Special to the Leader

“We’ll go as far as senior leadership takes us this season.” 

Scarborough boys lacrosse head coach Joe Hezlep made that statement prior to the start of this year’s season, and then scratched his head at times during the year wondering when or if that leadership was going to arrive. The playoffs arrived last Thursday and with it came a full dose of senior leadership.

The Red Storm defeated Cheverus 12-3 and followed that up with a 13-5 victory over Kennebunk that featured a dominating performance by Scarborough’s seniors.

Due to tiered scheduling the Red Storm found themselves in a playoff bracket filled with potential problems against tough rivals.

The quarterfinal game featured the Cheverus Stags, and although Scarborough handled them easily during the season, the Storm knew that Cheverus would bring its best game to the playoffs.

Scarborough struggled all season with low energy and mistakes in the first quarter of games, which cost them against stronger opponents, but the Storm came out ready to play in this game from the opening whistle.

The Stags were able to stay with the Storm early, even taking a brief lead at 2-1, but Scarborough exploded for four unanswered goals in less than two minutes, and after that they never looked back, rolling to a 10-1 halftime lead and then coasting to the win.

“The difference in todays game from start to finish without a doubt was intensity,” Hezlep said after the game. 

“We came out to play and made more plays early in the game because we came out ready to play. We also did a much better job of setting up how we play defense. In transition we were better at getting back to protect the goal and then getting out to play defense from there. In some other games we were trying to make too many plays away from the goal which makes opportunities for the other team and we didn’t do that today.”

Matt Mayo had four goals in the win, with seniors Danny Clark and Jake Barrett adding two each. Seniors Nick Broadhurst, Jimmy Soules, and Brendan Ham also scored, along with freshman Connor Gullifer. Ham also chipped in with three assists. 

Hezlep praised his offense, which had its best game in terms of crisp, efficient passing. “We moved the ball better today than we have at any point in the season against any opponent. We made plays in the open field, and were much pickier with opportunities when we were in our settle offense.”

Kennebunk entered the semifinal game looking for revenge from its past two meetings, both won easily by Scarborough. With all-state goalie Cullen Finn fully recovered from a pre season injury, the Rams could not be overlooked by Scarborough if they hoped to win.

The first half was a back and forth game, with Scarborough maintaining a slight edge at the intermission, 5-4. The Red Storm offense was patient and their goals all came as a result of great passing and cutting that opened up opportunities. The defense, while not as aggressive as they were against Cheverus, didn’t allow Kennebunk much, however in the playoffs better teams make the most of what they’re given and the Rams Nick Gross scored three times on screen shots.

Scarborough fans were clearly hoping the Red Storm would come out thundering in the second half, but this was anybody’s game at the break.

At the start of the third quarter, the Rams struck first to tie the game at 5-5, but Scarborough answered immediately, with the first of eight consecutive goals. Again, the offense was led by seniors Jake Barrett with 4 goals, Danny Clark with 3, and Brendan Ham with two scores. Peter Moore also added two goals, along with Matt Mayo and Connor Gullifer’s single scores.

Hezlep was grateful for the senior barrage on offense and said; “our seniors played a heck of a game on the offensive end. We were making more plays today and it was great to see.” 

The Storm used a lot of movement throughout the game and it paid dividends according to Hezlep.  

“We were rotating positions a lot in order to get matchups and that worked out pretty well for us today. A couple of times we got good matchups and were able to put the ball in the back of the net.”

Defensively, seniors Jimmy Soules, James Wright, and Peter Tuma were also at their best, controlling ground balls and using effective checks to keep the Rams off balance and out of their prime scoring zones. Senior Nick Broadhurst won nearly all of his faceoffs, and that may be the biggest plus for this Red Storm team as they move on to their fourth consecutive Western Maine A finals against the Portland Bulldogs.