Yarmouth senior Matthew Beatty feeds sophomore Cooper May for a goal during the Clippers’ 16-11 win at Scarborough Saturday. Beatty finished with three goals and 10 assists.

Chris Lambert photos.

More photos below.

BOX SCORE

Yarmouth 16 Scarborough 11

Y- 3 5 3 5- 16
S- 3 2 1 5- 11

First quarter
9:05 S Guerette (unassisted) 
7:28 Y Jacobs (Beatty)
7:15 S Guerette (Manfra)
4:28 Y Beatty (unassisted)
1:42 S Neugebauer (Manfra)
1:05 Y Jacobs (Beatty) 

Second quarter
11:11 Y May (Beatty) (MAN-UP)
10:04 Y Jacobs (Beatty) (MAN-UP)
8:26 Y Grant (Beatty)
6:54 S Nigro (unassisted)
5:14 Y May (Beatty) (MAN-UP)
3:55 S Nigro (Neugebauer)
3:11 Y Grant (Jacobs) 

Third quarter
11:03 Y Beatty (Grant)
2:14 Y Conrad (Beatty)
1:21 Y Grant (LeBlanc)
14.4 S Nigro (Manfra) 

Fourth quarter
10:11 S Nigro (Neugebauer)
8:58 S Granzier (Worthing)
7:21 Y Jacobs (Beatty)
6:09 S Thibault (unassisted) (MAN-UP)
5:31 S Neugebauer (Jacob)
3:32 Y May (Beatty) (MAN-UP)
2:34 Y Beatty (unassisted)
2:00 Y Grant (Beatty) (MAN-UP)
1:50 S Thibault (unassisted)
1:20 Y Conrad (Beatty) 

Goals:
Y- Grant, Jacobs 4, Beatty, May 3, Conrad 2
S- Nigro 4, Guerette, Neugebauer, Thibault 2, Granzier 1

Assists:
Y- Beatty 10, Grant, Jacobs, LeBlanc 1
S- Manfra 3, Neugebauer 2, Jacob, Worthing 1

Faceoffs (Yarmouth, 19-11)
Y- Tillotson 19 of 30
S- Jepson 9 of 15, Nigro 1 0f 9, Granzier 1 of 3, Lagerquist 0 of 3

Ground balls (Yarmouth, 45-33)
Y- Conrad 12, Grant, Jacobs 6, Beatty, Tillotson 5, Chappell 3, Newberg 2, Guerder, LeBlanc, Mallett, Moore, Pidden, Winkle 1
S- Joy 6, Jepson 5, Murray, Neugebauer, Nigro 4, Manfra, Thibault 3, Blaisdell, Hayward, Lagerquist, Quirk 1

Turnovers:
Y- 17
S- 13

Shots:
Y- 35
S- 38

Shots on cage
Y-22
S- 23

Saves:
Y (Harke) 12 
S (Joy) 6

SCARBOROUGH—Now these are the Clippers who were so highly touted in the preseason.

Saturday afternoon at the Kippy Mitchell Sports Complex, Yarmouth’s boys’ lacrosse team, which suffered three home losses to top powers in the early going, rose above its myriad injuries and put on a show in a crossover showdown at Scarborough.

After rallying three separate times to tie the game in the first period, the Clippers dominated the middle quarters, thanks to the faceoff circle brilliance of senior Ricky Tillotson, who won 14 of 15 chances in one stretch, and the pinpoint passing brilliance of senior Matthew Beatty, who made the offense go.

Forty-nine seconds into the second period, Beatty set up sophomore Cooper May for a goal and Yarmouth was ahead to stay. By halftime, Beatty had a goal and six assists and the Clippers led, 8-5.

Beatty added a goal and an assist and senior Patrick Grant scored to make it 11-6 after three periods.

The Red Storm are nothing if not proud and explosive and roared back to pull within 12-10 when junior Sam Neugebauer scored with 5:31 remaining.

After playing so well, Yarmouth wasn’t about to fold, however, and Beatty set up May for a man-up goal, scored another himself and fed Grant to put it out of reach and the Clippers went on to a 16-11 victory.

Beatty finished with three goals and a mindboggling 10 assists, junior Bill Jacobs scored four times, Grant added three goals and Tillotson won 19 faceoffs as Yarmouth improved to 4-3 and dropped Scarborough to 6-3 in the process.

“We showed up today,” said Clippers coach David Pearl. “The injury bug has definitely bitten us, but you’ve heard it many times, it’s next guy up and that’s what it was today. A lot of guys dug really deep. The guys have stuck to it and worked hard. They started feeling more confident and played like it.”

Pedigreed

Scarborough and Yarmouth have combined for 10 state championships since 2004 and are again expected to make runs at the top spot this spring.

