CAPE ELIZABETH — So about that ankle sprain that had been slowing Cape Elizabeth attackman Justin Cary: Stow the ice baggies and tape for now.
Cary scored a season-high five goals Tuesday night, and Tim Lavallee added four goals and three assists as the Capers rode a fast start to a 14-5 victory over Greely in a Western Maine Conference boys’ lacrosse game in a blustery wind and a cold, driving rain at Hannaford Field.
Additional Photos
“For a while they were sliding away from (Cary) automatically, so it made the (shot) a lot easier for him,” said Cape Elizabeth Coach Ben Raymond. “Justin did a great job of moving to the ball, and he finished, which is nice.”
With known scoring threats Lavallee and Alex Bornick lurking, the Rangers can be forgiven for clamping down elsewhere. Cary made the most of it.
“Having (Lavallee) covered by their best man definitely helps,” Cary said. “Timmy and Alex are such great kids to work with. They give assists like no one else.”
Let’s be honest. If they didn’t have confidence in him, they wouldn’t send the ball his way.
“Justin’s a great player, he’s just been a little off this season because of that ankle,” Lavallee said. “It’s great when a team locks down on me that other kids have huge games. We have a lot of players who can finish.”
Just 15 seconds into the game, Paul Witte scored the first of his two goals to give Greely (4-2) a 1-0 lead. Cape (6-0) then rattled off six straight goals – three by Cary – over the final eight minutes of the period for a 6-1 lead.
“We knew we were going to be in trouble if we allowed (Cape) to go into transition,” said Greely Coach Mike Storey. “We gave the ball up a lot on our clearances. We just made some bad decisions about where to put the ball, and they capitalized.”
For Cape, the fast start was a welcome change.
“We’ve been coming out really rough, kind of complacent,” said Lavallee. “We knew we needed to finish this game early because it could have been close if we let them hang around.”
To avoid that, the Capers played to their strength.
“We want to push the ball in transition,” Raymond said, “and once it becomes a settled situation, we want to make sure we get the right personnel on and make right decisions.
“At times we did very well. In the first quarter I think our offense was the best it was all day and we weren’t shooting as much. We kept moving the ball, and we showed patience during a good six-minute possession on our second time down the field.”
Greely’s defense regained its footing in the second quarter, holding the Capers to three goals, while Matt Crowley and Fred Bower scored to cut Cape’s lead to 9-3.
In the second half, the Rangers held Cape to a respectable 5-2 edge in scoring.
“The team is really coming together and growing,” Storey said. “There are some areas where we need to develop to compete with top teams like Cape and Falmouth. We’re continuing to improve. Every day we’re getting better.”
Cole Caswell, Brian Brett, Ian McInerney, Bornick and Tom Bottomley also scored for Cape Elizabeth.
Rangers goalie Sam Reed made 13 saves. Will Goduti had 11 for the Capers.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.