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PORTLAND — With his Falmouth boys lacrosse teams down a goal to Yarmouth at halftime of the Class A state championship game, what motivational words did coach Dave Barton have for his Navigators? Did he dust off an old “you’re made for great moments like this speech,” or did he get fiery and remind them how much better than can be?
Barton told his team one thing. In the second half, have fun.
“It sounds weird,” senior Hayden Davis said. “We were a little stressed out there in the first half. Big game, we don’t get many close games in this state, and the close game kind of freaked us out. When we relax and have fun, that’s when we play well.”
Their coach’s message was all the Navigators needed to hear, and they had the time of their lives in the second half. Falmouth scored the first four goals of the third quarter, then five straight in the fourth to pull away for a 13-8 win at Deering High’s Memorial Field.
Falmouth finished with a perfect 17-0 record, and the championship was its second in three years.
Third-seeded Yarmouth (13-4) missed out on a third consecutive state title after winning Class B championships the previous two seasons.
“We gave ourselves a chance today. It didn’t go our way,” Yarmouth coach Jon Miller said.
The Clippers were able to control possession much of the first half and took a 5-4 lead into the break thanks to a pair of Ian Minihan goals late in the second quarter.
Falmouth was in danger of experiencing the same heartbreak as 2025, when it was undefeated before losing to Thornton Academy in the state final. Barton, though, reminded his team how much fun the game can be. Relax, he said.
“We were gripping the sticks a little too tight. Things that we normally execute, we weren’t executing. They’re high school boys and get nervous,” Barton said. “We decided we need to have more fun. We need to have more fun than we did in the first 24 minutes, and we need to have more fun than (Yarmouth).”
T.J Saulter’s goal 49 seconds into the third quarter tied the game, and Ian Christie’s goal on a feed from Hayden Davis (four goals and an assist) gave the Navigators the lead for good. Christie and Davis each scored again, and Falmouth had an 8-5 lead midway through the third.
The Navigators maintained control in the second half because senior faceoff specialist Peter Kearns was at his best, winning draws and getting the ball to his teammates.
“(Kearns) showed why he’s an All-American. I think he won 90 or 95 percent of the faceoffs. The number of possessions off the faceoff was too many for us to handle,” Miller said.
For his part, Kearns deflected credit.
“A lot of people say it’s one versus one, but I’ve got to say it’s three versus three, man. Personally, I don’t think I played my best off the clamp,” Kearns said. “Our wings just gutted it out and won a lot for me. I appreciate them a lot.”
Up 8-6 going into the fourth quarter, Falmouth scored five consecutive goals to take full control. Zack Small’s goal with 2:59 left made is 13-6.
Minnihan and Hakon Yeo each scored late for Yarmouth.
The Clippers scored the first two goals to take an early lead. Falmouth hasn’t been behind much this season, but Barton said that being challenged by Cape Elizabeth in the quarterfinals and Deering in the semis helped prepare his team for the tough test that Yarmouth presented. While Falmouth won both of its earlier playoff games convincingly, they withstood runs, he said.
“We got tested, and I think it was exactly what we needed. All of those matchups, I don’t care about the score, they got us ready for this,” Barton said.
William Davis had three goals and an assist for Falmouth. Jamie Frueh and Cam Day combined for 13 saves.
Will Redfield made 11 saves for Yarmouth.