Cape boys need OT to survive Scarborough

Scarborough junior goalie Austin Brown makes one of his 15 saves during Thursday’s game at Cape Elizabeth. Despite Brown’s heroics and an inspirational team effort, the Red Storm lost to the Capers in overtime, 7-6.

Jill Brady / Portland Press Herald photo.

More photos below.

BOX SCORE

Cape Elizabeth 7 Scarborough 6 (OT)

S- 2 2 0 2 0- 6
CE- 2 0 3 1 1- 7

First quarter
9:57 CE K. Lathrop (unassisted)
5:22 S Quintiliani (unassisted)
2:29 CE Boudreau (K. Lathrop)
1:21 S Kavanagh (Joyce) (MAN-UP)

Second quarter
4:06 S Quintiliani (unassisted)
1:57 S Nelson (unassisted)

Third quarter
5:39 CE Boudreau (Martin)
3:39 CE McEvoy (unassisted)
1:53 CE K. Lathrop (Tarling)

Fourth quarter
11:36 S Quintiliani (Berry)
9:53 CE McEvoy (unassisted)
3:22 S Quintiliani (unassisted)

Overtime
1:28 CE Martin (K. Lathrop)

Goals:
S- Quintiliani 4, Kavanagh, Nelson 1
CE- Boudreau, K. Lathrop, McEvoy 2, Martin 1

Assists:
S- Berry, Joyce 1
CE- K. Lathrop 2, Martin, Tarling 1

Faceoffs (Scarborough, 13-4)
S- Quartararo 13 of 17
CE- Carroll 3 of 10, T. Lathrop 1 of 7

Groundballs:
S- 34
CE- 29

Turnovers:
S- 20
CE- 15

Shots:
S- 26
CE- 45

Shots on cage:
S- 19
CE- 22

Saves:
S (Brown) 15
CE (J. Dresser) 13

CAPE ELIZABETH—Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ lacrosse team is still undefeated all-time against Scarborough.

But just barely.

Thursday afternoon, in a chilly, compelling early-season showdown between neighbors and traditional powers at Hannaford Field, the Red Storm came out and showed that they’re indeed dramatically improved from last year’s squad, but when the big plays had to be made late in the contest, it was the Capers finding a way to make them and prevail.

Each team scored twice in the first quarter, as Scarborough junior goalie Austin Brown held high-powered Cape Elizabeth in check and gave his team confidence and senior Jared Quintiliani, who played for the Red Storm as a freshman before taking the last two years off, gave Scarborough the lead in the second period. When senior defenseman Jared Nelson went coast-to-coast for another goal late in the frame, the Red Storm held a stunning 4-2 halftime advantage.

Not surprisingly, the Capers roared back in the third period, as freshman Nic Boudreau scored to snap a nearly-21 minute drought, sophomore Archie McEvoy scored to tie it and junior Killian Lathrop tickled the twine as well for a 5-4 Cape Elizabeth advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

There, Quintiliani tied it early and after McEvoy put the Capers back on top, Quintiliani scored again with 3:22 to play and the contest would go to overtime deadlocked, 6-6.

Scarborough senior faceoff standout Nick Quartararo got the Red Storm possession to start the four-minute, “sudden victory” extra session, but Scarborough would turn the ball over and that was the opening Cape Elizabeth needed.

With 1:28 to go in OT, Lathrop found senior Nick Martin in front and Martin ended it with a behind-the-back shot and the Capers earned a 7-6 win.

Cape Elizabeth improved to 2-0 on the young season and handed the Red Storm a loss in their first outing.

“It was great competition,” said longtime Capers coach Ben Raymond. “Great for the kids to have to dig deep when things aren’t necessarily going their way.”

Early season thriller

Cape Elizabeth moved up and joined Scarborough in Class A a season ago.

The Capers got to the Class A South Final, but were no match for eventual state champion Thornton Academy, losing, 15-6, to finish 10-4. Cape Elizabeth kicked off the 2019 campaign with a 17-6 home win over defending Class C champion Waynflete last week.

Scarborough finished 3-9 in 2018 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2000, but the Red Storm expect to be in the hunt this spring.

