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TOPSHAM — If it wasn’t clear before Wednesday, a late-season rough patch for the Yarmouth boys lacrosse team is firmly in the rearview mirror. 

Now, the Clippers are right back where they were at this time a year ago: 48 minutes from a state title, with the top-seeded York Wildcats standing in their way.

Second-seeded Yarmouth advanced to the state final with a 19-4 victory over third-seeded Messalonskee in a Class B semifinal at Mt. Ararat High School. The win sends the defending state champion Clippers to Saturday’s championship game at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

“We definitely had an offensive slump, where we weren’t executing our offense, but I think we’ve got the kinks out,” said Yarmouth coach Jon Miller, whose team lost three of five to end the regular season. “We shot very well today, and we were able to control the game by possession.”

George Brown led the way with eight goals for Yarmouth (13-3), which also got three goals from Hakan Yeo and two apiece from Matthew Cain, Ian Minnihan and Owen Walsh.

Owen Kirk and Landon Stewart each scored two goals for Messalonskee (12-4).

Yarmouth established dominance early, taking a 3-0 lead on goals from Cain, Brady Martin and Brown. Messalonskee got a goal from Stewart with five minutes left in the opening quarter, but Yarmouth hit back with a goal by Minnihan and two more from Brown. 

After a three-minute penalty on Yarmouth early in the second quarter, Messalonskee started to build momentum with tallies from Stewart and Kirk. But the Clippers quickly put the Eagles on the back foot once more, ending the half on a 5-0 run, highlighted by two more Brown goals.

“The way I look at it, we have a strong defense, so (we offensive players) really just have to worry about our performance on the offensive side,” Yeo said. “We know those guys are going to do their job and get it done, so we have to take advantage of it and make sure it’s our time to shine.”

Yarmouth opened the third quarter with six straight goals to go up 17-3 before Kirk stopped what was an 11-0 run with a goal for Messalonskee early in the fourth. Brown then scored his eighth goal midway through the fourth before Yeo rounded out the scoring with 3:27 to play.

Wednesday’s loss snapped a nine-game winning streak for Messalonskee dating back to a 15-0 victory over Mt. Ararat on May 13. The Eagles’ last defeat before Wednesday was 17-7 to Yarmouth on May 9 in Oakland.

“I think it shows there’s another level we need to go to,” said Messalonskee coach Tom Sheridan. “We’re definitely the best in northern Maine, but we need to keep getting better. … I do think the future is bright. We had a lot of freshmen and underclassmen step up big this season, and that was huge.”

For Yarmouth, a state title game rematch with York is a fitting conclusion to the season. In last year’s final, the Clippers scored with 2.4 seconds left in regulation before scoring an OT winner to prevail 13-12. The teams split two regular-season games this year, Yarmouth winning 7-1 on April 29 and York prevailing 9-6 on May 30.

Yarmouth players, then, know they’re in for a fight against a York team with its sight set on revenge. The Clippers’ celebration was a reserved one, with captains Walsh, Ward Jenkins and Wyatt Gawtry barely hoisting the divisional title plaque, instead looking ahead to the task ahead of them.

“At the beginning of every year, the first time we have a meeting, our coaches say to us that our goal is a state championship,” Brown said. “It’s nice to win this, but that’s the goal in the end, and we haven’t done that yet.”