CAPE ELIZABETH—After playing nearly 76 minutes Monday evening, junior Sophia Chung and her Cape Elizabeth field hockey teammates weren’t about to settle for a tie.
So they earned a victory with just seconds to spare.
Hosting Freeport at Hannaford Field, the Capers and Falcons went back-and-forth with no separation and while the visitors tied it late in regulation, it would be the home team celebrating last and loudest.
After a scoreless first quarter, senior captain Chloe White put Freeport ahead in the second period, but moments later, Chung set up senior Meghan Conley off a penalty corner to tie the score at halftime.
Chung then gave Cape Elizabeth the lead in the third quarter, again off a corner, but with just 4:34 left in regulation, the Falcons drew even when sophomore Sophie Bradford scored off a rebound.
Neither team could score in the first eight-minute, “sudden victory” overtime session and with time winding down in the second and final OT, it appeared that the squads would split the Heal Points, but with 38.3 seconds showing, Chung inserted the ball off a corner, then got it back and fired it home to give the Capers an inspirational 3-2 victory.
Cape Elizabeth won its second straight game, improved to 2-1 on the young season and dropped young but promising Freeport to 2-2 in the process.
“It felt good to pull it out,” said Capers coach Maura Bisogni. “Freeport is always like this. When we play them again, it will probably be a similar situation.”
Sixty minutes and much more
Cape Elizabeth was the feel-good story of the 2021 season, winning 13 games and reaching the regional final round for the first time since 2000 (losing, 2-0, to Leavitt). The Capers started this year with a 6-0 home loss to York, then rolled at Wells in their last outing, 9-0.
“York as a home opener was rough and they came to play,” said Bisogni. “It was good for us to see what happens when you make mistakes. Yes, it was a big score, but I think we also knew where we broke down and it gave us concrete things to work on.”
Freeport, a consistent contender in recent years, features a lot of freshmen this fall, but they have great upside. After falling at York (3-1) in their opener, the Falcons downed visiting Yarmouth (6-0) and Lake Region (4-1) last week, as freshman Emily Groves tallied seven goals in the two contests.
Last year, the Capers snapped a 12-game skid in the series, which dated to 2013, winning at home, 5-0, then rallying for an inspirational 3-2 double-overtime win at Freeport, on then-junior Kaitlyn McIntyre’s game-winner.
Monday, on a beautiful late-summer evening (71 degrees at the start), double-overtime would be needed again and when all was said and done, Cape Elizabeth found a way to prevail yet again.
The contest began slowly, as there were few first quarter chances.
Midway through, Capers junior goalie Zoe Burgard saved a shot from Falcons freshman Liza Flower.
Burgard then robbed freshman Reed Proscia’s bid in the final minute to keep the game scoreless.
Both teams’ offenses then came to life in the second period.
After another clutch Burgard save, on junior Ellie Foss, Freeport broke through with 8:20 on the first half clock, as White got the ball up top, dribbled around a couple defenders, then ripped a shot which Burgard couldn’t handle and it was 1-0 Falcons.
A mere two minutes later, with 6:12 to go, Cape Elizabeth answered, off a penalty corner, as Chung sent the ball across and Conley redirected it past Freeport senior goalie Piper Williams.
The Falcons earned seven penalty corners in the second quarter, but couldn’t score on any of them, as Burgard turned aside shots from freshman Emily Groves and senior captain Ava Gervais, a cross from freshman Lizalyn Boudreau rolled through the crease untouched and a corner played out after time expired didn’t result in a shot, sending the game to halftime tied, 1-1.
Freeport had an edge in first half shots (6-2) and corners (7-2), but didn’t have a lead to show for it.
Nothing would be resolved in the second half either.
The Capers carried play most of the third quarter and went on top.
After senior standout Grace Gray hit the post, then Williams denied freshman Liette Stoecklein on a corner, Cape Elizabeth broke through with 1:51 left, again off a corner.
This time, it would be Chung finishing, as she got her stick on a cross from Gray and sent it into the cage to make it 2-1.
Late in the frame, Burgard continued to stand tall to protect the lead, twice saving shots by Gervais and denying another from Boudreau before getting a huge assist from junior Jenna Tuttle, who made a timely defensive save to keep the Capers up one going to the fourth period.
The Falcons pushed hard for the equalizer, but Burgard held them at bay for awhile, saving a shot from White, then the defense deflected shots from Flower and Gervais.
Finally, with 4:34 remaining, Burgard saved a Gervais shot, but Bradford banged home the loose ball and the score was tied, 2-2.
Freeport had two late penalty corners, but couldn’t convert either and the game would go to overtime.
The first eight-minute session saw Cape Elizabeth have the better chances, but a Gray rush was broken up, a Gray shot off a corner was blocked and McIntyre tried to play the hero for the second year in a row, but Williams saved her shot.
In the final minute, with Williams out of the cage, McIntyre got another chance, but sent her shot wide and the game would go to a second and final extra session.
The Falcons had chances to end it, but a rush from White was broken up, White shot wide, then White had a rocket saved by Burgard and Bradford sent the rebound wind.
With a tie appearing imminent, the game finally achieved resolution.
With just under a minute to go, the Capers earned a corner.
Chung inserted the ball, it came over to Stoecklein and Stoecklein fed Chung for a shot that Williams couldn’t stop.
“I basically just headed up to the top, shot and wished for the best,” Chung said. “The second it came off my stick, I jumped up in the air.”
“Sophia has so much mental fortitude,” Bisogni said. “She was on both offensive and defensive corners. For her to bear down and do that at the end of the game was huge.”
With 38.3 seconds showing, the ball rattled the cage and Cape Elizabeth was able to celebrate its dramatic 3-2 victory.
Cape Elizabeth rushes the field in celebration following junior Sophia Chung’s game-winning goal in overtime. Hoffer photo.
“It felt really good,” said Chung. “It was a relief to score and get the game over. I’m so happy right now. We all pulled through and we didn’t give up. We brought the energy head-on and our team’s spirit was really good. It was pretty exhausting, but more exhausting mentally and I’m glad we pulled through.”
“This makes the girls feel really good,” Bisogni said. “We’re down a few people, so the confidence of coming together is really exciting. We had a sophomore, Rylie McIntyre, who played her first varsity game and played the entire game. It’s fun to play 7-on-7 (in overtime) The energy is great.”
Burgard finished with 12 critical saves.
Freeport out-shot the Capers, 14-10, and took a dozen corners to Cape Elizabeth’s nine and was only 38 seconds from earning a result, but ultimately suffered a tough loss.
“Yes, it’s disappointing, but we didn’t have much gas left in the tank,” said Falcons coach Marcia Wood. “I’m proud that when Cape scored, we (answered). It’s a young team, so experiencing an overtime was great. Experiencing a tough game and the sadness of losing a tough game, now they know what it feels like. A tie would have been better, but we do see them again in the regular season and we’ll probably see them in the playoffs too.”
Another challenge
Freeport hopes to bounce back Friday at Greely.
“The girls are starting to get it,” said Wood. “I’m looking forward to having three days (of practice) before we play Greely. We need to go over some things and once we do that, we should play even better. First game to now, everyone has really stepped up.”
Cape Elizabeth hopes to make it three wins in a row Wednesday when Greely visits. The Capers then travel to Lake Region Friday and return home Monday of next week to face Yarmouth.
“Going forward, I feel like we can work on looking for the ball and getting open on long hits, but otherwise, we’re off to a great start,” said Chung. “Even though we lost some seniors from last year, we’re realizing our potential.”
“This is a huge week for us,” Bisogni said. “Hopefully we’ll rest up and come back out strong on Wednesday.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.
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