Last year, the Capers beat the visiting Red Storm, 8-2, to improve to 9-0 in the series (with a 101-18 goal differential), dating to 2002 (see sidebar, below).

Thursday’s contest was scheduled to be played at Scarborough, but was moved to Cape Elizabeth due to a clock issue.

On a typical mid-April afternoon (a raw 44 degrees with a 9-mile-per-hour wind at the start), it was evident early that this one was going to go down to the wire.

The Capers struck first, with 9:57 to go in the opening stanza, when Lathrop beat Brown unassisted, but after the Red Storm killed a penalty (McEvoy hit the post, then was denied by Brown in the man-up situation), Scarborough tied it up with 5:22 to go in the first, as Quintiliani fought his way through the defense and beat Cape Elizabeth junior goalie Jack Dresser.

“Jared hasn’t played since he was a freshman and it’s nice to have him back scoring goals,” said Scarborough coach Zach Barrett.

The Capers retook the lead, 2-1, when Boudreau scored (from Lathrop) with 2:29 to play, but 20 seconds later, the Red Storm went man-up and with 1:21 showing, they tied it up, 2-2, as sophomore Aidan Joyce passed to junior Ethan Kavanagh for a goal.

Early in the second quarter, Dresser robbed Kavanagh on the doorstep and at the other end, Brown denied Martin.

After each team killed a penalty, Quintiliani hit the post and Dresser saved a shot from Scarborough senior Andrew Granzier.

Then, with 4:06 left in the first half, Quintiliani scored unassisted for the second time to give the Red Storm their first lead.

With 1:57 remaining, after a Brown save, Nelson scooped up the ball in front of the goal, then raced all the way up the field before firing a shot past Dresser to make it 4-2 Scarborough, a lead the Red Storm would take to the break after Brown made one more clutch save with seconds left, denying junior Benson Offit.

Quartararo won seven of eight first half faceoffs and Brown made 11 saves, helping Scarborough hold the lead.

Cape Elizabeth’s offense then reawakened in the third quarter, while the Capers’ defense held the Red Storm at bay.

With 5:39 to go in the frame, Martin set up Boudreau for a goal which snapped a 20-minute, 50-second scoring drought, pulling Cape Elizabeth within one.

Exactly two minutes later, McEvoy tied it, with an unassisted goal.

Then, with 1:53 on the clock, senior Phil Tarling found Lathrop, who beat Brown, to make it 5-4 Capers and they would take that advantage to what most expected to be the final quarter.

But the fourth period resolved nothing.

An early Cape Elizabeth turnover was pounced on by Scarborough senior Callaghan Berry, who set up Quintiliani for the equalizer with 11:31 to go, snapping a 14:28 drought in the process.

McEvoy answered with 9:53 to play, fighting through the defense before beating Brown unassisted for a 6-5 lead.

Again, it didn’t last, as with 3:22 on the clock, Quintiliani spun, got a step on a defender, then fired a shot that Dresser couldn’t stop to forge the game’s fifth and final tie.

Each team had chances to win it late in regulation.

First, the Red Storm got shots from junior Nathan Taggart (saved by Dresser) and Granzier (saved by Dresser, who barely corralled the rebound before it trickled behind him over the line).

In the final minute, at the other end, McEvoy missed wide, then Brown saved another McEvoy bid, sending the contest to overtime.

The extra session couldn’t have started more auspiciously for Scarborough, as Quartararo won yet another faceoff and got possession and Barrett called timeout to set up a potential winning play.

Except the Red Storm never managed a shot, as Cape Elizabeth tightened up defensively, forced Scarborough to pass the ball around the perimeter, then junior defenseman Max Patterson jumped out and intercepted the ball.

“I was baiting it all game,” said Patterson. “I saw an opportunity, stuck my stick out and picked it off.”

“We were expecting not to have the ball on the faceoff, so it was about making sure we played good, solid defense,” Raymond said. “We didn’t need to try to take the ball away. We just had to move our feet and play good defense and make the other team make mistakes. Max made a great play. He did a good job all game of getting into a spot where he could make a pick and he got there. Then, we did a great job clearing.”

