WATERVILLE — As storm clouds threatened in the distance, both the Maranacook/Winthrop and Winslow boys lacrosse teams looked to weather some early struggles Tuesday afternoon at Thomas College’s Smith Field.

Thanks to a strong surge beginning in the second quarter, though, it was the Hawks who stormed their way into the Class B North semifinals with a 13-5 win over the Black Raiders. Maranacook/Winthrop will next face No. 1 Camden Hills (12-0) or No. 9 Mt. Blue (6-7) on Saturday. Those teams meet Wednesday.

“We actually finally got to see our whole team come together. Everybody was scoring, everybody was playing together,” Maranacook/Winthrop’s Ty Smith said. “It was something we were looking for the entire season — especially in the second half.”

Zach Lacasse paced Maranacook/Winthrop (8-5) with three goals and three assists, while Smith scored three goals as well. Bailey Stockford, Drew Davis and Kyle Morand each scored twice in the win while Isaiah Weston made eight saves.

Jimmy Fowler had a hat trick to pace Winslow (8-5) while Hunter McCaslin and Bryce Hillier each scored once.

The game took 2 hours, 46 minutes to complete after it was halted due to lightning for 1 hour and 4 minutes with 4:46 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Hawks ahead 11-4.

“Our confidence went south after we missed like four point-blank shots in the first quarter,” Winslow coach Bruce Lambrecht said. “We hit the post a couple times and a couple good stops, so I think from there everybody was second-guessing their shot and got all tight. Their defense clamped down on us and we didn’t get as many opportunities after that.”

The Hawks took a 1-0 lead just 23 seconds into the game on a goal from Smith and never trailed from there, yet both teams spent the majority of the first quarter trying to find their rhythm.

“They came out really hard so I think both teams were playing well,” Hawks coach Zach Stewart said. “It just took us a little while for us to kind of overcome them and move it along to a greater margin of goals.”

Lacasse made it 2-0 with 7.7 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, but Winslow answered with a score of its own from Jimmy Fowler 2:46 into the second to finally get on the scoreboard.

From there, however, the Hawks began to assert themselves. Lacasse added another goal just 29 seconds after Fowler’s off an assist from Tyler Nussinow, while Davis and Morand each scored goals 35 seconds apart to give the Hawks a 5-1 lead midway through the second.

Maranacook/Winthrop ultimately took a 6-2 lead into intermission, and Winslow never drew within striking distance from that point forward. Stockford scored just 14 seconds into the second half as the Hawks went on to outscore Winslow 4-0 in the third quarter.

“It was hustle, That’s all that it was. It was just executing.” Stewart said of what worked well for his team in the second and third quarters. “It was really nice to see all of the different Hawks, not just one player produce for us.”

A pair of goals from Fowler in the first 2:00 of the fourth gave the Black Raiders some hope, but that was as far as they would get in their comeback bid.

“They shut us down pretty good,” Lambrecht said. “Our shots just weren’t going in. The goalie (Weston) did a great job, the defense did a great job and we just couldn’t get past them. I thought it would end a lot closer than that but it is what it is.”

Evan Crawley — 621-5640

ecrawley@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Evan_Crawley

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