YARMOUTH — The Yarmouth High boys’ lacrosse team is heading to the Class B state championship game for the fourth consecutive year after beating Maranacook/Winthrop 22-5 in the North regional final Wednesday afternoon.

The Clippers (11-4) will face either Cape Elizabeth or Falmouth at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland. Yarmouth has lost to Cape Elizabeth in the previous three state championship games.

“We want to play the best team. (Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth) are the best, and we feel like given another opportunity, we are going to beat them,” said Yarmouth Coach David Pearl.

Yarmouth, the No. 3 seed, was led offensively by Matthew Beatty, who had eight assists.

“Matt Beatty is a playmaker. He’s an All-American. He plays like an All-American,” said Pearl. “The reason he is an All-American is because he has many more assists than goals. He’s very unselfish.”

Beatty often is stationed behind the opponent’s net, looking for cutters, and has a knack for passing the ball at the perfect time.

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“I take pride in letting my teammates score,” said Beatty. “Teamwork is the key to winning. An assist is as good as a goal. A lot of people like to score, but it takes someone to initiate it and that’s my role on this team.”

Beatty also chipped in with two goals.

“I was happy to see (Beatty) get some goals later in the game,” said Pearl.

Fifth-seeded Maranacook/Winthrop (9-6) enjoyed a perfect start to the game, as Drew Davis won the opening draw, took the ball 30 yards and fired an accurate shot to notch the game’s first goal.

“That first goal kind of resembles how our season has gone,” said Beatty. “We started off really slow. I think that goal kind of inspired us.”

The Clippers went on a 12-1 run over the next 19 minutes, 14 seconds.

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“One of the things we have talked about all year is that it’s a long game. It’s a long game if you’re ahead and it’s a long game if you’re behind. Lacrosse is a game of streaks,” said Pearl.

“I like how our guys responded (to the opening goal).”

Yarmouth held a 12-4 lead at halftime and never took its foot off the gas.

“I had full confidence that we were going to come in here and get it done,” said Beatty.

Maranacook/Winthrop scored the final two goals of the first half, but Yarmouth didn’t allow the Hawks to take that momentum into the second half.

“That was the emphasis of our halftime,” said Pearl. “We talked about giving up those two goals.”

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The Clippers outscored Maranacook/Winthrop 7-1 in the third quarter and added the only three goals of the fourth.

Kyle Morand led the Hawks with a pair of goals.

“We put a ton of preparation into this game. We put our best foot forward; (Yarmouth) was just the better team,” said Maranacook/Winthrop Coach Zach Stewart.

The Clippers had 10 players score a goal, with seven getting multiple goals.

“We had a couple guys that really stepped up,” said Pearl.

Bill Jacobs led Yarmouth with four goals.


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