CAPE ELIZABETH — Cape Elizabeth’s late-game magic continued Monday night with an 8-7 overtime victory over Thornton Academy in boys’ lacrosse, giving the Capers sweet of revenge.
Hosting defending Class A champion Thornton Academy, in a weather-interrupted, early-season showdown, the teams picked up where Friday night’s originally scheduled game was delayed due to lightning.
For the third game in a row, Cape Elizabeth had to go to OT. Thornton Academy tied the game on senior Gavin Tanis’ goal with 3.6 seconds left in regulation.
And for the third game in a row, the Capers came up clutch as Phillip Tarling scored 33 seconds into overtime for the win.
“I think this says the kids have confidence and they don’t get down on themselves,” said Cape Elizabeth Coach Ben Raymond. “We focused on the next play. It’s great to have a bunch of games in a row this tight.”
Cape Elizabeth (4-0) trailed 1-0 with 59 seconds left in the first quarter when the game resumed and went up 2-1 in the second quarter on a pair of goals from Archie McEvoy. The Golden Trojans, who humbled the Capers 15-6 in last year’s Class A South final, took a 3-2 halftime lead on goals from Colby Bolduc and Sam Bolduc.
Colin Campbell beat Ean Patry to tie it for Cape Elizabeth early in the third quarter, but goals from Thomas Levasseur and Tanis put Thornton Academy up by two.
The Capers tied the game on goals from faceoff specialist Devon Lathrop and Nick Martin. Late in the third, CJ LaBreck and McEvoy traded goals to make it 6-6 entering the fourth quarter.
The Capers grabbed the lead with 6:13 left when Martin scored unassisted, but with time winding down, Tanis got the ball and bulled his way in before shooting past Cape Elizabeth goalie Jack Dresser (12 saves) to send the game to overtime.
There, Lathrop won the faceoff again, the Capers called timeout and Sam Dresser set up Tarling in front for the winner.
“We knew we had to capitalize right away because if we gave (the ball) away, they have threats down the field,” Tarling said. “I just got it in tight and was looking for a spot in the net. It felt great to get everyone excited. Hopefully it helps us going forward.”
“Phil does a great job in pressure situations, no matter what sport it is,” Raymond said.
Thornton Academy (2-1), which lost for the first time since the 2017 Class A South final and saw its 16-game win streak snapped, got two goals each from LaBreck and Tanis and 10 saves from Patry.
‘“We just wanted to (win the overtime faceoff),” said Golden Trojans Coach Ryan Hersey. “We both had the same thing in mind, get a timeout and set up a play. We got caught sleeping in the middle and (Tarling) was open.
“We learned a lot of lessons and got some humbling. It’s not a bad thing to not go undefeated. It comes down to will we learn from it.”
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