Cape Elizabeth senior Mariah Deschino (4) is hugged by her teammates following one of the Capers’ 15 goals in Wednesday’s 15-9 win at Waynflete. Cape Elizabeth won its fourth game in a row.
Joe Carpine / 365digitalphotography.com photos.
More photos below.
BOX SCORE
Cape Elizabeth 15 Waynflete 9
CE- 7 8- 15
W- 6 3- 9
First half
21:05 W Stockford (Canning)
19:59 CE Healy (Graham)
16:49 CE K. Chapin (free position)
16:09 CE C. Chapin (Kelley)
14:37 CE Coburn (free position)
11:27 CE Healy (Graham)
9:20 CE Coburn (Healy)
8:15 W Burdick (Canning)
6:07 W Burdick (Canning)
5:51 W Stockford (Canning)
3:52 CE Graham (Bosworth)
:31 W Olney (Burdick)
:18 W Stockford (Canning)
Second half
23:22 W Baginski (Burdick)
20:46 CE Graham (Deschino)
16:58 CE Graham (free position)
14:14 CE Coburn (Graham)
13:46 CE Deschino (unassisted)
11:14 W Baginski (Stockford)
10:08 CE Coburn (Deschino)
4:11 CE Deschino (unassisted)
3:21 CE Healy (unassisted)
:39 W Olney (unassisted)
:09 CE K. Chapin (unassisted)
Goals:
CE- Coburn 4, Graham, Healy 3, K. Chapin, Deschino 2, C. Chapin 1
W- Stockford 3, Baginski, Burdick, Olney 2
Assists:
CE- Graham 3, Deschino 2, Bosworth, K. Chapin, Healy, Kelley 1
W- Canning 5, Burdick 2, Stockford 1
Draws (Cape Elizabeth, 15-11)
CE- C. Chapin 11 of 18, K. Chapin 3 of 6, Deschino 1 of 2
W- Pope 11 of 26
Ground balls (Cape Elizabeth, 37-33)
CE- K. Chapin 7, Deschino 6, McGrath 4, C. Chapin, Coburn, Healy 3, Foley, Graham, Hayes 2, Bosworth, Harvey, Kelley, Lennon, Thoreck 1
W- Canning 7, Stockford 5, Pope, Wildes 4, Boedeker, Sandberg 3, Burdick, Sangster 2, Baginski, Olney, Parr 1
Turnovers:
CE- 15
W- 14
Shots:
CE- 31
W- 20
Shots on cage:
CE-21
W- 19
Saves:
CE (Foley) 10
W (Akers) 6
PORTLAND—In case you haven’t been paying proper attention, Cape Elizabeth’s girls’ lacrosse team is here to remind you that it is very, very good and that any discussion of championship contenders in the upcoming postseason has to include the Capers.
Wednesday afternoon, Cape Elizabeth paid a visit to a venue, Fore River Fields, that hasn’t been very kind to it over the years, but behind a potent, balanced offense and some timely, highlight-reel saves from sophomore goalie Erin Foley, the Capers had more than enough to hold off host Waynflete, which needed a victory to secure a playoff berth.
Cape Elizabeth erased a 1-0 deficit by scoring six straight goals, including two apiece from senior Caroline Coburn and junior Emily Healy, but the Flyers embarked on a surge of their own, as juniors Izzy Burdick and Ya Stockford both scored twice and senior Isabel Canning assisted on five goals to cut the deficit to 7-6 at halftime.
With 23:22 left, junior Laura Baginski pulled Waynflete even, but the Capers regrouped and went on another run to retake control.
Consecutive goals from junior Susie Graham gave Cape Elizabeth the lead for good and Coburn and senior Mariah Deschino added tallies to make it 11-7.
Baginski gave the Flyers life with a goal with just over 11 minutes left, but Coburn, Deschino and Healy scored to put it away and the Capers went on to a 15-9 victory.
