Falmouth’s boys’ lacrosse team celebrates at the culmination of Saturday’s 16-5 win at top-ranked Windham in a Class A North semifinal. The Yachtsmen next go to No. 2 Portland Wednesday for the regional final.

BOX SCORE

Falmouth 16 Windham 5

F- 5 4 4 3- 16
W- 1 0 1 3- 5

First quarter
10:17 F Alexander (Reed)
9:26 F Kerr (Tucker)
8:48 F Kerr (Tucker)
7:02 F St. Louis (Kerr) (MAN-UP)
4:58 F Derhak (Tucker)
4:30 W Brown (Babb)

Second quarter
5:47 F St. Louis (Kerr)
4:18 F Alexnader (unassisted)
1:28 F Alexander (Eng)
14.2 F Tucker (Noyes)

Third quarter
9:24 F Eng (unassisted)
7:31 F Tucker (St. Louis)
6:18 F Kerr (St. Louis) (MAN-UP)
1:06 F Williams (Drum)
47.9 W Brown (Woolston)

Fourth quarter
10:45 F Derhak (unassisted)
5:47 W Lekousi (unassisted)
3:52 F Robaczewski (Kerr)
2:45 F Kerr (St. Louis)
1:38 W McCusker (unassisted)
16.8 W Woolston (unassisted)

Goals:
F- Alexander, Kerr 3, Derhak, St. Louis, Tucker 2, Eng, Robaczewski, Williams 1
W- Brown 2, Lekousi, McCusker, Woolston 1

Assists:
F- Kerr 4, St. Louis, Tucker 3, Drum, Eng, Noyes, Reed 1
W- Babb, Woolston 1

Faceoffs (Falmouth, 18-7)
F- Allen 16 of 20, St. Louis 2 of 5
W- Anderson 7 of 2

Ground balls:
F- 44
W- 22

Turnovers:
F- 15
W- 18

Shots:
F- 42
W- 17

Shots on cage:
F- 32
W- 10

Saves:
F (Noyes) 5
W (Elliott) 16

WINDHAM—Falmouth’s boys’ lacrosse team cares little about what happened in April in May.

The Yachtsmen are only concerned about the month of June and so far, so good, for an under-seeded team that appears to be peaking at the optimal time.

Saturday afternoon, Falmouth, ranked fifth in Class A North, took its high-powered show to top-ranked Windham and in a matter of minutes, seized control of the teams’ semifinal.

Just over seven minutes in, the Yachtsmen had roared to a five-goal lead, as junior Shane Allen controlled the draw circle and senior Peter Alexander scored once, sophomore Wyatt Kerr scored twice and senior Iyendae St. Louis and junior Zach Derhak also tickled the twine.

The Eagles got a goal back, from sophomore Travis Brown, but never got any closer and when St. Louis, Alexander, Alexander again and senior Reilly Tucker all scored before the half, Falmouth enjoyed a 9-1 advantage.

Goals from sophomore Jonah Eng, Tucker, Kerr and junior Macklin Williams made it 13-1 and the Yachtsmen went on to a decisive 16-5 victory.

Kerr had four goals, Alexander scored three times and Derhak and Tucker added two goals each as Falmouth improved to 9-5, ended Windham’s season at 11-2 and advanced to take on No. 2 Portland (12-1) in the Class A North Final Wednesday at 5 p.m., at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

“It was a tough regular season, but all the credit goes to our guys,” said Yachtsmen coach Dave Barton. “Our seniors have been through a lot, but they realize it’s a new season and we’ve taken it as a point of pride to go on a campaign through the north. We knew we’d be on the road. As frustrating as the regular season was, all of our goals are still in front of us and we’re lucky enough to play another day.”

Long road

It hasn’t been the easiest of seasons for Falmouth, but if the Yachtsmen continue to win, no one will remember their record.

