BOX SCORE
Yarmouth 13 Cape Elizabeth 5
CE- 4 1- 5
Y- 7 6- 13
First half
21:57 CE Graham (unassisted)
21:02 Y Powers (unassisted)
15:08 Y Powers (unassisted)
14:12 Y Powers (free position)
12:50 Y Lowenstein (D’Appolonia)
12:18 CE Frankwicz (unassisted)
12:02 Y Bergeron (Teare)
9:52 Y Thornton (free position)
4:45 CE Graham (unassisted)
3:13 CE Graham (unassisted)
55.0 Y Bergeron (Powers)
Second half
24:40 Y Moll (D’Appolonia)
23:44 Y Lowenstein (unassisted)
22:16 Y D’Appolonia (unassisted)
21:27 Y D’Appolonia (unassisted)
16:21 Y Lowenstein (D’Appolonia)
11:39 CE Graham (unassisted)
8:44 Y Bergeron (Thornton)
Goals:
CE- Graham 4, Frankwicz 1
Y- Bergeron, Lowenstein, Powers 3, D’Appolonia 2, Moll, Thornton 1
Assists:
Y- D’Appolonia 2, Powers, Teare, Thornton 1
Draws (Yarmouth, 11-9)
CE- McDonald 7 of 16, Ryer 2 of 4
Y- D’Appolonia 7 of 13, Thornton 4 of 7
Ground balls:
CE- 21
Y- 38
Turnovers:
CE- 16
Y- 13
Shots:
CE- 13
Y- 34
Shots on cage:
CE- 12
Y- 25
Saves:
CE (Woods) 6 (Branch) 6
Y (Meas) 7
YARMOUTH—Friday night, exactly one month after its season began with a game at Cape Elizabeth, Yarmouth’s girls’ lacrosse team met the Capers again and on their Senior Night, the Clippers delivered another emphatic statement that they’re something special.
Balanced on offense, strong on defense and in goal and most of all, unified as a juggernaut that the opposition simply can’t stop.
The Capers, the two-time reigning Class B champions, who edged Yarmouth in epic overtime state finals in both 2018 and 2019, struck first, as senior Charlotte Graham scored unassisted, but the Clippers quickly answered.
And it wasn’t a senior stepping up either.
Yarmouth freshman Aine Powers, arguably the finest freshman player in recent program history, scored three goals in under seven minutes to put the Clippers on top to stay, then senior Annie Lowenstein added another goal for a 4-1 advantage.
Senior Greta Frankwicz got a goal back for Cape Elizabeth before sophomore Annie Bergeron and senior Anna Thornton scored to put Yarmouth up, 6-2.
But the Capers answered back and made things interesting, as Graham scored a pair of unassisted goals.
Then, with just 55 seconds to go before the half, Bergeron restored momentum to the Clippers, who took a 7-4 advantage to the break.
Yarmouth then started the second half in breathtaking fashion, as junior Katelyn D’Appolonia set up senior Emma Moll for a goal just 20 seconds in.
That opened the floodgates and Lowenstein added an unassisted goal, D’Appolonia scored twice and Lowenstein produced one more to make it 12-4.
Graham scored her final goal to momentarily stem the tide, but Bergeron added one more goal and the Clippers went on to a 13-5 victory.
Bergeron, Lowenstein and Powers each scored three goals, D’Appolonia added two goals and three assists and Yarmouth won its eighth game in a row and improved to 9-1, dropping the Capers to a misleading 2-8 in the process.
“It was a fun game,” said longtime Clippers coach Dorothy Holt. “Cape’s a good team. You can’t count them out. Obviously (Senior Night) was big for us and we came in a little jittery, then we got our game face on. The seniors showed who they are. It was a great week for us.”
The beat goes on
Yarmouth began wins at Cape Elizabeth (9-3) and Waynflete (8-5), then suffered a narrow 10-8 setback at Kennebunk. After downing visiting Greely (13-6), the Clippers won at Massabesic (13-8) and defeated visiting Brunswick, 16-1, then held on for a thrilling 12-10 home victory over two-time reigning Class A champion Falmouth before edging host Greely Monday, 11-9, and downing visiting North Yarmouth Academy Wednesday, 14-5.
Cape Elizabeth started with a 13-12 setback at York, then fell at home to Kennebunk (13-2), Windham (13-3) and Yarmouth (9-3). After getting in the win column, 15-10, at Berwick Academy, the Capers lost at two-time reigning Class A champion Falmouth, 10-5, before breaking through with a 9-8 victory at Freeport. Consecutive 5-4 home losses to Lake Region and Massabesic (in overtime) followed.
In the teams’ first meeting, Lowenstein scored three goals and Yarmouth junior goalie Juliet Meas made 11 clutch saves.
Friday, on a chilly 54-degree evening, Lowenstein and company got things going and rolled to yet another win.
After Meas denied Cape Elizabeth junior Claire McDonald early, Graham got a look and finished with 21:57 to play in the first half to open the scoring.
Then, Powers took over.
The speedy, dynamic, budding star first tied the score after a nice move around a defender with 21:02 remaining.
Then, with 15:08 on the clock, Powers beat Capers senior goalie Cammie Wood to put the Clippers in the lead to stay.
Just 56 seconds later, Powers was awarded a free position and she scored on that as well to make it 3-1.
“It’s been so fun and I love my team and coaches so much,” said Powers. “There’s been so much support. I was just excited to get into the game. It was so nice that all the seniors started. The energy from that built on the field and in warmups and we applied it to the game.”
“(Aine) brings fresh moves and an intense passion for lacrosse,” Lowenstein said. “Not a lot of freshmen make Yarmouth varsity or play such a big role. It’s because she loves lacrosse and we love playing with her.”
