Seconds after his team gained control of the ball on the opening draw of overtime, Scarborough boys’ lacrosse coach Zach Barrett called a timeout.
He drew a play, and the Red Storm executed exactly as planned.
“Basically, put the ball in our best player’s stick, and let him go win the game,” Barrett said.
Scarborough got the ball to senior attacker Olin Pedersen, whose hard shot found the back of the net 24 seconds into overtime, giving No. 5 Scarborough an 11-10 win over No. 4 Deering in a Class A quarterfinal.
“I didn’t want to get in the box too early. I was able to set my dodge where I was comfortable. Great team win,” said Pedersen. “I’ve got to give a lot of respect to Deering. They were not the same team two years ago. They’ve turned their program all the way around.”
Scarborough (11-5) will face the winner of Saturday’s game between No. 8 South Portland (8-7) and No. 1 Falmouth (13-1) in the semifinals on Tuesday. Deering, the most improved team in Class A, ends the season at 10-5.
“Two years ago, we won one game and scored 31 goals (all season). This year, it was the best record I think Deering ever had,” Deering Coach Geoff Arris said. “We’re on the up and up, and we’re going to keep pushing ourselves to get better.”
Most of the second half was played in a downpour. Deering scored the only goal of the fourth quarter, as Trip Marston’s low shot knotted the game at 10-10 with 8:28 left in regulation.
Both teams had chances to take the lead over the final three minutes, but each turned the ball over.
The game was close throughout. Scarborough never led by more than one goal. The Rams scored three goals in just over two minutes in the third quarter, taking a 9-7 lead on an Andrew Burke goal.
“We talked about having positive energy. A couple times, it was like we were getting on each other, and we talked about how that doesn’t work,” Arris said. “We are one unit, one team. Share the ball. If you try hero ball, it’s not going to work, so share the ball, move the ball. They did that, very unselfish play.”
The Red Storm answered Deering’s run with three straight goals over the final 3:17 of the third quarter to retake the lead. Jackson Peters scored with a man advantage to tie the game. Nick Harmon’s third goal of the game with 57 seconds left in the third put Scarborough back in front.
“The hardest thing for the guys during the game today was staying calm, staying composed. The stakes were high and they realized it,” Barrett said. “They put a lot of pressure on themselves, and managing that was the hardest thing. But they stepped up and made some plays.”
Both goalies were busy, and both were strong. Deering’s Vinny Cavallaro made 19 stops, while Scarborough’s Ben Kerbel had 14 saves.
Joey Foley, Caleb Arris, and Corbin Burke each scored two goals for the Rams. Pedersen, Caleb Wandell and Liam Sellinger scored twice for Scarborough.
“Against Oxford Hills (in the first round), we started slow. We didn’t do much of the little things early. Today, we stuck to our game,” Pedersen said.
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