CAPE ELIZABETH — Once again, Thornton Academy rallied.
But this time, Cape Elizabeth refused to buckle.
The top-seeded Capers, who let a late lead slip away in an overtime loss at Thornton last month, made sure it wouldn’t happen again Wednesday night in the Class A South boys’ lacrosse final.
Cape shot to a 6-1 lead, then slammed the door after No. 2 Thornton Academy roared cut the deficit to 8-6 by halftime. The Capers four goals apiece from Nic Boudreau and Keegan Lathrop and three from Tiernan Lathrop, and pulled away in the second half for a 15-8 victory.
The defending champion Capers (13-2) advance to face Falmouth in the state final Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium. It’ll be a rematch of last year’s championship game, which Cape Elizabeth won, 19-6.
“We wanted to put our best game on the field and we didn’t feel like we did that the last time we played them,” said Cape Elizabeth Coach Ben Raymond.
Cape Elizabeth set an immediate tone, winning the opening faceoff, then going ahead to stay when Colin Campbell (six assists) set up Sam Cochran for a goal.
The Capers were up 3-0 just three minutes into the game, and 6-1 when Caden Lee scored with 2:30 to go in the first quarter.
It was 7-3 at the end of the quarter, and when Ronan Flynn scored all three of his goals late in the second quarter, the Golden Trojans were down only 8-6.
“I’m really proud of our guys for making it a game and coming back,” said Thornton Coach Ryan Hersey.
Lee, Tiernan Lathrop and Boudreau then scored late in the third quarter to break it open again before Boudreau, Keegan Lathrop and Tiernan Lathrop scored in the fourth.
“This one means a lot,” said Boudreau. “We’ve played all season for this game right here.”
Jacob Marcotte and Noah Veroneau added two goals for the Golden Trojans.
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