Coburn led the way with four goals, Graham and Healy had three apiece and Foley made 10 saves as Cape Elizabeth won a regular season game at Waynflete for the first time in 15 years, captured its fourth game in a row overall, improved to 7-4 and snapped Waynflete’s three-game win streak, dropping the Flyers to 6-4 in the process.
“We know we can take on great teams,” said Capers coach Alex Spark. “We’ve focused on one game at a time. We came out ready to play Waynflete today. We came out and played as a 12-man unit. We worked hard and came out on top.”
A lot on the line
Waynflete opened with a 16-2 win at NYA, then held off host Freeport, 11-7. After a 12-4 setback at Yarmouth, the Flyers prevailed, 13-5 at Scarborough. After an 8-6 home loss to Greely, Waynflete’s first to the Rangers since 2004, it fell, 10-4, at York. The Flyers then bounced back with a 15-8 home victory over Cheverus in a crossover, an 8-5 win at St. Dom’s and Monday’s palpitating 11-10 double-overtime home victory over Lake Region on Baginski’s decisive tally.
Cape Elizabeth missed the playoffs with a young team a year ago, but has hit its stride as the 2017 campaign has gone along. After opening with a 14-3 home victory over Wells, the Capers lost at Yarmouth, 13-6. Wins over visiting Gorham (9-4) and at Freeport (13-7) were followed by losses to visiting York (7-6) and at Falmouth (9-8, in overtime) and at defending Class A South champion Massabesic (10-3). Cape Elizabeth then bounced back to knock off host Greely, 13-10, and late last week, beat visiting St. Dom’s (14-10) and Lake Region (10-6).
The Flyers have dominated the Capers over the years, winning 27 of the past 28 meetings (see sidebar, below). The one came in the 2014 semifinals, when visiting Cape Elizabeth sprung the upset, then went on to the Class B state final.
Last spring, in the season opener, Waynflete erased a three-goal second half deficit, forced overtime, then won a goal from Canning.
This time around, on a 60-degree afternoon that started with clouds and ended up under sunny skies, the Capers put on a clinic and demonstrated heart and poise as well, enjoying a regular season win at Waynflete for the first time since May 4, 2002 (10-9).
Cape Elizabeth had a chance less than a minute in when junior Chloe Chapin earned a free position, but she was denied by Flyers freshman goalie Avis Akers.
After Foley made her first save, denying Stockford, Akers stopped a shot by Graham.
With 21:15 to go in the first half, Waynflete struck first, as Canning set up Stockford, but the Capers would score the next six goals in just over 10 minutes.
With 19:59 left before halftime, Healy to a feed from Graham and finished to tie it.
After Foley saved a Stockford shot, freshman Karli Chapin scored on a free position to put Cape Elizabeth on top with 16:49 on the clock.
Forty seconds later, senior Casey Kelley passed to Chloe Chapin, who found the net.
After Foley robbed Flyers senior Ali Pope on the doorstep, Coburn scored her first goal, on a free position, with 14:37 to go, forcing Flyers coach Cathie Connors to call timeout.
It didn’t help, as Graham set up Healy with 11:27 left and with 9:20 showing, Healy set up Coburn for a 6-1 lead.
To Waynflete’s credit, it didn’t buckle and roared right back.
First, Canning set up Burdick for a goal with 8:15 remaining, snapping a 20 minute, 50 second drought.
With 6:07 to go, Canning set up Burdick again to make it 6-3.
After Pope won the ensuing draw, Canning fed Stockford for a transition goal 16 seconds later and just like that, the Flyers had life.
Graham stemmed the tide with 3:52 on the clock, finishing a feed from senior Hannah Bosworth, but Waynflete scored twice in the final minute to take all the momentum to the break.
First, with 31 seconds to go, Burdick passed to junior LZ Olney in front, who managed to finish despite being pushed.
Then with just 18 seconds remaining, Canning fed Stockford to cut the deficit to 7-6.
