Gavin Simopoulos wasn’t worried.

Even though Cape Elizabeth’s third-ranked boys’ hockey team was scoreless against No. 6 Yarmouth through two periods of the Class B South quarterfinal Wednesday afternoon at Troubh Ice Arena, Simopoulos knew his time would come.

And it did with 7:26 to play, when Simopoulous weaved through several defenders before scoring the game’s first goal. He later added an assist on Phil Tarling’s goal with 15 seconds remaining to help the Capers win 2-0.

“We knew that (Yarmouth’s) goalie was hot, but we just had to stick with it,” said Simopoulos. “We knew that eventually we would get one in.”

Cape Elizabeth (14-5) advanced to meet No. 6 Brunswick in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Friday at the Colisee in Lewiston.

Cape Elizabeth couldn’t convert on two power plays in the first period and all 13 of its shots were turned aside by Yarmouth’s freshman goalie, Charles Henry Watson, who denied Simopolous in close, saved a pair of shots from Jackson Woods and stopped a Tarling rush late in the period.

Yarmouth had a pair of power plays in the second period and held a 6-5 advantage.

Watson prevented the Capers from going on top when he made a superb pad save on Tarling’s breakaway at 8:02.

Cape Elizabeth goalie Garrett Mello’s best work came with his team a man down, robbing Sam Marjerison and Matt Sanborn.

After Yarmouth just missed on a couple promising chances early in the third period, Cape Elizabeth finally broke through.

Simopoulos raced into the offensive zone, eluded a couple of defenders, then shot and beat Watson high.

“We had a nice defensive breakout, I was lucky enough to make a move and finish high,” Simopoulos said. “When I shot it, I actually thought it wasn’t going in, but it was a nice team goal.”

“Gavin is a special player for us,” said Capers Coach Jake Rutt. “He scores a lot of big goals for us and he knows what makes him effective.”

The Clippers came close to tying the game with 2:41 to play, when Marjersion set up Aidan Miller in front, but Mello (16 saves) made his biggest stop.

Then, on the power play with 15.7 seconds to go, Simopoulos set up Tarling to clinch it.

“The boys were frustrated coming into the third period, but they’ve bought into what the new coaching staff has been preaching,” Rutt said.

Watson made 27 saves for Yarmouth (7-10-2).

“I’m proud of the way we worked tonight,” said Clippers Coach Dave St. Pierre. “We set a game plan up for ourselves and I thought the boys committed to it extremely well. We wanted to keep the game tight and maybe get an opportunity, but we couldn’t find the back of the net. I’m glad we competed and showed we could go toe-to-toe with them.”

PORTLAND 4, SCARBOROUGH 1: Dan and Don Tocci combined for three goals to lead the fifth-seeded Bulldogs (9-10) to a Class A South quarterfinal victory over No. 4 Scarborough (10-8-1) at USM Arena.
Portland will meet No. 1 Thornton in the semifinals at noon on Saturday at the Colisee in Lewiston.

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