The Red Storm opened 2016 with a 9-8 double-overtime home loss to Gorham, but bounced back to win at Biddeford, 10-3, then downed visiting South Portland, the two-time defending regional champion, 13-10, and gave Hezlep his 100th victory with a 16-9 triumph at Westbrook before falling at Cape Elizabeth by a humbling 10-0 margin. Scarborough returned to form with a 14-11 home victory over Thornton Academy, then rolled at Portland (13-1) and outscored visiting Deering Tuesday, 18-10.

The Clippers defeated visiting York in their opener, 14-3, then lost at home to nemesis Cape Elizabeth, 15-5, and at home to defending Class A champion Brunswick (11-7), before bouncing back with a 16-10 victory at Greely. After falling again at home, 12-7, to Falmouth, Yarmouth won at North Yarmouth Academy Tuesday, 12-5.

The teams don’t play often (see sidebar below). The most recent encounter came three years ago in Yarmouth, where Scarborough beat the Clippers for the first time, 10-7.

Saturday, the Red Storm started quickly, but Yarmouth made a statement.

Scarborough scored first, with 9:05 remaining in the first quarter, as junior Marc Guerette scored unassisted.

Beatty, who was moved to attack due to a recent injury to sophomore Henry Venden, registered his first assist with 7:28 to go, when he fed Jacobs, who beat Red Storm junior goalie Dominic Joy.

Scarborough retook the lead, 2-1, when senior Cam Nigro won the ensuing faceoffs, passed to sophomore Marco Manfra and Manfra fed Guerette for a shot which eluded Clippers freshman goalie Liam Harke.

Again, Yarmouth answered, as Beatty scored unassisted with 4:28 remaining.

The Red Storm went ahead for the final time, 3-2, when Manfra passed to Neugebauer, who scored with a low shot with 1:42 to go.

Again, the Clippers rallied, 37 seconds later, as Beatty passed to Jacobs for a shot which beat Joy to the top shelf to make it 3-3.

As time expired in the first period, Guerette was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and he had to sit for two minutes.

Yarmouth took advantage early in the second quarter.

Just 49 seconds in, Beatty fed May to put the Clippers ahead to stay.

With 10:04 left in the half, after senior Walter Conrad was robbed by Joy, Beatty set up Jacobs to make it 5-3 with another man-up goal.

With 8:26 remaining, Beatty got Grant involved, setting him up for a 6-3 advantage.

Scarborough ended the Clippers’ 4-0 run when Nigro scored an unassisted goal with 6:54 left before halftime, but after a slashing penalty on the hosts, Beatty set up May for a man-up goal with 5:14 left to make it 7-4.

Nigro (from Neugebauer) beat Harke with a tough angle shot with 3:55 to go, but 44 seconds later, Jacobs passed to Grant, who finished to make it 8-5 Yarmouth at halftime.

In the first half, Tillotson won 12 of 14 faceoffs, including each of the final 11, the Clippers had a 22-15 advantage on ground balls and a 22-15 edge in shots.

Yarmouth remained in control in the third quarter as well.

Beatty opened the second half scoring, 57 seconds in, when he finished a feed from Grant.

After Red Storm junior Cam Thibault hit the crossbar and Harke stopped Neugebauer point blank, Beatty set up Conrad to make it 10-5 with 2:14 remaining in the third.

Fifty-three seconds later, in transition, junior Remi LeBlanc set up Grant and the Clippers had their biggest lead, 11-5.

Scarborough started to show signs of life late in the third, as Manfra set up Nigro for a goal with 14.4 seconds showing.

Then, as time expired, the Red Storm looked like they’d pulled even closer, as senior Colin Hayward finished, but the shot was ruled to have come after the horn and Yarmouth took an 11-6 lead to the fourth period.

With senior Cam Jepson restoring order in the draw circle and winning possession for the hosts, Scarborough quickly drew within 11-8, as Neugebauer set up Nigro with 10:11 left and senior Connor Worthing set up freshman Andrew Granzier with 8:58 remaining.

With 7:21 left, Beatty returned to his assisting ways, passing to Jacobs, who finished to make it 12-8.

The Red Storm kept the pressure on, as Thibault scored unassisted man-up with 6:09 to play and 38 seconds later, senior Sam Jacob set up Neugebauer for a goal to make it 12-10.

That’s as close as Scarborough would get, however, as Tillotson won the ensuing faceoff and after the Clippers milked over a minute off the clock, the Red Storm took a penalty and with 3:32 left, Beatty set up May for a man-up goal to restore order.

Beatty scored unassisted with 2:34 to play and after another Red Storm penalty, Beatty set up Grant for a man-up goal to make it 15-10 with exactly 2 minutes left.

Scarborough’s final goal came 10 seconds later, as Thibault scored unassisted, but with 1:20 to go, Beatty reached the 10-assist plateau, as he set up Conrad to make it 16-11.

Yarmouth ran out the clock from there and celebrated its victory.

“It’s a big win over a Class A team,” Beatty said. “It’ll help us out in the long run.”

“I feel like we clicked today,” Grant said. “Our defense stepped up, our faceoff guy stepped up, our freshmen stepped up.”

