After a tight first half versus visiting Waynflete on Thursday night, April 14, the Capers regrouped and resurged in the downhill quarters. Cape outscored the Flyers 12-3 in those final 24 minutes, turning a 5-5 tally at the break into a lopsided, 17-8 victory at the end.

“We would definitely like to have played a little better in the first half,” said Cape head coach Ben Raymond. “It’s been a tough week; focus is in and out, the kids are a little bit amped up to play and throwing the ball around a little bit, not catching it. It just wasn’t a great start.”

A veritable platoon of Capers contributed to the W, led by J Bottomley, who scored four times on five shots. Teammates Tate Perkins, Connor Thoreck and RJ Sarka all hashed hat tricks in the rout. Owen Thoreck notched a pair, and Finn Raymond and Sam Dresser one apiece. 

Cape controlled early, and quickly set up an extended attack; right off the bat, it appeared the game might belong to them. But Waynflete’s defense held, and they eventually burst the Capers’ perimeter to launch a push of their own. Flyer Cooper Chap soon shuttled the ball past Cape netminder Alex Narvaez for a 1-0 lead.

Waynflete jumped to 2-0 just a minute on, when Will Nelligan curled around Narvaez’s cage and fired across low. Suddenly, the Flyers had Cape back on their heels, and they held onto the momentum through the Capers’ next possession, once again snapping the line of their attack and clearing.

Finally – after a seven and a half minute drought – Cape got on the board. They did it in style, too: defender Ben Ekedahl deftly forced a Waynflete turnover, then initiated a slick series of passes upfield. The ball eventually found the stick of Owen Thoreck, who dished it over to Bottomley, loitering at the right side of the Flyers’ net. Bottomley slipped the ball past Waynflete keeper Will Armstrong with ease.

The action rolled back and forth from there, at least until the break. Perkins evened the tally at 2-2, just nine ticks into the second quarter, and Sarka then Bottomley compiled a 4-2 advantage for the Capers with 9:31 still to play. 

Waynflete kept things close, Willy Burdick catching the Cape defense off their guard and besting Narvaez one-on-one at 5:33, before Owen Thoreck inched his boys ahead again in spectacular fashion, stuffing Armstong on a clear attempt and shunting home the loose ball that resulted.

The final two points of the half belonged to the Flyers, though – one each to Chap and Hank Duvall – and the squads went to their respective corners all tied up at 5-5.

“Just to relax a little bit; we were pretty tight,” said Raymond of his advice to his boys at the break. “We just needed to relax and play. We know the level of talent we have; catching and throwing really shouldn’t be an issue. Little things, doing them well. Start with just picking up more ground balls.”

The story changed drastically in the latter quarters. Perkins seized the lead for Cape less than two minutes later, and the team never looked back. Connor Thoreck made it 7-5 with 8:09 to play in the third, and 8-5 not 30 seconds after that. Play unraveled into a barrage of Capers notches, with Bottomley, Perkins, Sarka and others all contributing to the runaway, 17-8 final.

“We did a better job on the faceoffs in the second half as well,” said Raymond. “Once those little things start to go your way, then we can take care of the other pieces, start shooting a little bit. Their goalie, Will, played really well – he made a bunch of saves, so that was good for them.”

The Waynflete defense had also proved a knot the Capers needed to undo. “Anytime a team plays a good zone against you, it’s going to take a little while to figure it out,” Raymond said. “Especially if you’re talking the first game of the season. We definitely do not have a zone offense in yet, we don’t play a zone.”

Raymond elaborated. “We’re pretty athletic,” he said. “We like to get out there and pressure a little bit. Our guys handle pressure pretty well; they don’t really handle teams that sit back and invite you to throw passes. We love to throw, we love to try to jam it in there, throw passes that are ill-advised. And we don’t have a lot of guys that pass up shots – so that worked really well for them, the first half.”

Owen Thoreck added three assists in the bout, and Sarka two. Connor Thoreck, Bottomley and Perkins each had one.

The Capers, 1-0 on the season, have roughly two weeks off before their next matchup, a road contest at Yarmouth on April 27.

Capers Tate Perkins (25) and Ben Carrol (20) pincer out Waynflete’s John Veroneau.

Cape’s J Bottomley – the team’s leading scorer vs. visiting Waynflete on Thursday, with four goals – splits a pair of Flyers in pursuit of a loose ball.

Cape netminder Alex Narvaez turns a spectacular save against heavy Waynflete pressure on Thursday.

Caper Ethan Avantaggio and Waynflete’s Miles Lipton chase a ground ball on Thursday evening.

Caper Tommy Brett stands ready on D as an approaching Waynflete attacker unwinds into a shot.