CAPE ELIZABETH—Graduation has taken a huge bite out of the roster of Cape Elizabeth’s powerhouse boys’ lacrosse team and compounding matters Friday evening at Hannaford Field, the Capers were without a couple of their key seniors when they hosted a South Portland team expected to be hot on their heels this spring.

But Cape Elizabeth isn’t one to make excuses and as it’s done too many times to count over the years, it persevered and found a way to prevail in a highly-anticipated regular season opener.

Senior Brady Demers scored a couple quick goals to put the Red Riots on top in the first quarter, but juniors Connor Goss and Bobby Offit countered and the Capers held a 3-2 lead after 12 minutes.

After the teams traded goals in the second period, junior standout Keegan Lathrop scored with just 5.5 seconds to before halftime and Cape Elizabeth was up, 5-3, at the break.

South Portland then answered, as its highly acclaimed senior goalie Ben Kieu stymied the Capers time after time and junior Tobey Lappin and sophomore Beckett Mehlhorn scored goals to tie the score.

But with 1 minute to go in the third quarter, junior Sam Cochran scored unassisted to put Cape Elizabeth on top for good.

Hennessey added a goal just before the end of the period, then senior Nate Patterson, a defensive specialist by trade, scored a goal of his own to open it up and the Capers went on to a 10-6 victory.

Cochran led the way with three goals, Hennessey and Lathrop each added two and Cape Elizabeth won its opener for the fifth consecutive season, staying unbeaten all-time versus the Red Riots in the process.

“It’s a first game and it’s good to get it over with,” said longtime Capers’ coach Ben Raymond, after his 313th career victory. “The best part of it is that we competed really hard and the kids worked really hard. It was pretty ugly at times for both teams. I’d guess both teams will be a lot better later in the season.”

A new era

South Portland made great strides in 2022, improving from two wins the year before to 11 and reaching the Class A South semifinals before being ousted by Thornton Academy, 13-9.

The Red Riots returned the majority of that team and are viewed by many as a serious title contender this spring.

Cape Elizabeth, meanwhile, won its final six games a year ago, including its last, an 18-7 victory over Falmouth in the Class A state final to finish 14-2 and repeat as champions.

Graduation then claimed Nic Boudreau, Colin Campbell and Tiernan Lathrop, top scorers all, who left to go play in college, as well as several other key contributors also departed.

While this program always reloads, two of its top players, seniors Nick Laughlin and Sebastian Moon, were out of town Friday and unable to suit up in the opener, making an already uncertain roster even more shaky.

But that didn’t matter, as on a beautiful mid-April evening (59 degrees at the start), in front of a large and vocal crowd, the reigning champions demonstrated why they intend to hang on to their crown.

Kieu, who will play Division I lacrosse next year at Hampton University in Virginia, won his first encounter with Hennessey, making an early save, but with 10:20 to go in the first quarter, Cochran opened the scoring, taking a pass from junior Alex van Huystee after a Red Riots’ turnover and finding the net.

South Portland, which turned the ball over on its first four possessions, finally got a settled possession and drew even with 8:06 on the clock, as senior Lucas Mehlhorn set up Demers for a shot which beat Capers’ junior goalie Michael Foley.

The Red Riots then took what proved to be their lone lead of the night when Demers struck again with 6:51 remaining, this time off a feed from Beckett Mehlhorn.

Beckett Mehlhorn nearly added to the lead seconds later, but he hit the post and Cape Elizabeth controlled the rest of the quarter.

After Keegan Lathrop bounced a shot off the crossbar, Goss scored unassisted with 3:17 showing to tie the score for the second time.

The Capers then went man-up and 51 seconds later, struck again, as Goss set up Offit to make it 3-2.

A mere 72 seconds into the second period, Cape Elizabeth added to its lead, as Lathrop delivered a beautiful no-look pass in front to Hennessey, who finished.

After Lucas Mehlhorn hit the post, South Portland had an opportunity to go man-up for two minutes, but turned the ball over and didn’t manage a shot.

