YARMOUTH — On a rain-soaked afternoon, offensive opportunities were limited as top-seeded Yarmouth hosted fourth-seeded Cape Elizabeth in a Class B South girls’ soccer semifinal.

Yarmouth captain Katie Clemmer took advantage of what opportunities she had, notching a goal and an assist to lead the Clippers in a 3-1 victory on Saturday.

Yarmouth advances to the regional final, where it will take on No. 2 Greely.

Clemmer opened the scoring in the 18th minute, when she took a pass from Olivia Feeley and after slipping past the last defender unloaded a drive toward the net. Cape Elizabeth keeper Alison Ingalls (nine saves) nearly made a diving stop, but the shot bounced off her outstretched hand and rolled into the net.

“Katie does a lot of special things with the ball. I think anyone would be happy to have one player like that, and I’ve got two of them,” said Yarmouth Coach Josh Thornton. “Sara (D’Appolonia) can do a lot of those same things with the ball. Both of them can create something from nothing, and both of them have scored goals they have no business scoring. We’re very lucky to have that firepower at forward.”

Added Cape Coach Craig Fannon: “The ball sticks with Katie. Her touch is always good and she brings others into it really well. We wanted to limit them, and we did a pretty good job and made it scrappy, but their forwards are going to shine through eventually.”

Advertisement

The Capers responded three minutes into the second half, when Prezli Piscopo connected with Mariah Deschino, who used a through ball to beat the defenders before firing the equalizer past keeper Meredith Lane.

Ten minutes later, Yarmouth used an attack off a corner kick to take a 2-1 lead. Freshman Caroline Grant finished a put-back goal after collecting her own rebound.

The Clippers added one more goal with 20 minutes to play when D’Appolonia scored on a rebound of Clemmer’s shot.

“When you go up by two goals, it takes a little bit of air out of the other team,” said Thornton. “Getting that third goal just gives you a little bit of breathing space, and the girls relaxed a little bit. When they’re relaxed, they’re better players.”


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.