Falmouth opened with a 9-3 win at Kennebunk, then handled visiting Gorham, 16-7, and visiting Scarborough, 14-9, before winning at Scarborough (14-10) and blanking visiting Cheverus, 15-0. The Yachtsmen then were stymied at Cape Elizabeth (9-4), at South Portland (13-9) and at home by Yarmouth (10-4), before returning to the win column,, 13-1, over visiting Deering. After dropping a 12-9 decision at defending Class B champion Brunswick, Falmouth closed by blanking host Sanford, 29-0, and falling at home to defending champion Thornton Academy in a Class A state final rematch, 10-4.

The Yachtsmen were relegated to the No. 5 seed in Class A North, their lowest position since being ranked sixth in 2005, and that necessitated a long trip north to Bangor Thursday, where Falmouth rolled in the quarterfinals, 17-3, behind five goals from Tucker and four from Kerr.

Windham, a semifinalist in 2018, enjoyed a terrific regular season, winning 11 of 12 games. The Eagles opened with a 24-0 home blanking of Sanford, then defeated host Bonny Eagle (12-8), Massabesic (10-4), Westbrook (21-4) and Edward Little (16-1) before downing visiting Marshwood (19-6), host Biddeford (21-7), visiting Gardiner (12-3) and visiting Noble (17-1). After a 6-5 loss at Portland in a playoff rematch, Windham closed with home victories over Gorham (16-15) and Bonny Eagle (16-8) to earn the top seed in Class A North and with it, a bye into the semifinals.

The teams didn’t play this year and had no playoff history entering Saturday’s contest, which was held on a gorgeous (75 degree) afternoon.

Falmouth started fast and continued to trend upwards.

Allen won the faceoff to start the contest and the Yachtsmen nearly went on top 47 seconds in, but Windham junior goalie Ben Elliott denied St. Louis.

Falmouth stayed with it and with 10:17 to go in the opening stanza, in transition, Yachtsmen senior defensive standout Riley Reed fed Alexander for the game’s first tally.

With 9:26 left in the first, Tucker set up Kerr for a 2-0 lead.

The tandem then combined again with 8:48 remaining in the quarter, as Tucker found Kerr to stretch the advantage to three.

“A fast start was key,” Tucker said. “We’re just trying to get all six guys working together as a unit. That’s when we play our best ball.”

After Falmouth sophomore goalie A.J. Noyes robbed Eagles senior Thomas Lekousi, the visitors went man-up and added another goal, this one from St. Louis (assisted by Kerr) with 7:02 to go.

With 4:58 on the clock, in transition after a Windham turnover, Tucker set up Derhak for a 5-0 lead and Eagles coach Pete Small had to call timeout.

It had its desired effect, as Windham settled down and for several minutes, earned the better of play, only to have little to show for it.

The Eagles scored their first goal with 4:30 left in the quarter, as Brown took a feed from junior Matty Babb and scored, but Windham couldn’t get any closer before the end of the frame.

Early in the second period, the Eagles appeared to creep closer, but a goal from Lekousi was waved off for him being in the crease.

Falmouth then returned to its dominating ways in the second quarter.

With 5:47 left in the half, the Yachtsmen snapped an 11 minute, 1 second drought, as Kerr passed to a speeding St. Louis, who was knocked down by a defender but managed to hold on to the ball before shooting it past Elliott and in with one hand.

With 4:18 showing, Alexander added an unassisted goal.

Falmouth would get two more goals before the half, as Eng set up Alexander after a turnover with 1:28 on the clock and with 14.2 seconds remaining, a desperation heave from Noyes found Tucker, who finished for a commanding 9-1 lead at the break.

“It was important to get going fast and build some momentum,” Allen said. “We didn’t let down.”

In the first half, Allen won eight of 12 faceoffs and the Yachtsmen would enjoy a 21-8 shots advantage.

The third period was more of the same.

With 9:24 to go, Eng scored unassisted.

With 7:31 on the clock, St. Louis found Tucker for an 11-1 led.

Kerr added a man-up goal, from St. Louis, with 6:18 remaining, and with 1:06 showing, Williams (from freshman Robby Drum) beat Elliott to induce a 12-goal, mercy rule running clock.