After Kieu denied Goss, the Red Riots finally snapped a 16 minute, 30 second scoring drought, as Demers pounced on a turnover and set up junior Jack Dreifus for a goal to cut the deficit back to one.

South Portland had a chance to draw even with a minute to go before halftime when the Capers were offsides and the Red Riots went man-up for 30 seconds, but they again couldn’t capitalize and with just 5.5 seconds remaining, Lathrop eluded several defenders, then fired a shot that Kieu couldn’t stop and Cape Elizabeth had a little breathing room and a 5-3 advantage at halftime.

The Capers had a 17-9 shots advantage in the first half, but six Kieu saves kept South Portland within hailing distance.

Kieu was even more impressive in the third period, allowing the Red Riots an opportunity to rally.

Kieu started the half in impressive fashion by robbing Patterson. He then saved a shot from Cochran before turning aside three bids from Lathrop.

“Ben’s a very good goalie,” Raymond said. “He made a lot of saves and we settled for some shots.”

With 5:13 left in the frame, Beckett Mehlhorn set up Lappin for a goal that cut the deficit to just one.

Riding the momentum, South Portland pushed for the equalizer and with 3:25 remaining, Beckett Mehlhorn sent a shot past Foley and in and just like that, the game was deadlocked, 5-5.

On the play, a penalty was called on Cape Elizabeth, meaning the Red Riots had a man advantage and a chance to take the lead, but after winning possession and calling timeout, the Capers had Lathrop milk the penalty.

“Keegan is a very talented player,” Raymond said. “I just told him to run around for awhile.”

Then, with 1 minute showing, Cochran weaved through the defense and beat Kieu, ending an 11:05 drought, putting Cape Elizabeth ahead for good.

“We knew going in how good (Kieu) is,” said Cochran. “He was pretty much our number one priority as attackmen. We knew he’s good high, he’s good in the middle, so we had to put it in the low corner. Almost all of our goals were bouncers and that worked to our advantage.”

With 22.7 seconds to go, Hennessey added an unassisted goal and the lead was 7-5 heading for the final stanza.

There, the Capers put it away.

Just 48 seconds into the fourth period, after Kieu had robbed Lathrop, he tried to clear the ball, but Patterson knocked the ball free, scooped it up and scored to turn momentum for good.

“I saw (Kieu) pop out of the crease, I hit his bottom hand as he went back to throw, (the ball) popped out and I took it around and tucked it in before he was able to get back,” said Patterson, who will join Tiernan Lathrop next year at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island. “He robbed me all day. He’s definitely one of the best goalies in the state. He’s good from deep, so we knew if we wanted to score, we had to get close.”

After Foley saved a shot from Dreifus, Cape Elizabeth went man-up and with 8:17 to play, Goss fed Lathrop for a bounce shot which tickled the twine for a 9-5 advantage.

“Man-up, we didn’t run a single play today,” Raymond said. “We just got in a formation and let the guys find the open man.”

Foley then preserved the lead by saving shots from Beckett Mehlhorn and Lucas Mehlhorn and after the Red Riots went man-up again, Beckett Mehlhorn and Dreifus each shot wide, then Foley robbed Dreifus.

“It helps going against the best man-up (offense) in the state (in practice),” said Patterson. “Every day, we grind it out and go 100 percent.”

“I think our man-down did a nice job today,” said Raymond. “It’s so early. We’re still working on finding the right people for the job.”

After Beckett Mehlhorn hit the crossbar, Lappin set up Demers for South Portland’s final goal with 1:31 on the clock, but with 27.8 seconds remaining, after Cochran had a shot saved, the rebound sat free in front and Cochran, a soccer standout in the fall, kicked it home.

“I didn’t know that was legal,” Cochran said. “I just saw the ball right there and thought I’d give it a little toe-poke.”

The Capers slammed the door from there and closed out their 10-6 victory.

“I’m so excited,” Patterson said. “We’ve waited for this for so long. It’s nice to be out here with the boys, having fun in the warmth. (The Red Riots) have a lot of seniors and a lot of talent. It was a good gauge at what we’re looking at this year.”

