Walenta nets career-high six goals for York boys lacrosse in win over Class A Windham

YORK, Maine — With roughly 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter of York High School's boys lacrosse game with Windham on Thursday, a cheer of "they can't guard you, Quinn," could be heard coming from the Wildcat sideline.

More: Seacoast high school boys lacrosse: What to know about every local team, key players

Quinn Walenta, York's junior attack, had just scored his sixth goal of the game, a career-high, and the Class B Wildcats pulled away for a 10-4 win over Class A Windham.

More: Thursday Seacoast roundup: Bancroft delivers for Portsmouth baseball, Traip girls roll

York, the Class B defending state champions, improved to 2-1 on the season, while it was the first loss for Class A Windham, which fell to 4-1.

"I just came out firing," Walenta said.

With the Wildcats down a key player - junior midfielder Evan Anastas, who was out with an illness, Walenta knew he would have to step up even more to help fill the void.

"I have a lot of good players around me," said Walenta, who scored on all six of his shot attempts. "We clicked on a couple of plays, and we got it done. Every goal just gets me more amped. Really get in the zone and just keep going at it."

Walenta scored four of his six goals in the first half. He kicked off the scoring with the first goal of the game just 3 minutes in, and then struck for three more in the second period.

"He did a good job of kind of picking his spots," York head coach Billy McNamara said. "He made all of his opportunities count and put (the ball) in the back of the net."

York led 5-3 at halftime, and Walenta scored two goals in the second half as the Wildcats outscored Windham 5-1.

Walenta mentioned his quick first step and change of direction is what allows him to keep defenders off-balance when they are trying to contain him.

"Just quickness out of the dodge," he said.

"Quinn is the man, no one can stop him," York goalie Evan Giacobba said. "I mean, when he gets close to the net, I practice with him, there's no stopping him."

Giacobba added that Walenta "gets him every day" in practice.

"It annoys me," Giacobba joked, giving credit to Walenta.

"Once the ball is in his stick, he's either going to the net, or he's going to give you a dime, and you're going to have a chance to score," York sophomore Cooper Dodge said. "He's just so consistent ... just playing with him is so fun, having a guy you can trust, too. When he gets the ball, he makes the right decision 100 percent of the time."

In fact, it was Giacobba and Walenta who combined to create the turning point of the game.

In the final minute of the first half and leading by one, Giacobba came up with an incredible save on one end, which allowed Walenta to drive down the field and score his fourth goal of the half, pushing York's lead back to two, heading into the break.

"That was an ideal situation," Walenta said. "We want to get quick goals right before the half to get as much of a lead as we can. I knew after the huddle at halftime that we were going to step it up and really bring it home in the end."

"It felt good, and it got me hyped up," Giacobba said of that sequence.

McNamara said that was the moment the team started playing a little bit more loose.

"Playing (more free), moving the ball a bit and just finding open guys," McNamara said. "It started clicking, so that was the turning point definitely."

Along with Walenta's six goals, Dodge scored three and Nick Hoy added a goal for the defending state champion Wildcats.

"As our team is moving the ball around, I'm able to just find spots to kind of sneak in," Dodge said. "Then once that ball is in my stick, I'm going right to the net. I thought our ball movement created chances for not only me, but also my teammates, and I was able to capitalize a couple of times."

"(Dodge) did a nice job of finishing and getting open off the ball," McNamara said. "Both (Walenta and Dodge), they didn't miss too much today ... they did a good job of putting their opportunities in the back of the net."

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Walenta career game leads Class B York boys lacrosse past Windham