(Ed. Note: For the complete Cape Elizabeth-Greely field hockey and  Scarborough-Greely volleyball game stories, please visit theforecaster.net)

The fall sports season continued last week and there was plenty of drama and even some surprises.

Here’s a glimpse:

Boys’ soccer

Scarborough’s defending Class A champion boys’ soccer team was reeling after last week’s stunning 1-0 home loss to Portland.

“We couldn’t finish,” lamented Red Storm coach Mark Diaz. “We have a lack of experience in some positions. We’ll learn from it.”

Not surprisingly, Scarborough bounced back Monday with a 4-0 win at Marshwood Tuesday, behind goals from Matt Caron, Austin Doody, Wyatt Omsberg and Noah Stracqualursi. The Red Storm was home with Sanford Thursday and welcomes dangerous Noble Tuesday.

South Portland lost at home to Gorham, 3-1, Saturday, despite a goal from Brady Cyr. Tuesday, the Red Riots evened their record at 2-2 with a 3-1 home win over Westbrook. Danny Fox, Robert Graff and Ahmed Suja scored. South Portland is at Noble Saturday and welcomes Windham Tuesday.

After opening with a scoreless tie at York, Cape Elizabeth got in the win column Monday, 4-0, at Poland. Eli Breed, Eddie Galvin, Noah Haversat and Kayne Munson had the goals. The Capers had a huge test Wednesday at two-time defending Class B champion Falmouth (see theforecaster.net for the game story). Cape Elizabeth welcomes another powerhouse, Greely, Saturday, and plays host to Lake Region Tuesday.

Greater Portland Christian School improved to 2-0 Friday with a 6-2 win at Highview Christian. After hosting Chop Point Wednesday, the Lions are home with Islesboro Tuesday.

Girls’ soccer

On the girls’ side, defending Class A champion Scarborough was shocked Saturday in settling for a 1-1 tie with visiting Biddeford. Ashley Gleason scored, but the Tigers tied the game late on a penalty kick and the Red Storm couldn’t convert a PK in overtime. Scarborough (2-0-1) was home with Marshwood Wednesday, The Red Storm goes to Sanford Saturday and plays at Noble Wednesday of next week.

Cape Elizabeth, the top ranked team in our Super6 poll, improved to 3-0 with a 6-1 home win over Poland Monday. Kathryn Clark scored twice and Katherine Briggs, Mariah Deschino, Lizzy Raftice and Addie Wood all had one. The Capers welcomed three-time defending Class B champion Falmouth Wednesday, go to Greely Saturday (see theforecaster.net for game story) and play at Lake Region Tuesday.

South Portland is 0-3 after recent losses to visiting Thornton Academy (5-0) and host Gorham (4-1). Lillian Larochelle had the goal and Emma Russell made 15 saves against the Rams. After visiting Westbrook Wednesday, the Red Riots host McAuley Saturday and go to Windham Wednesday of next week.

GPCS takes an 0-2 record into Friday’s game at Highview Christian. Wednesday, the Lions go to Vinalhaven.

Field hockey

The regular season win streak of the Scarborough field hockey team hit 27 after a 6-0 home win over Sanford Monday. Kristen Murray had a hat trick as the Red Storm improved to 4-0. Scarborough was at Windham Wednesday, welcomes South Portland Saturday and Portland Monday and plays at Thornton Academy Tuesday.

South Portland got its first victory Monday, 5-3, at Portland. Kristina Salafia had two goals. The Red Riots (1-3) were home with Sanford Wednesday, visit Scarborough Saturday and play host to Windham Tuesday.

In Western B, Cape Elizabeth bounced back from its lone loss with three straight victories to improve to 4-1. Last week, the Capers downed host Poland (3-0) and visiting Fryeburg (2-0). Taylor Herrera and Abby McInerney had the goals against the Raiders. Tuesday, Cape Elizabeth went to Greely and got off to a hot start when McInerney scored just over four minutes in. The Rangers then controlled play, tying the score late in the first half and going ahead on a goal with 8:35 left. On the ropes, the Capers responded and a pretty backhanded goal from Sammi Altznauer with 3:55 left tied the game and forced overtime. There, Hailey Petsinger scored just over four minutes in and Cape Elizabeth survived, 3-2.

“It took a lot for our team to win, but when we got momentum, it was a lot easier,” said Petsinger. “We were all hoping after the tying goal, then we got the last one. I’m glad we did.”

“We were getting worried, but our team always manages to pull it through,” said Altznauer. “We’re a very strong team. We weren’t connecting, but at the end, but we got the intensity. Nothing’s ever easy in field hockey. It was a big team effort.”

