CAPE ELIZABETH — Every second mattered in the final episode of the Cape Elizabeth vs. Falmouth boys’ lacrosse Class B regional final series.

For the ninth straight time, the two powers met in the regional final Wednesday night. In front of roughly 1,000 fans, the Capers secured a 6-5 win when Nick Farnham of Falmouth fired a man-up shot just inches wide of the goal as the clock expired.

“I saw the shot but boy, it was fast,” said Cape goalie Sam Price, who made 11 saves. “It took me a long time to process that we had won, probably until I was at the bottom of the (victory) pile.”

It’s possible the rivals will meet again in a regional final in 2018, but it won’t be in Class B. With the sport expanding to three classes for the first time, Falmouth will move up to Class A. Cape is expected to petition to also join Class A.

Cape (13-1), the top seed in the South, will take a 13-game winning streak into Saturday’s state championship against Yarmouth (9-6). Cape will be going for its 11th state title in its 15th championship-game appearance in the 20-year history of MPA-sanctioned lacrosse.

Cape beat Yarmouth twice by big margins this season.

Cape’s current winning streak started after consecutive losses to Falmouth when it blew leads at home in the 2016 regional final and this season’s home opener in a rainstorm.

“After that loss last year we had a good feeling we’d be back here and we’ve been thinking about it ever since, and we came out and played a great game,” said defender Ben Ekedahl.

Backed by seven first-half saves from Price, Cape took a 4-1 lead with Tate Perkins scoring the first two goals, and Connor Thoreck and Ben Carroll scoring once each.

Cape pushed the lead to 6-1 on third-period goals by Finn Raymond and Owen Thoreck.

Then Falmouth (12-2) began another comeback.

Jack Scribner and Tom Fitzgerald scored late in the third quarter, and goals from Lou Mainella and Farnham in the first 3:19 cut the margin to one.

Price followed with big saves on Henry Farnham (one goal) and Scribner. A hard one-bounce shot by Scribner caromed off the crossbar and ricocheted all the way to midfield with 1:35 to play.

“We played our offense but Sam Price had a great game,” said Falmouth Coach Dave Barton. “Best game I’ve seen him play. The shots weren’t falling.”

Cape’s defensive group of Ekedahl, Peyton Weatherbie and Gavin Spidle, with key help from long-stick middie Ethan Avantaggio, kept Falmouth from getting deep on Price.

“I think our defense played really well,” said Cape Coach Ben Raymond. “The last time we played them we held them to five and we thought if we could hold them to five we’d win the game. We didn’t know that we’d only get six but it worked out pretty well.”

Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or:

scraig@pressherald.com

Twitter: SteveCCraig

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