While baseball and softball have provided plenty of memories in the early going (please see stories), lacrosse, track and tennis are also in full gear. As the calendar flips, here’s a glimpse at how those sports have shaken out to date:

Boys’ lacrosse

The Deering boys’ lacrosse team continues to set the pace locally. The Rams, who rolled in their first three games, improved to 4-0 Friday night with a 16-1 home romp over the Rams of Cony. Deering got four goals each from senior Cody Marcroft and junior Anthony Verville and three tallies from senior Zach Poulin. The Rams are at Westbrook Wednesday and visit Biddeford Friday as they seek their best start since going 6-0 in 2005.

Portland has also excelled in the early going. After romping over visiting Bonny Eagle, 14-2, in the opener, the Bulldogs rolled at Noble (17-1) and held off visiting Kennebunk (8-7) to begin 3-0 and extend their regular season win streak to 20 games. Senior All-American Caleb Kenney had five goals against the Knights, while junior Seamus Kilbride added one goal and six assists.

Portland barely held off the Rams behind two goals apiece from Kenney, sophomore Max Pierter and junior Jason Webster and 13 clutch saves from junior goalie Ryan Jurgelevich. The Bulldogs faced a big regional test Tuesday night when they hosted Lewiston. Portland is home with Marshwood Wednesday and visits Massabesic Saturday.

Cheverus suffered its third loss in a row Saturday, 6-3, to visiting Messalonskee, and is now 1-3 on the year. Sophomore Warren Murray and freshmen Jack Sutton and Jimmy Talbott had the goals. The Stags had a rescheduled game at Thornton Academy Monday, visit Bonny Eagle Wednesday and go to Marshwood Friday.

In Western B, Waynflete is 2-1. The Flyers were 10-6 winners at Westbrook last Monday (junior standout Chris Burke had four goals and sophomores Jack Cutler and Zander Majercik tickled the twine twice each). Wednesday, Waynflete was no match for powerhouse Falmouth in a 17-5 defeat. The Flyers were home against Greely Tuesday, go to Fryeburg Thursday, then host defending Eastern B champion Yarmouth Tuesday of next week.

Girls’ lacrosse

The Waynflete girls’ lacrosse team appears to be championship-caliber once again in 2011.

Last year’s Class B runners-up made an emphatic statement last Tuesday in their opener, rolling to a surprisingly easy 18-10 victory at Falmouth, staying perfect all-time versus the Yachtsmen. Senior Scout Haffenreffer won 22 of 29 draws, sophomore Sadie Cole scored six times, classmate Martha Veroneau added five goals and sophomore goalie Katherine Torrey made eight saves.

“It was a really good first game for us,” said Cole. “We came out strong. It started out a little dicey, but we know how to pull it together. We played as a team.”

“It was really exciting,” Haffenreffer said. “We were really surprised and we’re psyched to see we’re playing this well in our first game. Falmouth’s really good. All of us worked together. I did some draws last year. I’ve worked on my skills over the summer. It’s built up to now. I kind of do my own thing, my own technique. I put my own quirk on it.”

Waynflete opened the home portion of its schedule Saturday against longtime rival Kennebunk, but couldn’t improve to 2-0, falling, 12-10, its first loss to the Rams since 2003. The Flyers got three goals from senior Mica Thompson and two apiece from Veroneau and senior Liv Chap and Torrey had a superb 19-save effort, but it wasn’t enough as Kennebunk scored three straight goals late to prevail.

“Katherine did a great job,” said longtime Waynflete coach Cathie Connors. “I’m super proud of her. I couldn’t ask for anything more. I think we played the best we can play. In the second half, we had some funky stuff going on. We struggled a bit in the first half, but I think Kennebunk was incredible. They’re always a strong team. Their defense was great. They played well.”

The Flyers looked to bounce back when they went to Freeport Tuesday. Thursday, Waynflete has a big-time home test versus Yarmouth. A state final rematch looms Saturday when North Yarmouth Academy pays the Flyers a visit.

In Western A, McAuley opened with a 23-6 loss at Gorham, despite a pair of goals from junior Mary Leasure. Last Thursday, however, the Lions got in the win column in surprising fashion, downing visiting Cheverus, 13-9, as sophomore Sam Paglia had five goals and junior Sadie DiPierro added three. McAuley was at South Portland Monday, hosts Biddeford Thursday and Edward Little Friday (which was rescheduled from last week). Monday, the Lions are at Windham.

In Eastern A, Cheverus is still seeking its first win. The Stags dropped their opener, 6-5, to visiting Massabesic (despite three goals from freshman Michaela Weeks), then lost, 13-9 at McAuley (freshman Alex Logan had three goals, junior Sarah LaQuerre two) and 10-4 at Messalonskee, in a playoff rematch. Cheverus was at Portland Monday, hosts Deering Thursday and welcomes Marshwood Monday of next week.

