CAPE ELIZABETH — York High’s field hockey team always wears the bull’s-eye.
And the Wildcats continue to wear it well.
Wednesday evening at Hannaford Field, York took on its latest challenger, Cape Elizabeth, in a battle of undefeated Class B teams. Thanks to a quick start, the Wildcats made another impressive statement.
First-half goals from Sage Works, Lexi Brent and Ashley LaPierre and a smothering defensive effort led the Wildcats to a 3-0 victory and an 11-0 start to the season.
“We were up for the challenge,” said York Coach Barb Marois. “We knew they’d be ready to hit us in the mouth right off the bat and we’d have to weather that. We did what we needed to do.”
The Capers (8-1-1) got possession to start the game and earned a penalty corner but couldn’t produce a shot.
York then went on the attack. Off a penalty corner with 5:42 left in the first quarter, Works, normally a defender, came up to the offensive end, received a pass from inserter Maggie Hanlon. Works passed to Abigail Armlin, then got a return pass and fired a shot past Cape Elizabeth goalie Zoe Burgard.
“I really like doing corners,” said Works. “It’s really fun to hit the ball and hope it goes in, but it’s also fun to pass it to my teammates and make sure they get a chance to score, too. I just received the ball like I do any other time and just took the shot. I looked up and it was in.”
Five minutes into the second quarter, the Wildcats doubled their advantage, as Brent got to the ball in a scrum and sent it into the cage.
With 2:55 to go before halftime, LaPierre scored on the rebound of a Brent shot to make it 3-0.
York had an 8-1 shots advantage in the first 30 minutes.
Thanks in large part to Burgard, the Capers didn’t surrender a goal in the second half, but they couldn’t break through at the other end, either. Grace Gray had a shot saved by Wildcats goalie Savanna Hanscom (two saves), and a penalty corner didn’t result in a shot.
York, the last remaining undefeated team in Class B, has allowed just four goals this season.
“We want to continue to grow and string along solid quarters,” said Marois. “Our main goal is to play a 100 percent game. I don’t think we’ve played a whole game yet. We’ve played some really good quarters here and there, but not a whole game. We want to hopefully get to that point at the right time.”
Burgard made nine saves for Cape Elizabeth, which is in the midst of its best start in years.
“I think we felt really confident after the second half,” said Capers Coach Maura Bisogni. “Tonight was a great reminder that against a team at (York’s) level, you can’t start slow. You have to start like it’s the fourth quarter.
“Being undefeated was fun, but it’s not our goal for the season.”
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