Kennebunk boys, Messalonskee girls claim Class B lacrosse quarterfinal wins
OAKLAND — Kyle Wells delivered the kind of moment that makes high school sports worth covering.
Thirty-four seconds into overtime Friday at Veterans Field, the 10th-seeded Kennebunk Rams punched their ticket to the Class B boys lacrosse semifinals, beating second-seeded Messalonskee 11-10. The victory avenged a painful loss from last year’s playoffs, when the Eagles came back from six goals down to eliminate the Rams.
Wells described the feeling of revenge as surreal.
“When we lost to them last year, it hurt — we feel it to this day — and now, to deliver that same pain, it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before,” Wells said. “It’s surreal; you can’t describe it, really.”
The game lived up to its dramatic billing. Kennebunk jumped to an early lead, but Messalonskee seized control with six of the next seven goals, including three by Peyton Henning, to build a 6-2 advantage midway through the second quarter.
Coach Luke Myers called a risky timeout early in the first half, and his gamble paid off. Grisam Shields and Taggart Connor answered immediately, and Jimmy McClellan narrowed the gap to 6-5 by halftime.
“We felt great with it 6-5 going into halftime,” Myers said. “It was scary calling that second timeout so early in the first half, but we needed to take that gamble, and our guys pulled through. That’s just a testament to how the beatings we’ve taken all season have made us stronger for these types of games.”
The Eagles reclaimed momentum in the third quarter with two goals from Colton Enos, stretching their lead to three. But Kennebunk responded with five straight goals to take a 10-8 lead. Landon Stewart tied it for Messalonskee, forcing overtime.
In the extra period, Messalonskee won the opening possession, and Kennebunk disputed a tripping call. The Rams quickly earned the ball back, and Wells ended it.
“It was a fast break; Ty had a good faceoff, Grisam had an awesome feed, and we ran it like clockwork,” Wells said. “We run that all day in practice and all night. That’s just how we do it, and it paid off for us.”
The win puts Kennebunk (8-8) into Tuesday’s semifinal at Mt. Ararat High School against either No. 3 York (9-5) or the No. 6 Gray-New Gloucester/Poland co-op (9-6).
On the girls’ side, the second-seeded Messalonskee squad (12-3) defeated Mt. Ararat (7-9) 10-4 later Friday, also advancing to Tuesday’s semis at Mt. Ararat against No. 6 Freeport (10-6), the reigning state champion.
Despite being outpossessed, the Eagles struck first through Baylee Dillon with 16.2 seconds left in the opening quarter. Giuliana Roderick, Grace McKay, and Isabella Murphy then erupted for four goals in a 2:24 span of the second quarter to make it 4-0.
“In those first four goals, the girls were seeing their teammates; it wasn’t just a one-person operation,” coach Cora Clukey said. “They kept the ball moving, they saw openings, and they took some different kinds of shots so that it wasn’t always the same thing that the goalie kept saving.”
Mt. Ararat scored twice in the first half, but Messalonskee’s second-half flurry—Rylee McKay, Chloe Masse, Sophia Ventimiglia, Grace McKay, and Masse again—sealed the victory.
“We always do it in the second half,” Masse said. “It’s kind of what we’ve always done. Our coach kind of lights a fire under (us) at halftime, and we always talk and always end up putting it away… The key is to just move the defense and find a way to put it in the back of the net.”