“We came back and that’s what we’ve been doing this season,” Connors said. “We played together and kept our heads high. Isabel brought us back. Everyone played hard. We were moving the ball and gained momentum.”
In the first half, draws were even (7-7) and the Flyers had an 11-10 edge in shots on goal, but the Capers held the lead thanks to five saves from Foley.
Just 1 minute, 38 seconds into the second half, Waynflete completed its comeback, as Burdick was awarded a free position and instead of shooting, threw a quick pass to Baginski, who beat Foley to make it 7-7.
The Flyers then got two chances to go on top, but turned the ball over each time and with 20:46 left in the game, Graham took a pass from Deschino and beat Akers to put Cape Elizabeth back on top, this time to stay.
After Deschino sent a free position wide and Healy had a free position saved, Graham made it 9-7 Capers with 16:58 remaining, beating Akers on a free position.
Foley then preserved the lead with point blank saves on Stockford and Burdick.
“Erin’s doing great,” Coburn said. “She’s made some very big saves.”
With 14:14 to go, Graham fed Coburn for a goal and Cape Elizabeth was up 10-7, forcing Connors to again call timeout.
Again, it didn’t pay dividends, as 28 seconds later, Deschino weaved through the defense and finished unassisted.
The Flyers continued to fight and after Foley denied Burdick and Olney, Baginski (from Stockford) cut the deficit to 11-8 with 11:14 left.
That’s as close as Waynflete would get.
With 10:08 on the clock, Deschino set up Coburn for her final goal and a 12-8 lead.
After Foley denied Canning, Deschino scored unassisted with 4:11 to play and 50 seconds later, Healy scored for the final time to stretch the lead to six.
With 39 seconds left, Olney scored unassisted for the Flyers’ final tally and with 9 seconds to play, an unassisted goal from Karli Chapin brought the curtain down on Cape Elizabeth’s 15-9 victory.
“It feels great,” Coburn said. “Last year was a tough year for us, but we’ve come back this year. We’ve bonded as a team. We worked as a unit, as a defense and offense. We didn’t play selfishly today. We played together as a team. I think taking Falmouth into overtime shot us over the edge and made us realize we could play with any team in the state. That was a big turning point for us.”
“We came back after last season and we decided we wanted it so badly,” Foley said. “We’re a family on the field. We’ve worked really hard.”
“After all the work we put in last season, we came back and on the first day of tryouts, we were ready and it’s paid off,” Spark added. “We’ve gotten better all along.”
Six different Capers tickled the twine in the victory. Coburn led the way with four goals, Graham and Healy had three apiece, Karli Chapin and Deschino both scored twice and Chloe Chapin added one goal.
“We run a true seven-man attack,” Spark said. “Teams have to play true defense and can’t focus on one or two players. That’s why we’ve become so strong. We spent the last couple days focusing on playing against a zone defense and working on different movement than we’ve had the rest of the season. The girls executed beautifully.”
Graham also had three assists, while Deschino set up two goals and Bosworth, Karli Chapin, Healy and Kelley had one assist apiece.
Then there was Foley, who made 10 crucial saves, but after the win, only wanted to credit her defense.
“They have very good shooters on their team and I’m so happy I have the defense I have,” Foley said. “They help me out when I need them to and I couldn’t be happier.”
“Erin came up with some killer saves,” Spark said. “Erin put in a lot of work from the end of last season. She worked through the summer, the fall, the winter, until our season began again. Her skills, her confidence, her voice, everything has gone up to the next level and it shows. She’s amazing.”
Cape Elizabeth won 15 of 26 draws, had a 37-33 edge in ground balls (Karli Chapin led the way with seven and Deschino collected six), enjoyed a 31-20 shots advantage (21-19 on cage) and only turned the ball over 15 times in a hostile environment.
Waynflete got three goals from Stockford and two apiece from Baginski, Burdick and Olney. Canning had five assists, Burdick set up two goals and Stockford had one assist.