“It was a mental lapse on our guys’ part, making a pass that was contested,” Barrett lamented. “We’ll grow from that. Some of those guys haven’t been in that position. They’re good enough to play at this level, playing in a game like this. Hopefully we’ll correct it.”

Out of a timeout, the Capers set up to win it, but it would take a couple tries.

With 2:28 on the clock, McEvoy had a good look, but his shot hit the post.

Cape Elizabeth managed to keep possession and with 1:28 to go, the Capers brought the curtain down.

Lathrop got the ball, made his move toward the goal, then spotted Martin in front, to Brown’s left.

Martin caught the pass and with the defense collapsing on him, fired a highlight reel behind the back shot past Brown and into the net and at 2:42 p.m., after a palpitating 50 minutes and 32 seconds of action, Cape Elizabeth was able to celebrate its 7-6 victory.

“I saw Killian dodge from X, beat his man and I cut down in front,” said Martin. “I thought I’d throw it behind the back to increase my angle and it just went in. It felt great. We should have done a lot better, but just winning felt great for the team. It was a big release. It worked out. We just wanted to be calm and run our offense and we’d get looks. Their goalie had a great game. We just had to place our shots in better spots.”

“We got it up the field and got the offense a possession and capped it off,” Patterson said. “It wasn’t the score we were looking for, but it’s a nice win. Coach Raymond told us we just needed to calm down, that two goals wasn’t a big deficit. If we ran our offense like before, we’d be fine and he was exactly right.”

“It was a great finish,” Raymond added. “We practice these things all the time and there’s no point practicing them if you don’t do it in a game. He probably increased his angle going behind the back. I’m OK with that. We did just about what we wanted to offensively and between Austin making a bunch of saves and hitting the post a few times, the kids had to keep working hard and getting more chances.”

Boudreau, Lathrop and McEvoy all had two goals for Cape Elizabeth, but Martin’s one was the biggest of all.

Lathrop added two assists, while Martin and Tarling each finished with one.

McEvoy had a team-high five ground balls.

Dresser stopped 13 shots.

Cape Elizabeth had a 45-26 advantage in shots (22-19 on frame) and overcame 15 turnovers.

Huge step in the right direction

Scarborough’s offense featured four goals from Quintiliani and one each from Kavanagh and Nelson.

Berry and Joyce each added one assist.

Brown was superb with 15 saves, many of them point blank.

“Austin was phenomenal,” Barrett said. “He kept us in the game.”

Quartararo won 13 of the game’s 17 faceoffs.

The Red Storm had a 34-29 edge in ground balls (Quartararo collected a game-high 10), but committed 20 costly turnovers.

“I expected we’d play this well and I’m very encouraged,” said Barrett. “The boys wanted this one bad, but (Cape) had a beautiful finish. The defense played well, but they had to play a lot. One thing that killed us, we couldn’t get the ball out of our own end. If we did that better, it would have been a different game. A lot of kids stepped up. After a season like last year, there’s always (doubt) in the back of your mind, but I felt good coming over here.”

The Red Storm certainly impressed their foe.

“Zach’s doing a great job,” Raymond said. “They have a good mix of upperclassmen and sophomores and freshmen. That’s what we want, competition like that to get better and better.”

Schedule stays difficult

Scarborough seeks its first win Monday when it goes to Cheverus. After visiting defending Class A North champion Falmouth Wednesday, the Red Storm finally play at home Friday, April 26, versus Sanford.

“Hopefully we’ll build on this,” said Barrett.

Cape Elizabeth has a big week upcoming next week, when it goes to longtime rival Yarmouth, then welcomes Thornton Academy in a regional final rematch.

“There’s a good amount of new faces, but I feel like overall, our skill is higher than it’s been,” said Martin. “Everyone can catch, throw and shoot.”

“We’ll just keep playing hard,” said Patterson. “At moments, we look really good and at other moments, we don’t. If we keep moving the ball around, we’ll be fine.”

“We’re off to a really good start,” Raymond added. “The kids are playing well together. They work hard. Offensively and defensively, we’re outstanding team-wise. We may not have the stars we’ve had in the past, but we have a bunch of kids who can score and defend and Jack is back in goal. We’re hoping for more good competition next week.”