YARMOUTH — Second-seeded Yarmouth is heading to the Class B South field hockey final for the second straight year after defeating No. 3 Gray-New Gloucester/North Yarmouth Academy 4-0 in a semifinal on Saturday at Yarmouth High School.

“It feels awesome to go back to regionals for a second year in a row,” Clippers Coach Bre Morrill said. “As a second-year coach, it feels awesome.”

Four players scored for Yarmouth (15-1), which will face top-seeded Freeport on Wednesday at Falmouth High. The Falcons handed the Clippers their only loss this season, 2-1 on Sept. 5. GNG/NYA ended its season 13-3.

After a scoreless first quarter, a pair of Yarmouth juniors found the net to give the Clippers a 2-0 lead at the half.

Celia Zinman scored Yarmouth’s first goal with 13 minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

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“We knew they were gonna come out strong,” Zinman said. “I think we really kept up with the momentum with them. Second quarter, we just talked about really spreading ourselves out and speed – that was a big thing for us, and I think we executed so well.”

About 30 seconds after Zinman’s goal, Yarmouth’s Sally McGrath scored off a penalty corner to boost the lead to 2-0. McGrath said the team has been working on corners all season, especially in the weeks leading up to the playoffs. She said scoring on a corner “prove(d) that what we’ve been working for is giving us results.”

Morrill praised her juniors for their hard work and dedication.

“They’re fantastic, they’re junior captains for a reason. … They’re just two strong players, and we’re very happy that they could put them in the net today,” Morrill said of McGrath and Zinman.

Madison Wiles scored with 48 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give the Clippers a 3-0 lead. Then, after a penalty was called on GNG/NYA goalie Samantha Poulin (12 saves), Yarmouth freshman Maya Nasveschuk converted a penalty shot to complete the scoring.

“Our passing game is amazing, and that takes teamwork,” said Morrill, whose team outshot had a 16-1 advantage in shots. “We don’t have that one standout player, we have 11 of them on the field at once, and they know that. We work like a clock, and we just get it done.”

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Despite the loss, Patriots Coach Julia Leary said her players should be proud of what they accomplished this season. Leary said she told the team going into Saturday’s game to have “no expectations” and to just play as hard as they could until the last whistle. The Patriots had just 16 players on their roster.

“We’re very proud, that’s actually what we were just saying to them, that finishing the season 13-3 is something that nobody in this conference (Western Maine Conference) or any other conference expected out of this team, especially having such a low-number team,” Leary said. “13-3 is a really impressive season for them.

“I am the most proud of this senior class for taking the reins of leadership and really doing a fantastic job teaching our underclassmen how to work as a team, how to work as one, how to keep their heads up, held high in really tough situations.”

Emma Shannon made one save for Yarmouth.

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