“(Aine) and Katelyn are the ones who have played this much as freshmen,” Holt added. “She’s unique in the fact that she has so much poise in pressure situations. I feel like she rises with more pressure. She has an amazing supporting cast too and they give her confidence.”
That supporting cast then began to heat us, as the Bates College-bound Lowenstein, who features one of the most deadly shots around, finished a feed from D’Appolonia with 12:50 remaining in the half to make it 4-1.
Thirty-two seconds later, Frankwicz scored unassisted to end the 4-0 run, but with 12:02 left, in transition, senior Natalie Teare set up Bergeron for her first goal and after Meas denied senior Tatum Strunk at one end, Thornton scored on a free position at the other with 9:52 to play in the half for a 6-2 advantage.
Graham then got Cape Elizabeth back in it, scoring unassisted with 4:45 left, then doing it again with 3:13 to go to cut the deficit to two.
“Charlotte had that grit today,” said Capers coach Alex Spark. “You could tell she wanted to get the ball in the back of the cage.”
But just when it appeared Cape Elizabeth would take momentum to halftime, Powers threw a high pass that Bergeron leaped to catch before shooting past Woods with 55 seconds on the clock, producing a 7-4 lead which would carry into the break.
The game was relatively even over the first 25 minutes, as each team won six draws, each squad turned the ball over seven times and each goalie made four saves, but it was only a matter of time before the Clippers pulled away.
D’Appolonia won the draw to start the second half, collected the ball, raced in and set up Moll for a stunningly quick goal just 20 seconds in to make it 8-4.
Fifty-six seconds later, it was Lowenstein’s turn, as she scored unassisted to stretch the lead to five.
“We had a great talk at halftime,” Lowenstein said. “It was led by the players. We talked about playing our game and not letting (Cape) score again. We wanted to play the best we could for each other and for Coach Dorothy, especially on Senior Night when all of our parents are here, our grandparents, family and friends.”
With 22:16 left, D’Appolonia scored her first goal, unassisted.
A mere 49 seconds later, D’Appolonia produced her second, rebounding her own shot, and the lead was 11-4.
After Meas denied McDonald, D’Appolonia set up Lowenstein with 16:21 to play to cap a 6-0 run.
The Capers scored their lone second half goal with 11:39 remaining, as Graham scored for the fourth and final time.
Junior Elise Branch then came in to play goalie for Cape Elizabeth and made some highlight reel saves, including consecutive stops on Thornton and Lowenstein.
Finally, with 8:44 to play, Thornton set up Bergeron for a goal and that would be it for offense.
Yarmouth ran out the clock from there and prevailed, 13-5.
“We’ve really grown together as a team,” Powers said. “Seeing how our attack and defense talk and how it flows is just amazing.”
“It means so much to win on Senior Night,” Lowenstein said. “It’s the first time in 16 years we’ve fielded all 11 field players as seniors. That just speaks to how much our class has worked and grown up together playing. We all feel so passionate about the game and it makes us stronger as a team. We have a lot of talented players and that brings us together.”
The Clippers placed six different girls in the scoring column, as Bergeron, Lowenstein and Powers each had three goals, D’Appolonia added two and Moll and Thornton finished with one apiece.
D’Appolonia also had two assists, collected six ground balls (including one in seemingly effortless one-handed fashion) and won seven draws.
“Katelyn’s amazing,” Powers said. “To see someone at that skill level is so fun to watch. I love playing with her.”
Powers, Teare and Thornton all had one assist.
Meas made seven saves.
“Juliet is making saves that you think she shouldn’t make,” Holt said.
Yarmouth had an 11-9 edge in draws, a 38-21 advantage in ground balls (Thornton had a game-high eight and Teare collected seven), a 34-13 shots advantage (25-12 on cage) and only turned the ball over 13 times.
Cape Elizabeth got four goals from Graham and one from Frankwicz.
Woods and Branch both made six saves in goal.
The Capers turned the ball over 16 times.
“Normally we start a little slowly in the first half, then turn it on in the second, but today was the opposite for us,” Spark said. “We had a great first half, some great shots, some great defensive stints that lasted a long time when we held them. Credit to Yarmouth, they’re a great team and they moved the ball quickly today.
“The score may not show it, but we’ve come so far. Our team energy, our team chemistry, the support we have for each other. Those foundational things have come so far since our first game against Yarmouth. We had our heads down after the first game. After this game, we’re cheering each other on about what we did well.”
Two to go
Cape Elizabeth (now 10th in the Class B state Heal Points standings) closes next week with games at Greely Tuesday and at home versus Waynflete Thursday.
“(Greely and Waynflete) are both great teams to play to get ready for playoffs,” Spark said. “I think it’s got to be all 26 of us coming together and that includes starters, subs. We’ll have to all push and support each other. It’s going to be a total team effort.
“We’d be fortunate to see Yarmouth again. We love to play them. I’d obviously love to think we can close the gap. We know their players well. They’re talented, but so are we.”
Yarmouth (first in Class B) has a test at Freeport Tuesday, then finishes at home against York Thursday. If the Clippers can wind up first, they’ll not only have homefield advantage, but will also have a bye into the state quarterfinals.
“We’re taking it game by game,” Powers said. “We don’t count any team out. We’re learning every game. We have fun, but practice is serious for preparation. It shows in games when what we do in practice shows up. We just have to push ourselves even harder in playoffs. I love playing on the turf and having our fans here. I feel like we’re more connected here. We have our warmup play list and it just gets us in the mood.”
“We’re in a good place and we’re gearing up and that’s what should be happening at this time of year,” Holt said. “We just want to keep playing Yarmouth lacrosse and taking it game by game and hoping we can perform. We’d like to be home. This group is ready. After a year off, we’re just thankful to be here every day. I’m so confident in the girls. They have confidence in each other and it shows.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.
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