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The third time proved to be the charm for the North Yarmouth Academy boys lacrosse team.

The No. 2 Panthers scored four times in the fourth quarter to beat No. 1 Maranacook/Winthrop, 9-7, in the Class C state championship game on Friday night at Deering High’s Memorial Field in Portland. It was a long-awaited win for the NYA seniors after the Panthers lost in the Class C final in 2022 and 2023.

“It feels great, especially after losing (states) freshman and sophomore year,” said senior attack Zach Leinwand, who scored two goals. “The third time is the charm. We did it. It means everything to us. It went to (double overtime freshman year) and we got blown out sophomore year. To come out on top feels great.”

Junior midfielder Gavin Thomas added five goals for NYA, which won its fourth state title. The Panthers also won the Class C title in 2019, to go with a title in 2001 when there was only one class and a Class B title 2007.

This was also NYA’s second win of the season over Maranacook/Winthrop. The Panthers won the regular-season meeting, 12-9 on May 9.

Sophomore attack Jacob Lyons scored four times for Maranacook/Winthrop (13-4). Junior attack Ethan Chilton added a goal and two assists.

NYA’s transition attack was successful throughout and helped it pull away in the fourth. Sophomore Max Siebert went coast-to-coast with the ball down the middle of the field before dumping off to Leinwand, who nailed a shot past Hawks goalkeeper Lucas Woodruff to give the Panthers a 7-6 lead with 6:40 left.

“That was basically the end of my lacrosse career right there, and I felt like we had to do something,” Leinwand said. “I was in my spot, nobody was noticing. I got the ball and my shot and just took it.”

Added NYA coach Peter Gerrity: “We do pretty well in transition. We’ve got some guys we like to sneak around and play that type of game. But we don’t have that many (players), so we can’t do that for 48 full minutes.”

Leinwand scored again three minutes later, and Thomas sealed it when he cut across the net and put a hard shot into the back of the net.

NYA took a 4-1 lead in the first quarter. The Panthers dominated the period on both sides of the field, showing a physical defense adept at knocking the ball loose from Hawks attackers.

Deagan Nadeau went coast-to-coast before knocking a hard shot into the bottom of the right corner to give NYA the lead with 9:42 left in the first quarter. Thomas also scored twice in the first.

“We noticed (early) that we could break out (down the field) and I could get a pass from the goalie, or someone else could get a pass immediately and move down the field,” Thomas said. “(The Hawks) did a good job sliding, but we were able to take advantage a couple of times.”

While the Panthers dominated early, Maranacook/Winthrop outplayed them in the second quarter. Lyons scored three times in the quarter and Mitchell Maceda pulled the Hawks with one, 5-4, with 3:04 left in the first half.

Maranacook/Winthrop carried momentum into the third quarter, playing a slower, more methodical style. The tactic worked, as Chilton tied the score at 5-5 with 6:05 in the period, taking advantage of a quick transition pass from Caleb Morgan. Less than two minutes later, Lyons scored again, blasting a shot off a pass from Thatcher Riley that found the back of the net, giving the Hawks their first lead of the game.

Thomas tied the score with 2:09 left in the third quarter, ducking and dancing around three defenders and sneaking a shot past Woodruff.

NYA outshot Maranacook/Winthrop, 23-18. Woodruff, a senior, was strong in net for the Hawks, making 14 saves. It was the second straight trip to the Class C final for the Hawks, who lost to Wells last season, 14-9.

“If you told me two years ago when I took this (program) over that we’d go to back-to-back state title games, I would have taken that in a heartbeat,” said Hawks head coach Dan Brannigan. “It’s obviously heartbreaking. There’s been two amazing groups of seniors I’ve had (over the last two years). We’ve made a hell of a legacy moving forward.”

Junior goalie Harry Seely had 11 saves for the Panthers.