YARMOUTH—Yarmouth’s girls’ soccer team won the Class B state title a year ago, but one thing the Clippers couldn’t do was beat rival Cape Elizabeth.

Thursday afternoon, Yarmouth welcomed the Capers and managed to solve their recent nemesis.

Suggesting that big things are once again in store.

In the game’s 16th minute, senior captain Kadin Davoren set up classmate Sonja Bell for what proved to be the only goal of the game.

Clippers senior goalkeeper Regan Sullivan made several big saves in the first half, then she and her defense completey put the clamps on prolific Cape Elizabeth in the second as Yarmouth was able to go on to a 1-0 victory.

The Clippers won their fourth game in a row, improved to 4-1, dropped the Capers to 4-1 and in the process, ended their three-year, 22-game regular season win streak.

“It’s a rivalry game and it was our first game at home, so it was a great atmosphere,” said Yarmouth coach Andy Higgins. “Cape’s been a phenomenal team for years. Both teams were up for each other. It was a really fun, really exciting high school soccer game in mid-September.”

Eyeing the prize

For the past decade, Cape Elizabeth and Yarmouth have nearly cornered the market on Class B dominance, with the Capers winning championships in 2013, 2018, 2019 and 2021 and the Clippers bringing home Gold Balls in 2016, 2017 and again last year (only Waterville in 2014 and Greely in 2015 were the exceptions).

Cape Elizabeth appeared primed for a fourth straight championship celebration after a perfect regular season a year ago, but the Capers were upset by York, 2-1, in the semifinals, due in part to much of the team being decimated by illness. That ended a 23-game overall win streak, a 13-game postseason win streak and left Cape Elizabeth 15-1 and ended the highly successful Graham Forsyth Era. Forsyth was replaced as coach this autumn by Branden Noltkamper, who led the North Yarmouth Academy boys’ squad to a Class D title in 2022.

“Graham did a great job,” said Noltkamper. “The program is so historic. There’s a lot of learning for me and for them. It’s only going to get better from here.”

The Capers have picked right up where they left off, beating host York for a measure of revenge in the opener (4-1), then blanking visiting Lake Region (4-0) and downing a pair of rivals, host Greely (4-1) and visiting Freeport (2-1).

Yarmouth, meanwhile, saved its best for last a year ago, riding a pair of dramatic playoff victories to the program’s first title in five years, a come-from-behind, 3-2, double-overtime win over Hermon in the state final, to wind up 15-3.

The Clippers then graduated some key players, including standout and state game hero Ava Feeley, but after a 1-0, double-overtime loss at Greely in the opener, found their stride, blanking host Gray-New Gloucester (6-0), Brunswick (2-0) and York (3-0).

Last season, Cape Elizabeth captured both meetings, 2-1 at home, and 1-0 in Yarmouth. That gave the Capers a 9-2 edge in the series dating to the start of the 2018 campaign.

Thursday, on a very pleasant late-summer afternoon (75 degrees at kickoff), there wasn’t much separation between the rivals and this time, the Clippers went home happy.

Unlike most of the recent meetings, Yarmouth came out determined to possess and got a couple looks early, but Capers senior goalkeeper Ellis Piper beat Davoren to senior Cate King’s long free kick and senior Aine Powers missed wide.

Cape Elizabeth then had three looks to break the ice, but Sullivan stopped all three, denying freshman Addie Miller once and senior captain Evelyn Agrodnia on two occasions.

Then, with 24:37 left in the first half, Davoren booted the ball far ahead to Bell, who ran it down, got around a defender, then booted a strong shot to Piper’s left and into the net for a 1-0 lead.

“The ball went over the top of the defense,” said Bell. “I tried to get around a defender. I saw an open shot. The goalie was to the left and I sent it to the right. It felt good.”

“I just sent it and I know (Sonja’s) fast and strong and determined,” said Davoren. “I’m so glad she was there.”

“Kadin had great vision there and got Sonja 1-v-1,” Higgins added. “We’ve got a lot of speed and athleticism up top. Sonja’s composed and she scores big goals. It was a great finish. She picked a corner and slid it in. It was great to see the kids celebrate with her because it was a team goal.”

Cape Elizabeth hoped for a quick answer, but Sullivan saved a pair of blasts from junior captain CC Duryee and another shot from sophomore Noelle Mallory.

The Clippers then bid to double their lead, but Powers missed just wide after a collision that brought Piper out of the goal, Bell was robbed by Piper and junior Taylor Oranellas also had a shot saved.

The Capers had a 6-3 advantage in shots on frame in the first half, but had nothing to show for it.

They then managed to put just one shot on goal in the second half.

Yarmouth looked to open it up, but Bell twice missed just wide and Powers had five different shots saved by Piper.

After Mallory and Agrodnia were off the mark, Cape Elizabeth earned a corner kick with 12:30 left and three different players had looks at the goal, but Mallory sophomore Kate Hetrick and Agrodnia were all off-target.

With 6:08 to play, Sullivan had to come out to corral a feed from Mallory.

The Capers would get one more chance with just under five minutes left, on a corner, but Sullivan managed to get to the bouncing back and cradle it safely.

Yarmouth ran out the clock from there and at 5:48 p.m., celebrated its biggest win to date this fall.

“We know (Cape’s) always going to be our hardest competitor.” Davoren said. “We enjoy playing them. It poses a challenge for us. We try to keep our hopes high. Coming in as the defending champs, it feels good to beat them. It was tough to hold them off. It’s intense being a defensive team at the end, but our back line pulled through.”

“You know they’re dangerous and they were going to come at us,” said Higgins. “CC, Evelyn and Noelle are as a good as they come. We were on our heels but stayed firm. Regan was terrific and the backs and middies held together. We feel when they hit deep shots that Regan will be OK.”

The Clippers out-shot the Capers, 9-7 and got seven saves from Sullivan.

“I love the pressure,” Sullivan said. “(The Capers) have a lot of talented forwards, but my defense is amazing.”

Cape Elizabeth had all three of the game’s corner kicks, but it was a frustrating afternoon when all was said and done.

“Kudos to Yarmouth,” Noltkamper said. “It’s fun to play these guys. I have a lot of respect for Andy and his kids. They’re organized. They had a game plan. They were much better than us today. It’s a good learning moment. I didn’t think it would be heavily one-sided. We made one mistake defensively and it cost us. We didn’t find that final pass. We didn’t execute like we wanted to. It’s the first time we’d gone down all year and I think the moment got to us a little bit. We have to step up a little more and finish our chances.”

See you soon

The teams will look forward to a rematch Oct. 17 in Cape Elizabeth, but Class B South isn’t just the Capers and Clippers this year. Freeport and Greely look very strong as well, meaning there will be very few easy games in the weeks to come.

The Capers hope to respond Tuesday of next week at Fryeburg.

“We’ll bounce back,” Noltkamper said. “We’re very young this year. We’ll grow from this.”

The Clippers are back in action next Thursday at home against Class C South contender Waynflete.

“We’ve been putting in the work,” Sullivan said. “We just have to put our heads down and keep going.”

“We lost a big class, but every single one of our girls is hard working,” Davoren said. “We’re excited about what’s to come.”

“This is a big confidence boost and we’ll build on this and get ready for next week,” Higgins added. “We have a tough schedule. Waynflete is a tough team, then Greely and Freeport are right around the corner. All the teams in our conference are good. When we see other teams get better, it pushes us to get better. It’s fun, but stressful every night. We’ll get ready to get back at it tomorrow.”

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

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