Waynflete girls return to form with home win over Scarborough

Waynflete sophomore Lydia Giguere is congratulated by senior Nina Moore, left, and sophomore Laura Baginski after giving the Flyers a 4-3 lead late in the first half of Saturday’s 10-5 victory over Scarborough in an early-season crossover showdown.

Mike Strout photos.

More photos below.

BOX SCORE

Waynflete 10 Scarborough 5

S- 3 2- 5
W- 4 6- 10

First half
12:22 W Rowe (Burdick)
11:46 S Emma Smith (unassisted)
9:56 S Emma Smith (Corbin)
7:47 W Moore (unassisted)
5:45 W Rowe (unassisted)
1:57 S Ellie Smith (Hassler)
:22 W Giguere (unassisted)

Second half
23:31 W Rowe (unassisted)
17:52 W Giguere (Burdick)
16:47 S Ellie Smith (Lacognata)
14:12 W Moore (Canning)
8:00 W Moore (Rowe)
4:44 W Rowe (Burdick)
2:42 S Corbin (unassisted)
:14 W Rowe (unassisted)

Goals:
S- Ellie Smith, Emma Smith 2, Corbin 1
W- Rowe 5, Moore 3, Giguere 2

Assists:
S- Corbin, Hassler, Lacognata 1
W- Burdick 3, Canning, Rowe 1

Shots on cage:
S- 14
W- 25

Saves:
S (Shoebottom) 15
W (Majercik) 9

SCARBOROUGH—Now these are the Waynflete Flyers we’ve grown accustomed to.

Saturday afternoon, in its home opener at Fore River Field, Waynflete’s girls’ lacrosse team shook off a lopsided loss with its most complete effort of the season, avenging a setback from a year ago against a top-notch Class A foe.

Hosting unbeaten Scarborough, the Flyers took awhile to get their offense going, but their vaunted defense was solid throughout and when sophomore Lydia Giguere scored with 22 seconds to go in the first half, Waynflete was on top to stay, 4-3.

Goals from senior Christian Rowe and Giguere stretched the lead early in the second half and after the Red Storm, who hung tough behind the stellar goalkeeping of junior Sami Shoebottom, got a goal from sophomore Ellie Smith, the Flyers found another gear and put it away, thanks to two goals from senior Nina Moore and another from Rowe.

Waynflete, thanks to three huge saves from senior goalie Charlotte Majercik down the stretch, then put the finishing touches on its 10-5 victory.

The Flyers got five goals from Rowe, three from Moore, two from Giguere and nine saves from Majercik as they improved to 2-1 and dropped Scarborough to 2-1 in the process.

“It’s a positive step forward,” said Waynflete coach Cathie Connors, after her 270th career victory. “These are my girls. We played together. This was my team today.”

Crossing over

Scarborough and Waynflete have been two of the best girls’ programs in the state over the past decade (much longer in the Flyers’ case), but the teams don’t meet all that often.

Heading into play Saturday, Waynflete had taken three of four meetings (see sidebar below), but the Red Storm finally broke through against the Flyers a year ago, winning, 7-4, in Scarborough.

The Red Storm have gotten off to a fast start this spring under new coach Stephanie Belanger, holding off visiting upset-minded Biddeford in the opener, 11-9, then outslugging visiting Portland Thursday, 21-15.

Waynflete eked out an 8-7 overtime victory at Cape Elizabeth in its opener April 14, then sat idle for two weeks before Thursday’s 17-6 loss at Falmouth.

Saturday, on a beautiful afternoon for lacrosse on the final day of April, defense ruled early, but ultimately, the Flyers’ offense found its stride and that was the difference.

It took half of the first half for the first goal to be scored, as Rowe did the honors (from sophomore Izzy Burdick) with 12:22 to play.

Scarborough pulled even 36 seconds later, when senior Emma Smith scored unassisted.

Smith gave the Red Storm their lone lead, 2-1, when finished a feed from senior Abby Corbin with 9:52 remaining in the half, but with 7:47 to go, Moore scored for the first time to tie it, 2-2.

After Rowe gave Waynflete the lead again with an unassisted goal with 5:45 left, the visitors forged another tie, as senior Sarah Hassler set up Ellie Smith with 1:57 showing.

It looked like the game would be deadlocked at the break, but as they so often do, the Flyers struck late, as Giguere scored unassisted with 22 seconds to go, giving her team a 4-3 lead and momentum going into the break.

“That goal was huge,” said Giguere. “We try to go into halftime not tied, to set a tone for the second half.”

