KENNEBUNK—Greely’s girls’ lacrosse team is the defending Class B state champion.

But the Kennebunk Rams are at another level.

A stratospheric level.

And perhaps, in a little over a week’s time, a level never before reached by a team from the state of Maine.

Tuesday afternoon, the Rangers became the latest squad to get steamrolled by the Kennebunk Express, conducted by an all-time great who continues to post jawdropping numbers.

Rams senior standout Ruby Sliwkowski, who in just two-plus years of a nonpareil varsity career has already surpassed the 200-point plateau, scored three times before the game was six minutes old to set the tone.

Juniors Sophia Notine and Mara Muse then got in on the fun with free position goals and by halftime, Kennebunk was in command, up, 7-2.

Sliwkowski, who will play at Brown University next year, then began the second half with three more goals to end any lingering doubt and the Rams rolled to a 14-4 victory.

Sliwkowski had six goals, Muse added three and Kennebunk improved to 2-0, dropped Greely to 1-1 and in the process, won its 34th consecutive game over three seasons, just two shy of the all-time state record.

“We don’t talk about (the streak) a lot,” said Sliwkowski. “We’re back to being 0-0. Having that 0-0 mentality helps a lot. We take it literally one game at a time and focus on that game. We take every team seriously. When the whistle blows, we don’t care where you’re ranked. If you treat every team the same, you can reach the level of excellence which we’re striving for.”

The gold standard

After years of knocking at the door, Greely broke through a year ago and captured the Class B championship for the first time, downing York, 13-7, in the final game, capping a 13-2 campaign.

The Rangers graduated just one player (Karley Ferentz) and lost one other to injury (Eva Williams), but return with nearly the same team and are favored to repeat.

Greely opened in style with a 20-0 home victory over Gray-New Gloucester, as senior Charlotte Taylor scored six goals.

Kennebunk, meanwhile, has been simply unbeatable since girls’ lacrosse returned from a COVID hiatus which cost it the 2020 season. The Rams went undefeated and won the Class A title in 2021, then did it again last spring, capping a 16-0 season with an 11-8 win over Yarmouth in the final.

With Sliwkowski, arguably the finest player in state annals, and several other key contributors returning, Kennebunk is likely the team to beat again and after scrimmaging some of the top teams from around New England in the preseason, the Rams opened with a dominating 14-0 victory at Messalonskee last Thursday, their 33rd straight.

In that one, Sliwkowski scored five goals and eclipsed the 200-point mark for her career (in 33 games).

“(Going out of states) was one of the best scheduling decisions we could have done,” said Sliwkowski. “We play those challenging teams from out of state and bring that pace back here. That’s super-important.”

Tuesday marked Kennebunk and Greely’s first countable meeting since April 20, 2019 (an 11-4 Rams’ victory).

Kennebunk had won 12 of 15 meetings since the start of the 2002 season (see sidebar), and each of the past six.

On an overcast, windy afternoon, after a pregame celebration to honor Sliwkowski’s achievement, the Rams went out and kept their streaks going.

Junior Ella Highbarger won the opening draw, Sliwkowski got the ball and just 29 seconds in, eluded the defense and fired a shot past Rangers senior goalie Addyson Babcock to put the Rams on top to stay.

“We want to come out pedal down and get on the board first,” said longtime Kennebunk coach Annie Barker. “It helped to play teams from out of state because it makes us get better more quickly. We’re working hard on the draw and we’re doing a good job winning them, which is great.”

Sliwkowski’s second goal saw her show off her speed and athleticism, as she pounced on a turnover in the defensive end, raced upfield and left the defense in her wake before shooting and scoring to make it 2-0 three minutes in.

After missing wide on a free position, Sliwkowski scored unassisted again after a turnover with 19:10 to go in the first half and Greely coach Becca Koelker had to call timeout.

“(Ruby’s) on the next level,” Koelker said. “She really controlled the game today. Her speed and ability to see the field. It’s all amazing. All you can try to do is adjust and try to take away as much as you can from the other players.”

Kennebunk continued to extend the lead, as Notine scored on a free position with 16:38 on the clock, then after Taylor hit the post and was robbed on an ensuing shot by Rams senior goalie Elizabeth Hayes, Muse converted a free position shot with 12 minutes remaining in the half to make it 5-0.

After Hayes saved a free position from Taylor, Greely broke through with 10:42 left in the half, as Taylor scored unassisted.

Kennebunk got the goal right back a little over two minutes later, as Sliwkowski fed junior Ivy Armentrout.

After Babcock stood tall, saving a shot from senior Grace Archer and robbing Muse, Archer set up Highbarger for a goal with 2:04 on the clock.

Taylor answered 45 seconds later, finishing a feed from senior Allie Reed, but at the half, the Rams were comfortably on top, 7-2.

Sliwkowski then returned to her scoring ways in the second half.

