As the preseason in any sport progresses, teams pick up intensity as the season openers near and that certainly was the case Monday night for Cape Elizabeth’s boys lacrosse team. The Capers are coming off two consecutive state championship losses to Yarmouth and both players and coaches look ready to start the 2010 campaign. In their final scrimmage before Friday’s home opener against Falmouth, the Capers took on the Gould Academy Huskies looking to put some last-minute polish on their game.
The opening quarter found the Capers offense settled in the Gould zone early, but the Huskies would find the back of the net first, scoring just three minutes into the game. The Capers answered right back 20 seconds later when Tom Foden would score the first of his two goals. Two minutes later, Foden would assist Steven Homa on the first of his three as the Capers took their first lead with 7:51 left in the first.
Tim Lavallee scored his first of three goals with 3:52 remaining in the first quarter. Thomas Bottomly, one of Head Coach Ben Raymond’s admitted top newcomers, added to the Capers’ lead, scoring 46 seconds later as Cape gained a comfortable 4-1 edge on the shorthanded goal. The Huskies scored as the first quarter ended with Cape up 4-2.
Cape struggled in the second quarter as the Huskies scored in the first minute then again with 4:48 left on a one-man advantage tying the game 4-4. The Huskies would then take their second lead of the game, 5-4, with 2:39 left before the half. Foden, who battled hard all game, would get his second score with 47 seconds remaining in the second quarter. A late Gould penalty would allow Cape’s Casey O’Donovan to his first of three with 29 seconds remaining to close out the first half with Cape Elizabeth leading 6-5.
During the break, Raymond urged his team to pick up ground balls to eliminate the Huskies gaining any offensive rhythm and extra possessions and his team responded. Ben Brewster showed his defensive strength and goalie Jack Roos’ play looked in mid-season form as the Capers took over.
Teddy Smith would get the offense rolling putting up a goal early in the third. Casey O’Donovan would add another a minute later as Cape took an 8-5 advantage with 7:18 left in the quarter. Tim Lavallee would add another with 5:55 left. Gould would score their only goal of the third with a man advantage with 5:02 on the clock. Brian Brett answered the Huskies as Cape Elizabeth took a 10-6 advantage at the 3:45 mark. Casey O’Donovan would score two more times before the final quarter ending the third with the Capers up 12-6.
The final quarter of play saw much of the same as the Huskies struggled offensively. Roos stood solid in goal and on offense O’Donovan assisted Tim Lavallee on the first of his two fourth quarter scores as the Capers went on to a 14-7 win.
After the game Raymond commented on his teams’ second half dominance, “We came out and composed ourselves and did exactly what we wanted to do in the second half, we passed the ball well, and we moved up and down the field in transition it was a much different half,” he said.
The Capers’ will open their season at home Friday at 6 p.m. in a rematch of the 2009 Class B Western title game against Falmouth. Cape won that game to send them to the state championship against Yarmouth and will be looking for another victory against the Yachtsmen as the Capers found themselves facing playoff implications in their first regular season match up.
“One of the important things for that game is playoff wise and for seeding,” Raymond said. “We like to play our playoff games at home, so beating them the first time goes a long way towards getting home field advantage. It’s too bad it happens the first game of the year; I know we’ll both be entirely different teams in another six weeks.”
The Capers will then hold another scrimmage against Hyde, on the road against Freeport, followed by a home game versus North Yarmouth. On May 3, Cape will hit the road against Yarmouth in their first of two regular season meetings, a day that will be welcomed by senior defensemen Ben Brewster, “At Yarmouth is definitely big and I’m sure we’ll be prepared,” he said. “Going there is always fun, it’s a great atmosphere although I don’t think they’ve been beat on their home field in six years. We’d like a chance to break that streak.”
The back-to-back state championship losses don’t sit well with Roos either, “Absolutely looking forward to that game,” he said. “I’ve been in goal the last two years playing against them, it’s starting to feel rough, I’m not enjoying that anymore and I really want to beat them. I want to make sure we’re contenders when we come up against Yarmouth.”
Raymond isn’t looking that far ahead just yet saying, “I don’t have anything besides this Friday circled on the calendar. I can’t plan that far ahead. I know we play this Friday then we go on vacation then we come back from that and have two more games before we get to Yarmouth.”
Cape will then have a seven-game stretch, including a yearly scrimmage against New Hampshire’s Pinkerton Academy, before seeing Yarmouth again when Cape will host the Clippers on May 28 at 7 p.m. before finishing the season on the road at Waynflete.
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