FALMOUTH – Finn Melanson scored his second goal of the game 1:48 into overtime to lead Cape Elizabeth to its third consecutive Western Class B boys’ lacrosse championship Wednesday.

“I saw that open lane, and just charged at the net and let it rip,” said Melanson after he lifted the third-seeded Capers to a 7-6 win against top-ranked Falmouth.

Cape Elizabeth will play Yarmouth, the two-time defending state champion, for the Class B state title at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Portland’s Fitzpatrick Stadium.

Falmouth, which beat the Capers twice during the regular season, held a 4-1 lead at the end of the first half.

“In the first half, we weren’t really playing badly,” Melanson said. “It’s just they wanted it more than us. We weren’t picking up ground balls. We weren’t passing well.”

The Yachtsmen, bidding to win their first regional title, opened the season April 16 with an 11-4 win against the Capers at Cape Elizabeth and beat them 9-7 on May 18 at home.

“I don’t think anybody did anything different,” Cape Elizabeth Coach Ben Raymond said. “They knew what we were going to do. We knew what they were going to do.”

Cape Elizabeth midfielder Timmy Takach won the draw on 6 of 7 faceoffs in the second half.

“They had more possessions than we did in the first half,” Raymond said. “The real key is we started picking up ground balls. Those were differences in possessions, and we needed every possession we could get.”

Takach ended a scoring drought of nearly 20 minutes by converting a pass from Melanson 5:37 into the third quarter to make it 4-2. With less than two minutes left in the period, Teddy Smith scored to make it 4-3.

Melanson made it 4-4 when he scored his first goal less than two minutes into the third quarter, and the Capers (11-3) took a 5-4 lead about three minutes later on another goal by Takach.

With less than five minutes left in regulation, Kyle Lucas scored his second goal of the game to make it 5-5.

With 3:34 left, Cape regained the lead when Takach scored his third goal on a straight-on shot from 12 yards.

With 1:12 left, Nick Backman scored on a shot from the left to make it 6-6.

Dan Hanley scored three goals during the first 18 minutes for the Yachtsmen (11-3).

“It’s two great teams,” Raymond said. “It should come down to a game like this.

“Falmouth is very good. They played really well in the first half. In the second half, we got some open looks.”

 

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com