Akers made six saves and Canning led the Flyers with ground balls (seven).
Waynflete committed 14 turnovers.
“(Cape) did a great job in the end,” Connors said. “They played a great game. They’re a great team. They have a great goalie.
“Still, I’m psyched because we had a lot of opportunities. We just couldn’t put the ball in the net.”
Postseason intensity
Waynflete (clinging to the sixth and final playoff spot in Class B South at press time) welcomes Falmouth for its final home game Tuesday, then closes against Kennebunk in a game played on the turf at the University of New England June 1.
The Flyers likely need to win one of those games to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in the 20 years lacrosse has been a sanctioned sport.
“We still have time,” Connors said. “We’re still working on stuff. The season’s not over. We’re looking forward to those games. It would be nice for team morale to win at least one. If not, hopefully we’ll still get in.”
Cape Elizabeth (fourth and rising in Class B South) has just one game left and it’s a huge one, as the Capers host Kennebunk Tuesday in a game that could move them up the playoff ladder if they can win it.
“We’re looking forward to (Kennebunk),” Coburn said. “If we keep playing how we’re playing and we keep playing like we did today, nobody can stop us.”
“We have to stay composed and stay together and keep doing what we’re doing,” Foley said.
“We have one big game left,” Spark added. “This proves us that we can be the team in charge. We want to keep going up from here. There are a lot of strong teams, so we’ll continue to take it one game at a time. We’ll be ready to go.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.
Cape Elizabeth junior Madison Sarka shoots on Waynflete freshman goalie Avis Akers.
Waynflete junior Ya Stockford shoots past Cape Elizabeth sophomore goalie Erin Foley. Foley made 10 saves in the victory.
Waynflete freshman Emily Wagg chases after a loose ball.
Cape Elizabeth freshman Karli Chapin races toward the goal as Waynflete sophomore Emi Boedeker defends.
Waynflete junior Izzy Burdick is defended by Cape Elizabeth sophomore Tory McGrath.
Recent Waynflete-Cape Elizabeth history
2016
Waynflete 8 @ Cape Elizabeth 7 (OT)
2015
Waynflete 10 @ Cape Elizabeth 4
Western B quarterfinal
@ Waynflete 6 Cape Elizabeth 4
2014
@ Waynflete 6 Cape Elizabeth 5
Waynflete 10 @ Cape Elizabeth 5
Western B semifinals
Cape Elizabeth 9 @ Waynflete 8
2013
Waynflete 10 @ Cape Elizabeth 8
@ Waynflete 8 Cape Elizabeth 4
Western B Final
@ Waynflete 16 Cape Elizabeth 9
2012
Western B Final
Waynflete 11 @ Cape Elizabeth 10 (3 OT)
2011
Waynflete 13 @ Cape Elizabeth 6
Western B Final
@ Waynflete 8 Cape Elizabeth 7
2010
Waynflete 11 @ Cape Elizabeth 7
2009
Waynflete 11 @ Cape Elizabeth 2
Western B Final
@ Waynflete 9 Cape Elizabeth 5
2008
@ Waynflete 15 Cape Elizabeth 5
Waynflete 16 @ Cape Elizabeth 1
Western B semifinals
@ Waynflete 11 Cape Elizabeth 1
2007
Waynflete 18 @ Cape Elizabeth 7
@ Waynflete 15 Cape Elizabeth 7
Western B quarterfinals
@ Waynflete 13 Cape Elizabeth 3
2006
@ Waynflete 11 Cape Elizabeth 6
Waynflete 7 @ Cape Elizabeth 1
2005
@ Waynflete 11 Cape Elizabeth 6
@ Waynflete 11 Cape Elizabeth 5
2004
Waynflete 9 @ Cape Elizabeth 8 (OT)
2003
Waynflete 8 @ Cape Elizabeth 6
West Region semifinals
@ Waynflete 16 Cape Elizabeth 7
2002
Cape Elizabeth 10 @ Waynflete 9
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