“That was huge,” Connors said. “Lydia is so poised for a sophomore.”

Just 91 seconds into the second half, Waynflete took a multiple goal lead for the first time, as Rowe scored unassisted.

With 17:52 remaining, Burdick set up Giguere to extend the lead further, but 65 seconds later, Ellie Smith took a pass from sophomore Elizabeth Lacognata and beat Majercik to cut the deficit to 6-4.

At that point, the game could have gone either way, but the Flyers were determined to prevail in their first game on their home field.

First, junior Isabel Canning set up Moore for a goal with 14:12 to go.

Then, after Majercik robbed Emma Smith, Rowe set up Moore with exactly 8 minutes left, for an 8-4 advantage.

After sophomore LZ Olney hit the crossbar for Waynflete, the hosts went ahead by five with 4:44 showing, as Burdick recorded her third assist, setting up Rowe.

“Coming out for the second half, we told ourselves it was 0-0,” Giguere said. “We knew Scarborough could come back quickly.”

“That (goal before halftime) was a momentum-swinger and unfortunately, they ran with that momentum,” lamented Belanger. “It was anybody’s game at that point and they came out and wanted it more.”

Down the stretch, Majercik did surrender a goal to Corbin with 2:42 remaining, but she also robbed Ellie Smith, Lacognata and Corbin to keep things from getting interesting.

“It’s definitely a difficult position to be in, but I keep my eye on the ball and communicate, making sure my defense picked up cutters,” Majercik said.

“Charlotte was great today, especially toward the end,” Giguere said. “They got shots off and she made good saves. That could have changed the momentum of the game.”

Rowe then brought the curtain down with an unassisted tally with 14 seconds left and the Flyers prevailed, 10-5.

“I had no doubt we’d come out and play our best,” Rowe said. “We played tons better than we did against Falmouth. We were all on the same page. Falmouth was just our second game of the season. After that loss, we didn’t like how that felt, so we came out today on the same wavelength. It all came together. The whole team was there today.”

“I’m proud of how we played and how we were there for each other,” Majercik said. “(Falmouth) was a difficult game after April break. We couldn’t dwell on that game. We’ve worked hard and showed up today as a team, not as individual players.”

“That’s how you learn, you have a big loss, then you figure it out,” Connors added.

Rowe led the way with five goals and an assist. Moore scored three times and Giguere had a pair of goals. Burdick added three assists, while Canning had one.

“It’s a lot different from the past few years,” Rowe said. “It’s not just one player shooting. We have a lot of depth. We trusted each other and made passes.”

Majercik made nine timely saves.

“(Charlotte’s) worked a lot on things and she made three big saves at a crucial time,” Connors said.

Waynflete enjoyed a 25-14 advantage in shots on cage.

Wakeup call

Scarborough got two goals each from Ellie Smith and Emma Smith and another from Corbin, who also had an assist. Hassler and Lacognata also registered assists. Shoebottom made 15 saves.

“Sami kept her head in it,” said Belanger. “She played really well today. She keeps our defense strong.”

For one day at least, the Red Storm could only tip their cap to their foe.

“It was a little frustrating,” Belanger said. “They play solid defense. They capitalized on our mistakes. They took advantage of our weaknesses. They were phenomenal. They executed well, played hard and went hard after ground balls. They made it difficult to score. We struggled a little on the offensive end. Their goalie made some big stops at the end, which allowed them to have a little more momentum. That’s what great lacrosse teams do.”

Showdown

Scarborough looks to get back in the win column Tuesday at Windham. The Red Storm then go to South Portland Thursday. The following week brings tough tests against the likes of Gorham, Thornton Academy and two-time defending Class B champion Yarmouth.

“The girls fought hard from beginning to end today, so there’s no doubt in my mind we can compete with anybody at any level and be successful,” Belanger said. “We have to fight through the obstacles and the challenges and keep our heads in it and keep improving our game. That’s all we can do. We’ll put this behind us and come out fighting Tuesday.”

Waynflete, meanwhile, has its biggest test to date Wednesday, when the consensus best team in the state, Kennebunk, the reigning Western B champion, pays a visit.

The Flyers hope to give the Rams a battle and continue to improve.

“We’re going forward to work hard no matter what happens,” Majercik said.

“No doubt, it will be a hard game,” Rowe said. “There’s no team we don’t think we can compete with. If we put our hearts on the field and get even more excited, we’ll compete. We love our homefield and our grass.”

“(Kennebunk’s) considered to be the best team,” Connors added. “All the pressure’s on them. We have nothing to lose and we like being at home. We’ll go out and go for it.”