“It’s a very big win,” added Capers coach Darci Holland. “I’m proud of (the girls) for sticking with it. They were frustrated, but they kept digging deeper. It was not easy. This was not our best play at all. It’s a very strong team. In the past, we had a couple really strong players who did all the scoring, but this year, we spread out the wealth. That’s a big difference.”

Cape Elizabeth hosted Freeport Thursday, plays at Kennebunk Monday, then hosts dangerous Yarmouth Wednesday. The Capers have a shot at a high playoff seed, but still need to get better.

“We have to keep working hard,” said Altznauer. “We have to keep building.”

“I think we can make it far if we keep up the intensity and go for it,” Petsinger said.

“We hope to go places this year,” Holland added. “We have to keep communicating and keep the intensity level the whole game. It’s consistency.”

Cross country

On the trails, the Cape Elizabeth boys, the top team in the 5th Quarter/Forecaster statewide poll, joined Greely and Yarmouth at Lake Region last weekend and placed first. Liam Simpson (third, 15 minutes, 38 seconds) had the best individual time. The Capers girls also won their race, against the same teams, as Rhoen Fiutak placed fourth in 19:44.

Scarborough joined Biddeford and Massabesic at Portland Friday. The boys’ team won easily as Colin Tardiff (16:46), Jacob Terry (16:47) and Sean McGovern (17:06) went 1-2-3. The girls were second to the Mustangs. Laura Volan (20:26) came in third.

South Portland joined Marshwood and Windham at Cheverus Monday for a meet that was postponed by bad weather Friday. The Red Riots boys were second behind Windham. Saad Zacharia placed fourth (17:56.5). The girls were third behind the hosts and Windham, as Casey Loring was the individual runner-up in 20:14.6.

This weekend, Cape Elizabeth (with Fryeburg and Waynflete) runs at NYA, Scarborough joins Cheverus and Sanford at Westbrook and South Portland hosts Bonny Eagle, Deering and Massabesic.

Golf

Cape Elizabeth’s golf team is setting the pace in the Western Maine Conference. The Capers improved to 8-0 with a 6-1 home win over Wells Monday. An undefeated regular season appears to be in store. Scarborough started 4-0 with an 11-2 home win over Portland Monday. The Red Storm hosted powerhouse Falmouth Wednesday. South Portland won at Cheverus, 7-6, last Wednesday for its first victory since Sept. 29, 2010. The Red Riots fell to 1-3 Monday after an 11-2 home setback to Falmouth. South Portland was at Deering Wednesday.

Volleyball

Scarborough’s volleyball team finally got the landmark win it was seeking last Thursday evening when longtime tormentor and defending Class A champion Greely came to town.

The Red Storm, which had beaten visiting Cony, 3-0 (25-5, 25-17, 25-10), in its opener two days prior, had lost all 20 previous matches to the state’s premier program, including a five-set heartbreaker in last year’s state semifinals, and after letting a lead slip away in a 29-31 first set loss, appeared doomed to more agony. Instead, Scarborough controlled the rest of the match, winning game two, 25-11, and game three, 25-14. Not surprisingly, the fourth set came down to the wire and after letting a lead dissipate once more, the Red Storm faced set point, down, 23-24, but it won that point and the next two to take the game, 26-24, and the match, 3-1.

“We ended it on a high note,” said standout Mary Cleary, who had 17 kills, including one which ended the match, and six digs. “We talked about last year a lot, especially in the summertime. I don’t think (losing the first game) was bad. We fought through it and it fueled our next three games. We’re really close and we trust each other and know we can get back from anything.”

“It means a lot for the program,” said Red Storm coach Jon Roberts. “It wasn’t just another match. It’s confidence building going forward. We have a bunch of goals. One of our goals was getting this monkey off our back. It was nice doing it here in our gym. We’ve had kids who had a lot of personal accolades who weren’t able to say they could beat that team. We tried hard to make it just another tough match and not focus on the name on their shirts.”

Scarborough improved to 3-0 Monday with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-22, 25-16) win over visiting Gorham. Natalie Foster had eight kills and Abby Mills seven. The Red Storm was at Biddeford Wednesday and plays host to Lake Region Wednesday of next week.

The vastly improved and growing more confident by the day Capers of Cape Elizabeth took a 4-0 record into Wednesday’s home match versus Cony after recent wins at Windham, 3-0 (25-2, 25-9, 25-15), and Yarmouth, 3-1 (15-25, 25-17, 26-24, 25-14). The Capers’ schedule is about to get much tougher as they host Falmouth Friday and go to Biddeford Tuesday.

South Portland’s first-year program fell to 0-4 after a 3-0 (15-25, 20-25, 12-25) home loss to Kennebunk and a tightly contested 3-1 (26-28, 24-26, 25-14, 19-25) home setback to Cheverus. The Red Riots were seeking their first win Wednesday at Gorham. After hosting Biddeford Friday, South Portland visits Cony Tuesday.