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It was a tough ending to a grueling and unsuccessful stretch for the Deering High boys lacrosse team.

The Rams lost their third game in five days on Monday, this time a 10-9 overtime heartbreaker at Scarborough.

In the immediate aftermath, Deering players were frustrated, primarily at themselves. They led 7-3 at the half and were still ahead 9-8 until Scarborough tied the game with 1.1 seconds to play.

But Deering coach Geoff Arris was right to quickly to point out that his 4-4 team had once again demonstrated its improved competitiveness, and that the game as a whole showed that Class A boys lacrosse in Maine is going to be a season-long battle for playoff positioning.

“If you look at it, the top five Class A teams are just rolling over Class B and C, and the top five, six teams are competitive like this,” Arris said. “Very rarely have I seen any blowouts against each other.”

A consensus of coaches say Class A is a deeper, more competitive mix in 2026, and Deering’s improvement is a big part of that story.

Deering’s current seniors came into a program that won once in 2022 and finished the season with 12 players. Now the Rams have the firepower to lead defending Class A champion Thornton Academy at halftime before the Trojans rallied for a 13-10 win.

“I think Deering showed us that it is a much tighter field than what was expected,” said Thornton coach Ryan Hersey.

In 2025, Falmouth was far and away the best team in the state — until it wasn’t in a state final loss to Thornton.

Falmouth and Thornton are still the top dogs in Class A, both undefeated and not scheduled to meet until June 2. But the margin is smaller, said Falmouth coach Dave Barton.

“The jockeying for playoff seeding is going to be so good in the state. It used to be you could pencil in certain teams into the semifinals, and that’s absolutely not the case this year.”

WHY IS CLASS A DEEPER?

• Yarmouth, the Class B champion in 2024 and 2025, petitioned up to Class A this season, where longtime rival Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth have resided since 2018. When it comes to playoff pedigree, Yarmouth and its seven state titles is lax royalty.

• Especially at the offensive end, Deering features technically skilled players with ample club lacrosse experience. While building a 7-3 halftime lead at Scarborough, senior midfielder Joey Foley and senior attack Corbin Burke worked well with attackmen Caleb Arris (junior) and Suley Toher (sophomore) and shifty freshman midfielder Matt Ciampi.

“They are not afraid to throw the ball into the middle and get those quick goals, and those are college-level plays in a tight space,” Hersey said.

• Scarborough and South Portland have returned to their own standards of excellence. The MPA went to a two-class lacrosse system in 2006. Scarborough won seven of the first 11 Class A titles, including four straight from 2010-13. South Portland went to back-to-back championship games in 2014 and 2015, winning Class A in 2014. When the three-class system was introduced in 2018, Scarborough and South Portland were pushed down the table a bit as Thornton emerged as the lone holdover Class A team capable of challenging Falmouth and 14-time state champion Cape Elizabeth (Class A champ 2021-23).

Scarborough has 13 seniors, 18 juniors, and good fundamental strength across the field. The Red Storm are 5-2, including an overtime win at Cape Elizabeth.

“Beating Cape for the first time in program history last year and then doing it again this year, I feel like we’re onto something good,” said Scarborough senior attack Liam Sellinger, who scored the tying goal and assisted on the winner against Deering.

“I think at the top of Class A, there are seven or eight teams that are competing,” said Scarborough coach Zac Barrett. “We’ve squeaked a couple out with teams that are probably right at our level, and we’re hoping to continue to do that.”

South Portland has been the closest challenger to the top powers over the past three seasons. The Red Riots lost to an unbeaten Cape Elizabeth squad in the 2023 state final, then went 8-8 in 2024 and 11-5 with a semifinal loss at Thornton last season. South Portland is 4-3 and has beaten Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth. The Red Riots feature two of the league’s top players in Tadgh O’Donnell and Ansel Eppich.

“That’s a team someone is not going to want to draw in the quarterfinal,” Barton said.

• More lacrosse players — at the club and town team level.

“We’re now at the level where we have lacrosse players,” said Deering’s Arris. “Where years ago we had maybe two, three. Now, especially on our offense, it’s all guys who have been playing. They play club. They play in the offseason.”

Yarmouth coach Jon Miller said 30 years of growth means more second-generation players.

“Now we have parents who have played, and a lot of our youth parents played at competitive levels. That has certainly grown enrollment for lacrosse players.”