CUMBERLAND — Prezli Piscopo bent a corner kick into the net with less than nine minutes left Tuesday to lift seventh-seeded Cape Elizabeth to a 3-2 victory against third-ranked Greely in a Class B South girls’ soccer semifinal at Hutchins Field.
Piscopo’s third goal of the game sent the Capers (11-6) into the regional final for the first time in three years. Cape will play Thursday at top-ranked Yarmouth (16-0).
It was the third game of the season between the Capers and Rangers. On Sept. 9, Cape Elizabeth won 3-2 at Cumberland. On Oct. 5, the Rangers won 4-3 at Cape Elizabeth.
“I’ve been playing them for four years now since I’ve been here and every one of the games has been (enjoyable),” said Cape Coach Craig Fannon.
Greely Coach Josh Muscadin agreed.
“When you play against a team like Cape or Yarmouth or York, there’s always a major rivalry and that’s what keeps the games fun,” he said.
Each team got off to fast starts.
“I feel we’ve always have had good competition between us,” Piscopo said. “(Greely) is one of our biggest rivals. We wanted to come out really strong and they came out just as strong.”
Eight minutes in, Toby McGrath of the Capers shot from the left that glanced off the crossbar. Karli Chapman tried to head in the rebound but goalie Camille Clement leaped to bat it away.
Then Clement pounced on the ball and threw it downfield, igniting a two-on-one break. Julie Martel finished with a close shot from the right after receiving a lead pass from Anna DeWolfe.
Less than six minutes later, Piscopo lined a direct kick from 25 yards to the right of the goal over Clement’s outstretched arms into the far corner to make it 1-1.
With 11 minutes left in the half, Piscopo gave the Capers the lead, tapping the ball in after Clement attempted to clear it away from in front with a kick save.
The Rangers (12-4) dominated early in the second half, averaging a shot per minute through the first five minutes, when Cape goalie Lilia Membrino made five of her 13 saves.
“They came out fast in the second half and we weren’t expecting them to do that,” Fannon said. “That was probably the best 10 or 15 minutes of soccer (Greely) played.”
DeWolfe made it 2-2 in the 64th minute when she grounded a penalty kick into the left corner after a Greely defender was called for a handball after partially blocking DeWolfe’s hard shot from just inside the penalty area.
The score stayed that way until Piscopo cashed in on Cape’s 10th corner kick of the game. Her attempt from the left side arced over Clement’s head before settling inside the far post to win it.
Play was halted for about 15 minutes early in the game while emergency medical technicians tended to Erin Clancy of Greely, who injured her right elbow following a collision at midfield. She was transported to a hospital.
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