LEWISTON — At least for another couple days, the Yarmouth High boys’ soccer team is still the ruler of Class B.
Down 1-0 early and 2-1 at halftime, No. 3 Yarmouth rallied by scoring on its only two shots of the second half to beat top-seeded Cape Elizabeth, 3-2, in the Class B South final Wednesday at Lewiston High.
Yarmouth (13-2-2) will go for its third straight state championship on Saturday at Hampden Academy against North champion John Bapst (16-0-1). The Clippers have won six of the last seven Class B championships, and 10 titles since 2004.
That legacy creates confidence that even when challenged, the Clippers will be successful, said Yarmouth Coach Mike Hagerty.
“I think it played a huge role. Our boys do expect to win,” Hagerty said. “We love the high expectations. These guys never quit. We’ve had other teams that maybe have been a little cleaner technically, but I’m not sure we’ve had that many teams that play with as much heart for as long as these guys do.”
Adam McLaughlin headed in the winning goal with 8:10 left after Justin Dawes flicked Jonathan Fulton’s long throw-in to the back post.
McLaughlin said Yarmouth’s championship pedigree helped the Clippers stay positive.
“It definitely gave us a lot of confidence, a lot to play for, coming in,” McLaughlin said. “We didn’t want this to be our last game. We wanted to be able to go to states again.”
Cape stormed Yarmouth’s defensive end in the opening minutes of the second half, generating four corner kicks and a variety of loose balls that were cleared by Yarmouth’s backs and keeper Ian O’Connor.
Yarmouth then tied the game on a one-time blast by Zach Turkel after Wyatt Anderson drew the defense and dished a flat pass with 33:33 left.
Cape continued to pressure. Its fifth corner kick, from Sebastian Moon, deflected off the crossbar and stayed out. With 20 minutes to play, Cape’s dangerous Eddie Caldera got loose on a breakaway and fired a hard shot that O’Connor batted away with his right hand.
“That was just a reaction play,” O’Connor said.
A few minutes later, O’Connor (eight saves) made a similar quick save with both hands to deny Keegan Lathrop.
“I think in the second half, we pretty much executed what we wanted, the ball just didn’t necessarily bounce the way we wanted when we needed it. And it bounced their way, as it often does,” said Cape Coach Ben Raymond. “But there’s a lot to be said about them being in the right spot. They have guys in the right spot at the right times, and that’s a testament to a really well coached, good team.”
Cape Elizabeth (15-1-1) had won 15 straight games since tying Yarmouth 1-1 in the season opener, including snapping Yarmouth’s 31-game unbeaten streak with a 3-0 win at home. The Capers, who moved from Class A to B in 2013, were trying to get to a state final for the first time since winning a third straight Class A crown in 1997.
It was the second straight year Cape lost to Yarmouth in the regional final at Lewiston.
As it had done a year ago, Cape struck first, with Moon getting loose and chipping a goal past an onrushing O’Connor at 7:12. Yarmouth’s Dawes tied it on a scramble goal off a corner kick at 21:24. Caldera put Cape ahead again with 2:11 left in the half after an excellent long cross from Moon.
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