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LEWISTON — North Yarmouth Academy junior midfielder Gavin Thomas said he was feeling fast, feeling loose and feeling good heading into a Class C boys lacrosse semifinal Tuesday against Fryeburg Academy at Don Rioux Field.

Thomas scored four goals and broke a 4-4 tie in the fourth quarter lifting the second-seeded Panthers (11-5) to a 7-4 win over third-seeded Fryeburg (10-6).

“I don’t like to be the spotlight guy, and I don’t know, I feel like I just, I knew I could take my matchup, and I did,” Thomas said. “That’s just all I had in my head.”

NYA coach Peter Gerrity said Thomas plays a crucial role for the Panthers.

“He’s a special player,” Gerrity said. “So he was first-team Western Maine Conference Class C last year. “The same thing again this year. He’s our best midfielder, and he can’t score at will, but just about — he’s a really good player.”

After back-to-back goals from Thomas made it 6-4, Greyson Reeves netted the final goal as the Panthers got redemption from their 8-7 loss to the Raiders on May 15.

“It was a big game for us, it’s the only Class C team we lost to,” Reeves said. “Everything is good, and I think it’s going to carry over into the state championship.”

NYA will face top-seeded Maranacook/Winthrop in the state final Friday at Memorial Field in Portland. Maranacook/Winthrop edged Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon/St. Dom’s, 14-13, in the other semifinal at Cony High in Augusta.

The Panthers made back-to-back state final appearances in 2022 and 2023, losing to Waynflete both times. They last won a state title in 2019, defeating the Maranacook co-op team 17-5.

“My freshman year, we took a big loss in states and I want redemption for that,” Thomas said.

Fryeburg controlled play early, and Reid Irwin scored the game’s first goal on a fast break.

Fryeburg coach Tucker Barnaby said the Raiders relied on the fast break too much in the opening half.

“We’ve traditionally been pretty successful with the fast break,” Barnaby said. “We tried to do it too much. We forced it. In the second half, we slowed it down. We had some opportunities.”

The Panthers took control with about three minutes remaining in the opening quarter, peppering Raiders goalie Charlie Scott. Reeves tied it with a low shot with 39 seconds remaining in the quarter, then Thomas unleashed a shot right at the buzzer for a 2-1 NYA advantage.

“I kind of just didn’t pay attention to the buzzer, I just shot it, I did my thing,” Thomas said.

Thomas extended the lead midway through the second quarter.

The Raiders battled back in the third quarter. Kiefer Gilligan cut the deficit to 3-2 midway through the quarter, then Irwin scored his second goal of the game when he batted the ball with the head of his lacrosse stick past goalie Harry Seely to tie the contest at 3-3.

“At halftime, we just told them to calm down, to play our game a little bit,” Barnaby said. “We wanted to ride, stop them from clearing it, which is what we did, and to be a little bit more aggressive. The kids stepped up, I think, and really did that.”

Max Siebert regained the lead for the Panthers late in the third, but Fryeburg’s Owen Reinbach evened the game before the end of the quarter.

“We can compete with like the best teams in the state and we know that we can run away with it when we need to if we do what we’re supposed to do on both ends of the field,” Gerrity said.