“We played a lot of guys who are new to the field,” Pearl added. “They’re hungry and they hustle a little more and they’re excited to have the ball. That gave us an advantage. When the field started to tilt in (Scarborough’s) direction, there was only one thing we could do. We stuck with what got us here and I’m proud of them.”

Beatty had a game for the ages, scoring three times and adding 10 assists, giving him 13 points in the game.

“Attack is kind of new to me,” Beatty said. “I credit my teammates for getting open and putting the ball in the net. We always practice teamwork. It’s all about team.” 

“We moved Matthew to attack and he spread the ball,” Grant said. “He’s a playmaker. I love having him back there.”

“Matthew is a guy who can dodge with his head up and is a threat every time he touches the ball,” Pearl added. “He’s battled so many injuries. We had to move him to a new position, but he was on today.”

Scarborough coach Joe Hezlep could only tip his cap.

“He’s their point guard, their quarterback and he had a heck of a game,” Hezlep said. “He’s a good player. We didn’t play great team defense and he did a great job finding open guys. Kids in Maine will get those looks, but not many will execute at that high of a level for a whole game.”

Grant and Jacobs had four goals apiece, May scored three times and Conrad tickled the twine twice.

Grant, Jacobs and LeBlanc had one assist each.

Tillotson went 19 of 30 in the faceoff circle.

“Ricky getting us the ball for us was a huge help,” Beatty said.

“We made a point of not allowing them to come back and Ricky winning those faceoffs made sure it didn’t happen,” Grant said.

“Their faceoff guy was tremendous and we had a hard time,” Hezlep said. “We threw every matchup we had at him, but it didn’t seem to matter, he continued to dominate.  That hurt us. The faceoff is about so much more than pulling the ball out in your direction. We have to do better after.”

Harke made a dozen saves.

“I  didn’t even know Liam coming into this year, but some of the saves he made down the stretch were huge,” Grant said.

“Liam is stepping up as a freshman,” Beatty said.

The Clippers had a 45-35 edge in ground balls, as Conrad had a game-high 12.

“Ground balls are a big part of the game and our guys did a good job of staying with it,” Pearl said.

Yarmouth only committed 17 turnovers in a tough road setting.

Scarborough’s offense was paced by four goals from Nigro, two apiece from Guerette, Neugebauer and Thibault and one from Granzier.

Manfra had three assists, Neugebauer finished with two and Jacob and Worthing both had one.

Joyce made six saves and had a team-high six ground balls.

Jepson won nine of 15 faceoffs.

“Cam is coming back from an injury, but it’ll take time to get him comfortable in the flow of the game,” Hezlep said.

The Red Storm had a 38-35 edge in shots (23-22 on cage) and only turned the ball over 13 times.

“I would have liked to have made it more interesting,” Hezlep said. “We keep shooting ourselves in the foot. We create our own problems. It’s something we have to work on. The extended penalties have really hurt us this year. We’re working on it, but it’s not getting better fast enough. When you play that much defense early in a game against a team that can really move the ball, it wears on you.

“I absolutely love crossover games. It’s the best competition you can find. The state does a great job asking the coaches to suggest who they”d like to play. It’s good to play teams at your competition level.”

Home stretch

Scarborough (second to Gorham in the Class A South Heal Points standings) has a tough test at Cheverus Tuesday, welcomes dangerous Windham Friday on its Senior Night, then closes the regular season a week from Tuesday at Marshwood.

Yarmouth (second to Cony in Class B North) looks to keep the good times rolling Tuesday when it hosts Lake Region. After going to Waynflete, the Clippers host dangerous Kennebunk, visit Cape Elizabeth, then close at home versus NYA.

“We need to stay more focused when we’re down,” Beatty said. “We have to possess the ball. Possession is key.”

“This a key win for us,” Grant said. “It’s a turning point. We have big games coming up. The effort we put forth today, I think we can keep winning.”

“We’ve had a very hard schedule and Scarborough’s a tough team, so hopefully we can build on this,” Pearl added.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

Yarmouth sophomore Sean Moore defends Scarborough junior Marc Guerette.

Yarmouth sophomore Cooper May gets a step on Scarborough senior Sam Jacob.

Yarmouth senior Patrick Grant shoots past Scarborough junior goalie Dominic Joy for one of his three goals.

Yarmouth senior Walter Conrad bounces off Scarborough junior Eric Murray.

Yarmouth junior Anders Newberg leaps to shoot over Scarborough senior Colin Hayward.

Scarborough senior Cam Jepson shoots on goal.

Yarmouth junior Bill Jacobs carries the ball as Scarborough sophomore Eric Quirk defends.

Recent Scarborough-Yarmouth meetings

2013
Scarborough 10 @ Yarmouth 7 

2012
Yarmouth 7 @ Scarborough 6

2009
@ Yarmouth 13 Scarborough 6

2008
Yarmouth 19 @ Scarborough 6

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