Scarborough charged out hot against Cape Elizabeth on Saturday evening, jumping on top early, but Cape stayed cool, adjusted their defense, and soon enough turned the tide. Owen Thoreck carried the Capers’ big stick, notching four goals to lead his team to victory, 10-4.

“I don’t think anything necessarily tipped in our favor,” said Cape head coach Ben Raymond. “I think our defense played really well. Our offense was just not really settled down in the beginning of the game. Their goalie made some saves, early on.

“But we were able to settle down, and our defense gives us so many more offensive possessions that we really have to panic about it. We know we’re going to get the ball back, we know it’s going to come down to our end again and we’re going to have another chance.”

The result bumps Cape to 5-0 on the season. The reigning state champs, predictably first in B West, barreled through last season undefeated, and continue to look like a juggernaut. Can anyone contend with them?

Scarborough, meanwhile, slips to 3-3; the Storm rank third in a standings dominated by 5-0 South Portland, also 2014 winners and also a seemingly unstoppable force.

The Storm needed just over two minutes to get on the board: Cam Nigro kicked off the scoring with 9:58 to play, turning a feed inside from Sam Ware on the perimeter into a shot and a point. About 25 seconds later, the Capers went man-down, and Scarborough went back on the attack, scoring again at 8:52. Cam Thibault scooted inward as the Storm rotated on the attack, breaking rank to seize an opportunity; his low, near-side shot beat Cape keeper Alex Narvaez for 2-0.

Scarborough had grabbed the quick lead, and appeared in control. But inside the next minute and a half, the Capers changed their approach on both fronts, offensive and defensive, soon enough launching into an eight-goal run the Storm simply had no answer for.

They looked to nab their first point of the night at 7:25, when Griffin Thoreck cut in close to Isaac Rico and tried to pull the trigger. Rico, though – spectacular through all 48 minutes, nevermind the loss – stuffed Thoreck mercilessly, and Cape retreated to organize their next go.

“Rico did everything well tonight,” said Storm head coach Joe Hezlep. “That was a shining moment for him. He really stepped up into his role as the one. Not just the saves he made, which were terrific – and I can’t count how many he had; it was a lot – but the way he was commanding the defense, making sure guys were communicating. He really did a great job of keeping us organized defensively and limiting them to only 10 goals. The way the game went, it could’ve gotten a lot worse.”

It wasn’t until 6:18 that the Capers struck their first blow, on a long attacking stretch. Owen Thoreck, broke loose from behind the Storm cage, circling out front of Rico, spinning and shooting for 2-1.

Scarborough turned aggressive all over again, after that, assembling a nice offensive stretch of their own. A number of their shots flew wide, however, a problem Hezlep noted.

“We never stopped playing our game,” he said. “We did a pretty good job of trying to do things we were supposed to do; we just weren’t doing a very good job executing. We got our looks; we didn’t hit the cage when we had them.

“And then we had silly, unforced errors that really prevented us from getting anything going. Mostly just not doing a good job of supporting the ball adjacent and giving guys outlets; letting their poles get into guys too much and not giving an outlet for those guys.”

In the waning minutes of the first quarter, Cape snatched back the ball; they pelted Rico with quality shots, but Rico just turned quality save after quality save. Finally, with 5.9 seconds to play, Thoreck scored again to bring his squad even. A scramble at Rico’s feet turned too dangerous for his liking, and he charged forward to pounce on the ball, but Thoreck managed to shuffle it behind him in the confusion. 2-2.

“They just do a great job pressuring defensively,” said Hezlep of the opposition. “We happened to get two by them earlier, and they closed the door much quicker after that. Their defense, their poles are big, athletic, [Jack Drinan] and [Noah Haversat] are two of the fastest kids you’re going to see. They’re hard to get away from. It makes it difficult, when you’re having a hard time possessing the ball.”

From there, Cape piled on points. Connor Thoreck (the three are brothers) put the team on top 3-2 at 7:06, and Owen Thoreck hashed his hat trick, making it 4-2, at 6:18. Waiting left of Rico, Cole Caswell grabbed a misfire from the right at 44 seconds and blasted the rebound home before Rico could even reorient his body, and chugging toward center from the left, Owen Thoreck earned his fourth of the evening at 24.7 seconds.

The score was 6-2 Capers at the half. The team added two more through the first 10 minutes of the third quarter, and though the Storm then appeared to begin battling back, quieting Cape while they themselves slowly notched two more – another by Nigro and one by Braeden Kane – the Capers ultimately matched them, and the contest concluded 10-4.

“It’s a great win,” said Raymond. “It’s going to be worth a lot of points at the end of the season. It’s great for us to be out against another team that’s – you know, they’re a quality team: they’re well-coached, they’re athletic, they’re going to make us work. It’s much more enjoyable.”

In addition to Owen Thoreck’s four goals and Connor Thoreck’s one, Caswell finished with a hat trick, Ben Shea with a goal and an assist, Finn Raymond with a goal, and Andrew Kelly and Riley Pillsbury with an assist each.

Cape next matched up at No. 2 Falmouth (5-1), on Tuesday, May 12, after The Current’s print deadline. They travel to Brunswick on Saturday for a 10 a.m. tangle with the Dragons, first in A East at 6-0 and last year’s state runners-up to the Red Riots.

Scarborough hosts seventh-ranked Cheverus (2-3) on Wednesday. The Storm have faced a tough schedule early on; their other two losses came against A West No. 2 Westbrook and B West No. 2 Falmouth. But those battles have served Scarborough well.

“It’s great for us – our mistakes and our weaknesses have been highlighted early, because the teams that we’ve played have been able to take advantage of it,” said Hezlep. “We’ve been able to figure the stuff out that we need to work on, and we are.

“It’s what we thought it would be. We knew we were going to be terrific to start, but we have talent and we just have to keep getting better. We’ve got to keep getting better at the things we’re doing. It’s not about winning on May 9th; it’s about winning on June 9th.”

Scarborough’s Colin Hayward harasses Finn Raymond of Cape Elizabeth in the Red Storm’s 10-4 loss to the Capers Saturday evening.Cape middie Riley Pillsbury carries forward against Scarborough Saturday night.Cape’s Ben Shea surveys the field on the attack against Scarborough at home Saturday night.Scarborough’s Nate Howard dodges away from Cape’s Riley Pillsbury in the Storm’s 10-4 loss to Cape Saturday night.

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