“One of the things we’ve been able to do in the past, when it starts to get tight, we pull it together and step on the gas,” said Raymond. “The offensive guys did a great job the whole fourth quarter being smart with the ball. They moved it well and handled the pressure well. This was the first game of the year and there was a lot of energy and competition. Both teams played like it meant something and that doesn’t always happen (in a season opener).”

Cochran paced a balanced offensive attack with three goals. Hennessey and Lathrop each added a pair, while Goss, Offit and Patterson had one goal apiece.

Goss added two assists, while Lathrop and van Huystee had one apiece.

Foley stopped six shots.

Cape Elizabeth won 13 of 18 faceoffs, as junior Will Picarillo filled in for Moon and dominated in the circle, especially in the second half, when he didn’t lose a single opportunity.

The Capers won the ground ball battle, 29-16 (Picarillo had seven and Lathrop and senior Andrew Trachimowicz collected three apiece), out-shot the Red Riots, 33-19 (25-12 on cage) and overcame 14 turnovers.

Progress

South Portland was paced by Demers, who had three goals and one assist. Dreifus, Lappin and Beckett Mehlhorn all added one goal.

Beckett Mehlhorn had two assists, while Lappin and Lucas Mehlhorn each contributed one.

Kieu did his part, stopping 15 shots.

“Ben made a lot of big saves,” said South Portland coach Dan Hanley.

Senior Brady Angell had a team-high four ground balls.

The Red Riots committed 16 turnovers.

After losing by 10 goals at Cape Elizabeth in last year’s meeting, Hanley said that were reasons for optimism following Friday’s setback.

“There’s a lot of positives to take from this,” said Hanley. “We didn’t play our best game. It’s April. It’s about improving from here. It isn’t the end, it’s just the start.

“The intensity was there. The guys have looked forward to this since we saw the schedule. We had a tough game here last year and it was motivation to see them to start the season. It did look an April 14th game with stick-work and was ragged at times, but it was two good teams who pushed each other. It’s a game of runs and today they got the better of us. They did a better job on ground balls, a better job possessing the ball. Once they got that lead, I was impressed with the way they handled the ball and we struggled to get it back.

“For us, it’s about learning to deal with adversity. We know we can compete with them, but we recognize there is room to improve. We didn’t play close to our best.”

The schedule will do South Portland no favors, as its next game is a playoff rematch at Thornton Academy Tuesday afternoon.

“We got smacked in the mouth today, but we have a chance to respond and play another great team,” Hanley said. “The guys should be fired up.

“On to the next one.”

Ramping up

Cape Elizabeth has four games next week, scrimmages against Bridgton Academy and out-of-state powerhouse Newburyport, Massachusetts, a trip to Gorham Wednesday and a home tilt versus Class B favorite Yarmouth Friday.

The Capers haven’t even begun to play their best lacrosse, but have already served notice to those hoping to knock them off their perch that the road to the championship still goes through them.

“I think our clear can be better,” Patterson said. “That’s the biggest thing we can improve on.”

“We have a big week next week, so to play a team like South Portland first game was great,” said Cochran. “We’ll focus on getting better.”

“I think it’s going to be a competitive class with us, South Portland, Scarborough, TA and Falmouth,” Raymond added. “We’re all pretty evenly-matched teams. Each team might do some things better than the others. The schedule is outstanding. It’s the best we’ve had in a long time. It’s probably that way for everybody. With the (Southwestern Maine Activities Association) and Western Maine Conference crossing over, it makes for such a great schedule. I don’t know why we don’t do that in everything.

“We’ll look at what we did well this game and what we didn’t do well and we’ll try to improve.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. 

Previous Cape Elizabeth-South Portland results

2022
@ Cape Elizabeth 15 South Portland 5

2021
Cape Elizabeth 16 @ South Portland 2

2019
Cape Elizabeth 16 @ South Portland 7
Class A South semifinals
@ Cape Elizabeth 9 South Portland 5

2018
@ Cape Elizabeth 10 South Portland 8

2017
@ Cape Elizabeth 16 South Portland 2

2016
Cape Elizabeth 9 @ South Portland 8

2009
Cape Elizabeth 18 @ South Portland 3

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