Portland enjoyed a 13-6 win at Biddeford in its opener, lost, 11-4, at defending Class A champion Scarborough (junior goalie Kara Grant did make 30 saves), then downed visiting Gardiner, 12-8 (behind three goals each from junior Catherine Flaherty and senior Zoe Swaffer). The Bulldogs hosted Cheverus Monday, welcome Windham Thursday and go to Bonny Eagle Monday of next week.

Deering entered the week without a victory. The Rams dropped a narrow 12-11 decision at Windham in the opener (senior Kayla Vachon led the team with four goals), then was blanked at powerhouse Kennebunk (17-0). Deering hosted defending Class A champion Scarborough Monday, visits Cheverus Thursday and goes to Biddeford Monday of next week.

Track

The Cheverus boys’ track team hosted Bonny Eagle, Sanford and Windham last week in a season-opening meet and the Stags came in first. Junior Joe Slattery was a multiple event winner, taking the 100 (11.5 seconds) and the triple jump (36 feet, 11 inches).

Deering joined Kennebunk and Marshwood at Scarborough in its first meet and came in third. Anthony Miller (200, 25.15 seconds), Bryan White (shot put, 47 feet, 4 inches) and Logan Roche (racewalk, 9 minutes, 22.73 seconds) were event winners.

Portland joined Gorham and Thornton Academy at Noble and placed fourth. Drew Graham was the top performer, coming in second in the 300 hurdles (43.1 seconds). Waynflete (along with Gray-New Gloucester, Seacoast Christian and Yarmouth) went to York Friday. The Flyers finished fourth. Junior Abshir Horor won the 800 in 2:06.05.

On the girls’ side, Waynflete didn’t score and placed fifth at York. Results for the Cheverus and McAuley meet at Windham were unavailable. Deering was fourth at Kennebunk. Freshman Edie Pallozzi took the mile in 5:44.02. Junior Ella Ramonas won the 800 in 2:33.30.  Portland hosted Gorham, Noble and Thornton Academy to start the year and came in fourth. Senior Mary Nyembo was first in both the 100 (13 seconds) and 200 (27.6).

Tennis

The biggest news from the first week of the tennis season was the end of the Waynflete boys’ 46-match win streak. The Flyers, the three-time Class C state champions were defeated, 5-0, by reigning Class B champ Cape Elizabeth last Tuesday. Waynflete bounced back to defeat visiting Freeport (4-1) and host Yarmouth (3-2). The Flyers girls are 1-2, sandwiching 3-2 losses to Cape Elizabeth and Yarmouth around a 4-1 win over Freeport. Waynflete has a showdown at nemesis NYA, the four-time Class C champion, Wednesday.

In Class A, the new-look Portland girls continue to be one of the top teams in the region. The Bulldogs beat host Bonny Eagle (4-0, in a rain-shortened match), Massabesic (5-0) and Windham (5-0) last week.

“My team is young, but the good thing is they don’t know they’re not supposed to be winning,” said Portland coach Bonnie Moran. “They’ve come from behind in several matches. Our No. 1 and 2 singles players are very close in ability and will continue to challenge each other and our No. 3 is not far behind. I have eight very solid doubles players who are all getting to play. We’re working hard, making steady progress and struggling to see who will be the strongest when it comes time to play the tougher teams. They all have a great attitude, including our JV players.”

Portland hosted Deering Monday.

The Rams won their first two matches, 4-0 (rain-shortened) over South Portland and 5-0 over Bonny Eagle. Cheverus was a 3-2 winner at McAuley and a 5-0 home victor over Biddeford to start the year. The Stags are at Scarborough Wednesday and host preseason favorite and defending regional champion Gorham Friday. McAuley was a 5-0 winner over Marshwood before losing to Cheverus. 

On the Class A boys’ side, Cheverus lost, 4-1, to Deering, then edged Biddeford, 3-2. The Rams won their first three matches, also downing South Portland (4-0) and Bonny Eagle (3-2).  Deering is at Scarborough Friday. Portland, under new coach Andrew Hopkins-Lisle, is 1-1 after beating Massabesic (4-1) and losing to Windham (5-0).  In the victory, Isaac Jaegerman and Will Chapman won their singles matches, while Jon Gatti and Jack Swann and Chris Eye and Matt Livermore won doubles matches in straight sets.

“Overall, I was pleased with our match performance,” said Hopkins-Lisle. “We ‘re starting to apply what we have been working on in practice. We have a long way to go, but this was a good beginning.”

The Bulldogs struggled against perennial contender Windham.

“We got to see a level of play that I know we can reach with more hard work and match play experience,” said Hopkins-Lisle. “Our kids did the best they could, but Windham just did everything better in all of our matches.”

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

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Waynflete sophomore goalie Katherine Torrey has been superb in the first two games of the new season. She made several key saves in last week’s pivotal win at regional rival Falmouth.

Waynflete sophomore Ellie Cole scored six times in the win over Falmouth.

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