in our play and let it play out on the field. We’re not done yet.”

“Cape and Falmouth will be challenges,” Koelker added. “Every day, we want to keep getting closer to our potential. We’re trying to keep the girls challenged. We are doing what we need to do to put ourselves in the best position for playoffs.