CAPE ELIZABETH—The 2021 Cape Elizabeth Capers had a year to remember.

But the 2022 squad has been even better, during the regular season at least.

Monday evening at Hannaford Field, the Capers produced the most regular season victories in the history of the field hockey program, riding the skill of their seniors, on Senior Night, to an impressive win over visiting Lake Region.

The Lakers struck first in the opening stanza, when senior Reannah Dingley scored, but Cape Elizabeth drew even in the second period on goal from senior Kaitlyn McIntyre, then went on top to stay when senior Meghan Conley rattled the cage.

Senior Grace Gray added to the lead in the third quarter, then the Capers ended all doubt in the fourth period, as Gray set up freshman Lulu Stockelein for a goal, then senior Abbie Homicz accounted for the final score with one more and Cape Elizabeth prevailed, 5-1.

The Capers finished the regular season 12-2 and in the process, dropped Lake Region to 5-8-1.

“The girls have been working hard,” said Cape Elizabeth coach Maura Bisogni. “It takes a lot of mental toughness to show up every day and Class B is crazy this year. They’ve done a great job. (All the seniors scoring) is indicative of our season.”

No dropoff

After last year’s breakthrough 13-win campaign (with 11 coming in the regular season and two more in the playoffs) and trip to the regional final (each of which last happened in 2000), many wondered if Cape Elizabeth could continue to impress this fall.

The answer has been an unequivocal yes.

The Capers began with a 6-0 home loss to York, then rolled at Wells (9-0), edged visiting Freeport in double-overtime (3-2), blanked visiting Greely (5-0), prevailed at Lake Region (3-1), defeated visiting Yarmouth (7-1) and blanked host Greely (2-0), Gray-New Gloucester (4-0) and Fryeburg Academy (3-0) before surviving host Freeport in overtime again by a 3-2 score. After a 5-2 setback at York, Cape Elizabeth shut down visiting Poland (7-0) and Gray-New Gloucester (5-0) last week.

Lake Region, meanwhile, won its opener over Greely (2-0), then lost four in a row. Since then, the Lakers have been much more competitive, going 4-3-1 with a 2-0 victory over Poland in their most recent outing.

In the teams’ first meeting, Sept. 16 in Naples, McIntyre scored two goals, while Homicz added the other.

Monday, on Senior Night, on a rainy evening, Lake Region looked to beat Cape Elizabeth for the first time since a 1-0 victory in the 2019 Class B South quarterfinals, but instead, the Capers made it four in a row in the series.

Cape Elizabeth junior Jenna Tuttle plays the ball as senior Meghan Conley looks on during the Capers’ 5-1 home win over Lake Region Monday. Photos courtesy Lisa Mims.

McIntyre had the game’s first good look after taking a pass from Gray, but her bid was saved by Lakers’ junior goalie Reiyn Hart.

Lake Region then struck first with 7:18 left in the 15-minute first quarter, as Dingley sent a rebound past Cape Elizabeth junior goalie Zoe Burgard.

The Capers tried to answer, but Hart denied McIntyre, then she saved a shot from junior Sophia Chung off a penalty corner.

Cape Elizabeth then returned to its goal-scoring ways in the second period.

Hart initially stymied the Capers by saving a couple shots from Gray and she also made a nice save on a bid from Stoecklein.

But on the latter shot, the rebound sat free and McIntyre was there to bury it to make it 1-1.

Cape Elizabeth celebrates scoring the tying goal in the first half.

The go-ahead goal came with 3:58 remaining in the half, as Conley found herself at the far post and when the ball came to her, she had an easy tap-in goal to make it 2-1 at the break.

“When we fell behind, it gave us motivation,” Gray said. “We really like playing in the rain.”

Cape Elizabeth hoped to add to its lead in the third quarter, but initially, Hart kept them flustered, saving a shot from Gray, another from Stoecklein and two more from Gray.

Dingley tried to pull the Lakers even, but Burgard made the save.

Then, with 5:42 on the clock, after McIntyre hit the post, Gray was there to convert the rebound for a 3-1 advantage.

“It felt really good to finally get one,” said Gray. “They have a really strong defense, but we rose to the challenge.”

The Capers ended all doubt in the fourth quarter, as with 7:51 to go, Gray sent the ball to Stoecklein, who sent a shot past Hart to make the score 4-1.

“That was really exciting,” Gray said. “Lulu’s a freshman and she’s really stepped up her game. She’s so persistent and it was fun to help her get a goal.”

“Grace has done a good job of assisting and she has a ton of them this year,” Bisogni said. “She plays at such a high level and she runs back and plays defense too.”

In the final minute, Homicz got in the on the fun, firing home a rebound, and that brought the curtain down on Cape Elizabeth’s 5-1 victory.

“We’re just really excited to be playing together,” said Gray. “These are some of my best friends since kindergarten, so I’m happy to share this night with them. Our seniors who graduated last year were a big impact on our team. This season, we’ve bonded and become one. That’s helped with our playing.”

The Capers had a commanding 24-3 edge in shots on frame, got two saves from Burgard and took 10 corners to the Lakers’ one.

Hart stopped 19 shots for Lake Region.

Let the fun begin

Lake Region was ranked sixth in the Class B South Heal Points standings at press time and will likely go on the road for a quarterfinal round playoff game next week.

Cape Elizabeth, meanwhile, will be the No. 2 seed in Class B South for the second year in a row and will host a quarterfinal either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

The Capers know that anything can happen in the postseason, but they’re ready to make another deep run.

“I feel like our team has potential,” Gray said. “We work well together and we’re excited to see what happens. We treat every opponent like it’s our biggest opponent. You never know, especially this season, so we have to go into every game playing our best.”

“We have to keep working hard and keep connecting on passes,” Bisogni said. “We have to stay healthy. We need to keep enthusiasm up. We won’t take anyone for granted.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.