With 20:48 to go, Sliwkowski again collected a turnover in the defensive end, turned on the jets and didn’t stop until she beat Babcock to make it 8-2.

“One of the huge differences from high school and college is that in high school, you can take it coast-to-coast, while in college, you have a swarm of girls around you at every point of the field,” Sliwkowski said. “I like to take advantage of my speed.”

Babcock did her best to keep the Rangers within hailing distance, saving a pair of Notine free positions, but with 13:35 remaining, Notine got another chance and this time finished.

After missing wide on a free position, Sliwkowski then scored for the fifth time, weaving through traffic and finishing with 12:29 on the clock for a 10-2 advantage.

Twelve seconds later, Sliwkowski scored for the final time, unassisted, off a Notine draw win.

“One thing we’ve elevated in our game is scoring goals off the draw,” said Sliwkowski.

With 11:03 left, Armentrout set up Muse for a goal and a 10-goal, mercy rule running clock, but Greely continued to fight and was rewarded with 9:08 to play, as junior Asja Kelman set up freshman Kelsey Crocker for a goal.

A mere 23 seconds later, the Rangers struck again, as sophomore Kylie Lord fed sophomore Jane Flynn to make the score 12-4.

That would be it for Greely’s offense, however, as Hayes saved a free position from Kelman and denied Read as well.

Then, with 6:25 remaining, senior Cassandra Mackenzie finished a feed from freshman Helen Kennie to answer for the Rams, who scored the game’s final goal with 5:01 to go, as Kennie set up Muse.

Kennebunk ran out the clock from there and prevailed, 14-4.

Sliwkowski dazzled with six goals (giving her 148 for her illustrious career) and one assist (number 63). She also scooped up seven ground balls.

“Ruby can turn it on when she needs to turn it on,” Barker said. “She always wants to help develop the others. She’s a coach on the field in a nice, calm manner.”

Muse added three goals, Notine had two and Armentrout, Highbarger and Mackenzie all finished with one.

Kennie had two assists and Archer and Armentrout each added one.

Hayes made eight saves.

The Rams had a 13-7 advantage in the draw circle, collected 39 ground balls to Greely’s 35, had a 24-17 shots advantage (19-12 on cage) and overcame 17 turnovers.

Learning experience

Greely’s offense was paced by Taylor, who had two goals. Crocker and Flynn also found the net.

Kelman, Lord and Read all had one assist.

Babcock saved five shots.

Taylor had a game-high 11 ground balls and Kelman came up with six.

The Rangers turned the ball over 19 times.

“It’s a good measuring stick for us,” said Koelker. “We can see what our weak spots are and what we want to continue doing and working on. We like playing challenging games like this.

“There’s definitely some nerves when you come in and play this good of an opponent. We settled in and for two-thirds of the game, we met our goals, so I’m proud.”

Next victim

Kennebunk will look to make visiting Gorham its 35th straight victim Thursday. The Rams then will have two stiff tests to pass in their quest to eclipse Waynflete (2004-06) as the all-time win streak holder in the state, going to Falmouth on April 26, then hosting Yarmouth two days later.

“It’s a different culture this year,” Sliwkowski said. “We want to have fun. Half of lacrosse is playing the stressful, mental game and half is having fun. Our core values this year are excellence, discipline, togetherness and grit. Under that umbrella is having fun and that’s really important to us.

“I’m really excited we’re at the level we’re at in the second game of the season. If we’re executing like this in April, there’s good things to come. We’re really excited to see (Falmouth and Yarmouth). I think we get ahead ourselves sometimes. We just have to work together and stay selfless.”

“We never mention (the streak),” Barker said. “We’re 2-0. They all know in their minds, but we don’t bring it up. We still have work to do. We could win more ground balls. Our re-defend is developing nicely. We’re trying to get the girls not to check, but use your body. We’re working on fast ball movement. If we have that, we’ll be able to score.”

Greely, menwhile, looks to get back on track Saturday when it hosts York in a state game rematch.

“We have a long way to go,” Koelker said. “Hopefully we’ll get on track. We don’t have anything to hang our heads about. We’re not discouraged.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. 

Recent Greely-Kennebunk results

2019
Kennebunk 11 Greely 4 (@ NYA)

2018
@ Kennebunk 13 Greely 5

2017
Kennebunk 10 @ Greely 6

2016
@ Kennebunk 11 Greely 8

2015
@ Kennebunk 15 Greely 10
Western B quarterfinals
@ Kennebunk 14 Greely 8

2014
Kennebunk 8 @ Greely 3
Greely 8 @ Kennebunk 6

2011
@ Kennebunk 10 Greely 7

2010
Kennebunk 14 @ Greely 4

2009
@ Kennebunk 15 Greely 5

2003
@ Greely 9 Kennebunk 7
West Division semifinals
Greely 8 @ Kennebunk 7

2002
@ Kennebunk 13 Greely 5
Kennebunk 14 @ Greely 10

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