CAPE ELIZABETH — From start to finish Wednesday night, the Falmouth boys lacrosse team left no doubt in its charge back to the Class A state final.
Propelled by a relentless attack, the No. 1 Navigators cruised to a 16-6 win over fourth-seeded Deering in a semifinal at Hannaford Field.
Falmouth (16-0) will meet No. 3 Yarmouth in the state final Saturday at Deering’s Memorial Field in Portland. The Clippers (13-3) beat defending champion Thornton Academy 13-12 in Wednesday’s other semifinal.
It will be Falmouth’s eighth trip to a state final in the last 10 seasons. The Navigators have won two state championships — one in Class A, one in Class B — during that stretch. They claimed the Class A crown in 2024 but lost to Thornton last year.
“This senior class, we’ve been riding them all year, and they’ve earned (this opportunity),” Falmouth coach Dave Barton said. “We’ve used two words all year: ‘Fun’ and ‘connected’. Obviously, it’s a physical and fast game. Credit to Deering, they made us earn it. This group just has so much fun and we’re so connected. It’s a testament to their hard work and we’re so proud of them.”
Eight Falmouth player scored, led by junior attack Will Davis with five goals. TJ Saulter added three goals, fellow senior Hudson Barry netted two and Hayden Davis, another senior, had two goals and three assists. Ian Christie, also a senior, contributed a goal and four assists.
“It feels great, I love doing this with these guys,” Hayden Davis said. “There’s no one else I’d rather do it with.”
The Rams finish the season 11-5. Matt Ciampi, a freshman, led Deering with three goals and an assist. Sully Toher, Caleb Arris and Joey Foley also scored.
Tied 3-3 midway through the first quarter, Falmouth broke the game open with six straight goals to take a 9-3 lead into halftime. Will Davis led the Navigators with four goals in the first half, while Hayden Davis added two goals and two assists.
Deering started the second half strong, scoring three consecutive goals — one from Foley and two from Ciampi — to cut Falmouth’s lead to 9-6.
“We came out and had a good (start to the) second half. We had a strong first quarter, (then Falmouth) went on a run and we tried to battle back,” Deering coach Geoffrey Arris said. “There’s zero quit, the entire time, from all of our guys.
“I’m super proud. I’m just going to miss the seniors. It’s a great group. I just love them.”
Falmouth completed its win with seven unanswered goals over the final 15 minutes and outshot the Rams by a 5-1 margin in the fourth quarter.
“We knew (Deering) was going to go on runs and we’d have to survive,” Falmouth senior midfielder Zack Small said. “They’ve got some great players. We just knew that if we could survive those runs and keep going, we could fight back, and that’s what we did.”
Senior goalie Vinny Cavallaro made eight saves for Deering.