It wouldn’t run for long, as Brown scored for the second time (assisted by senior Tyler Woolston) with 47.9 seconds left, but Falmouth was completely in control heading for the fourth period.

There, after a turnover, Derhak scored unassisted with 10:45 left.

Lekousi countered for Windham with 5:47 to play, but Kerr set up sophomore Kurt Robaczewski with 3:52 to go and with 2:45 left, Kerr scored the Yachtsmen’s final goal, from St. Louis.

The Eagles would finish strong, getting unassisted goals from senior Liam McCusker with 1:38 remaining and from Woolston with 16.8 seconds on the clock, but Falmouth would go on and close out its emphatic 16-5 victory.

“We went through some hard times and lost some key players, but we’ve stayed strong,” said Allen. “We came together as a team and worked together to get here.”

“We’ve played hard in practice and now, in playoffs, it’s just a different intensity,” said Tucker. “Everyone stepped it up today. We never felt like we were out of any of our losses. Going through all that makes us want it more.”

“The seniors have been great every step of the way, whether its been wins and losses and one of the good things about having a lot of young guys, is they don’t know what to expect,” Barton added. “We’ve learned a lot. We’re trying to get a little better every day.”

Eight different Yachtsmen tickled the twine, as Kerr had a game-high four goals, Alexander added three, Derhak, St. Louis and Tucker finished with two apiece and Eng, Robaczewski and Williams all scored once.

Falmouth has struggled to replace the production of injured junior Tommy Fitzgerald, but it appears it’s headed in the right direction.

“We were good in transition today,” said Barton. “Tommy was still our leading goal scorer until today. We know we’re at our best when we share the ball. Regardless of what six guys are out there, we have an advantage somewhere.”

Kerr, St. Louis and Tucker all had three assists, while Drum, Eng, Noyes and Reed each had one.

Noyes made five saves.

Allen helped Falmouth win 18 of 25 faceoffs.

“Speed beats everything, whether or not you have strength,” Allen said. “If you have speed, you can beat anybody. It’s good to get the ball and get us on offense.”

“Shane won so many faceoffs,” Tucker said. “He kept the ball out of our defensive end. He’s quick and big and athletic for his size.”

“Shane’s been awesome,” Barton added. “He came on at the end of last year and he’s dedicated himself to work with (assistant) Coach John Curry. We feed off of him. He’s a huge weapon.”

The Yachtsmen doubled up the Eagles on ground balls, 44-22 (with Allen leading the way with a dozen), held a big shots advantage, 42-17 (32-10 on cage) and only committed 15 turnovers.

Strong season

Windham was paced by Brown’s two goals. Lekousi, McCusker and Woolston also scored.

Babb and Woolston had assists.

Elliott made 16 saves.

Lekousi had a team-high four ground balls.

The Eagles turned the ball over 18 times.

“Falmouth’s fast and skilled and they’re well-coached,” Small said. “Dave does a phenomenal job getting them ready and they were ready today. There were some early jitters for us. As a coach, I have to look internally and see what I have to do better to get us to come out stronger. My guys played their butts off, but give Falmouth credit. They possessed and set the tempo and the pace.”

After another strong campaign, Windham hopes to advance even deeper when 2020 rolls around.

“We’ve got a great group of seniors who improved every game and it’s been a number of years now where we’ve played at a consistent level,” Small said. “Now we want to take it to the next level.”

Trip to Fitzy, part one

Falmouth and Portland didn’t play this year. They did meet in last year’s regional final, where the Yachtsmen broke open a close game with a second half surge and went on to a 15-6 victory.

This time around, Falmouth appears primed to continue its save-our-best-for-last surge.

“We’ll keep wanting it more,” Tucker said. “That’s all that matters in playoffs. The only thing that matters is the next game.”

“We just have to work hard,”Allen said. “We can’t let up.”

“We have to have a championship practice Monday,” Barton added. “We’ll control what we can control.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.