A year ago, none of the No. 1 seeds in the girls lacrosse playoffs ended up as state champions, and only one No. 1 seed even made it to the state championship game.

Kennebunk in Class A, Freeport in Class B and Wells in Class C hope that trend doesn’t continue this postseason.

Here are five takeaways about the upcoming playoffs:

All new No. 1 seeds

None of last year’s top seeds are at the top of this year’s Heal point standings. Mt. Ararat (14-0) did everything in its power to regain the No. 1 seed in Class B, but the Eagles, the third-ranked team in this week’s Varsity Maine poll, wound up No. 2 behind Freeport (14-0).

Kennebunk (14-0) is the No. 1 seed in Class A, thanks to a 10-6 victory over No. 2 Windham (13-1) in the season opener on April 17. Since that loss, Windham has outscored opponents 229-49, featuring an attack that boasts a 200-plus career goal scorer (junior Abby Trainor) and two 100-goal scorers (Grace Joly and Neve Ledbetter).

“(After the Kennebunk loss), we were saying that we need to develop depth and we need more people to be able to score and play defense. And we need more people to step up,” Windham coach Matt Perkins said. “I think our three top scorers have made a conscious effort to make sure that they encourage and feed the ball to everybody. If you see our stats from each game, we have six or seven different scorers.”

Class C is firmly led by Wells (12-2), followed by Lincoln Academy (10-4) and Maranacook/Winthrop (10-4).

Deep field in Class A

The state’s largest class has also proven to be its deepest. Kennebunk — which gave coach Annie Barker her 300th career victory on May 12 — found its way to the top of the standings despite a major roster overhaul. The Rams have 11 freshmen on their roster but are led by a strong junior class, which includes attacks Camdyn Keenan and Anna McCarron and midfielders Helen Kennie and Maddie Dowling.

“We lost 12 players (from last year), and we just went, ‘Let’s see what we can do with what we’ve got now,'” Barker said. “The skills are certainly very important (with this year’s team), but the chemistry is definitely huge when you’re trying to get this far, and we have amazing chemistry this year.”

The top five seeds in Class A — Kennebunk, Windham, Marshwood (10-4), Gorham (10-4) and Cheverus (10-4) — all have 10 or more wins. Last year’s finalists — Falmouth (9-5) and defending champion Yarmouth (8-6) — are seeded sixth and seventh, and Massabesic (8-6), a traditionally strong program, is the No. 10 seed. Yarmouth ended the regular season with five consecutive wins.

“Seeing this season, and seeing teams like (No. 13) Cape Elizabeth, look at the teams they’ve beaten,” Perkins said. “They don’t have a ton of wins, but their quality wins are impressive. They have to play No. 4 Gorham in the first round. That’s a tough draw. It reminds us to not take for granted where we are (in the seedings).”

Unfamiliar field in Class B

If Freeport — which lost to Greely, 8-7, in the Class B final last season — returns to the state final, it will likely be against an unfamiliar opponent, because the other half of the bracket is almost entirely populated by Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference team. The Falcons, a Western Maine Conference team, have faced only three of their potential playoff opponents.

Freeport is led offensively by senior attack Lana DiRusso and senior midfielder Mia Levesque, but also has played strong defense throughout the season.

“After last season, (the team) is very determined,” Freeport coach Marcia Wood said. “What’s special about it; yes, they have a target on their backs (as the No. 1 seed), and everyone brings their ‘A’ game. In some games, we kind of slow down, fall behind a little bit in the first period. What’s impressive with this group is their ability to come back and just kind of dominate and get those early-game jitters out of the way and play to the end of the game.”

Fourth-seeded Greely (8-6), the three-time defending Class B champion, could face Freeport in the semifinals. The Falcons edged Greely in the teams’ lone regular-season meeting, 8-7. That was Greely’s only loss against a Class B opponent.

No. 2 Mt. Ararat is led by senior attack Evelyn Goudreau, who scored her 200th career goal in a 16-9 win over Camden Hills on May 23, and senior midfielder Islah Godo.

Teams that can pull upsets

Here are some lower-seeded teams that could be spoilers this postseason:

• Thornton Academy (8-6): The Golden Trojans are the No. 8 seed in Class A, but nearly upset Kennebunk in the regular-season finale, losing 14-11. They also went two overtimes with No. 6 Falmouth in the season opener, losing 10-9.

• Yarmouth (8-6): Class A’s No. 7 seed stumbled in the middle portion of the season, losing five straight, but finished strong with five straight victories, including wins over Thornton and Greely. The Clippers are the defending state champions and have reached 11 consecutive state finals. They cannot be counted out.

• Gardiner/Hall-Dale (9-5): The Tigers are the No. 5 seed in Class B. They have scoring threats in seniors Lydia Gero, Kate Diversi and Gabi Sousa, and won six of their final seven regular-season games.

• Camden Hills/Oceanside (10-5): The Windjammers are the No. 6 seed in Class B. They lost to Mt. Ararat twice, but finished the regular season with seven wins in their last eight games.

• Erskine Academy (8-6): The Eagles, under the guidance of co-coaches Ayla Burke and Ashlyn Wing, are the No. 8 seed in Class C, but they do have a win over No. 2 Lincoln Academy (8-6 on May 9), and nearly upset Gardiner/Hall-Dale early in the season.

The new program that could

In Class C, Traip Academy has improved each year since going 0-13 in its first season in 2021. A year ago, the Rangers earned their first playoff victory, beating Lincoln Academy 14-4 before losing to Waynflete in the semifinals.

This season, Traip (9-5) is the No. 4 seed, its highest finish in the standings. The Rangers will meet up with Waynflete (8-6) again, this time in the quarterfinals.