It’s a little game called “King of the Day,” and Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ lacrosse coach, Ben Raymond, ends every practice playing it.
He fires a shot at sophomore goalie Alex Narvaez. If he scores, he’s the king. If Narvaez makes the save, he rules the day.
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Narvaez found himself at the bottom of a joyous dog pile Saturday, and he was definitely wearing the crown.
Cape Elizabeth capped an undefeated season by beating Yarmouth 6-3 in the Class B championship game at Fitzpatrick Stadium. It was the Capers’ second consecutive title, their ninth since lacrosse became a Maine Principals’ Association sanctioned sport in 1998, and their 18th in school history.
And it was a testament to star players on both ends of the field, and a couple little-known but popular athletes such as Narvaez who fill a specific role.
“That was really nerve-wracking. I don’t think I did very well today. I didn’t have as many saves as I should have,” said Narvaez, who had five saves for the Capers (15-0).
“I knew I had to try my hardest to gain this position, to be here today. … I just like when other people are happy around me.”
Narvaez started playing goalie in sixth grade, urged on by an uncle who was on the team at Princeton. He was the surprise starter this year after Gabe McGinn suffered a lung injury playing hockey.
His teammates rallied around Narvaez while he gained confidence by stopping his coach’s shots in practice.
“We were a little nervous about Gabe not playing,” junior midfielder Griffin Thoreck said. “Narv definitely proved himself to us.”
Thoreck scored two goals to lead a balanced Cape Elizabeth attack. Along with his brother, Owen, and Ben Shea, he fueled a strong offense. On defense, Thomas Feenstra, Trevor Gale and Noah Wolfinger formed a dense moving wall.
Players such as Narvaez and senior James Monroe-Chausse filled in the gaps.
Monroe-Chausse won seven of 13 faceoffs but controlled the middle two quarters, when Cape Elizabeth built a 6-1 lead.
“He knows the responsibility he has,” Raymond said of Monroe-Chausse, who quickly exits the field after each faceoff. “He has that attitude of, ‘I don’t care who scores, because when someone scores I’m going out on the field, that’s my time to get the ball back.’ ”
Yarmouth (10-6) scored 1:01 into the game, then was held at bay for 39:19 as the Capers took command. Clippers goalie Connor Hoehle kept his team close by making 16 saves.
Finally, Max Watson scored 4:20 into the fourth quarter on a shot that deflected off a Cape Elizabeth player’s helmet. Watson then set up a final goal.
Cape Elizabeth beat Yarmouth 7-4 in last year’s title game, and earned 10-6 and 9-4 victories over the Clippers this season.
“The first two times we played Cape, we just couldn’t break their zone,” Watson said. “Once we started finding some guys on the back side, some opportunities opened up. However, their goalie stood in there tall and made some nice saves.”
Raymond and Thoreck both said the emotions after this year’s title were more muted.
“It’s a little bit stressful,” Raymond said. “We’ve had a great season, undefeated, everyone’s playing really well. And you get to the point where it’s a lot of relief to finish it off, where last year it was just excitement and joy at the end.”
Mark Emmert can be contacted at 791-6424 or
memmert@pressherald.com.
Twitter: MarkEmmertPPH
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