CAPE ELIZABETH — The turnaround for Cape Elizabeth High’s field hockey program continues.
Junior forward Grace Gray scored three goals to lead the second-seeded Capers to a 4-0 victory over third-seeded Yarmouth in a Class B South semifinal Saturday afternoon at Hannaford Field. The victory lifted the Capers, who won only one game four years ago, into its first regional final since 2000.
Cape Elizabeth (13-2-1) will play York or Leavitt on Wednesday at Freeport High, time still to be determined.
Yarmouth, also a surprise team this season, finished 9-5-2.
“This is huge for this team that stuck with it for four years,” said Cape Elizabeth Coach Maura Bisogni. “It’s huge for the program, in general. We’ve been really up and down. I’ve been hearing from a lot of alums. I’ve never heard from that many alums and parents of alum. I think (this season) is re-energizing field hockey at Cape.”
The Capers controlled this one from the start. They held Yarmouth to one shot while putting 13 on Clippers goalie Cassie Walsh, who made nine saves in a strong performance.
The teams played to a 1-1 tie on Sept. 18, in a game that never got to overtime because a thunderstorm rolled through. This time, the Capers came out fast.
“We didn’t want to give them any space into the game,” said Bisogni.
The Capers had constant pressure on Walsh from the start, and Gray broke through with 2:50 left in the first quarter. Camden Woods carried the ball into the circle on the right and passed to Abbie Homicz, who tapped the ball to Gray in close. Her shot didn’t miss.
Gray made it 2-0 with 7:58 left in the second quarter. Her low blast from the top of the circle on a penalty corner was set up by inserter Kaitlyn McIntyre and went just inside the right post.
“It was important to get off to the fast start because we know that Yarmouth is a tough team to beat,” said Gray. “We knew we had to get it off quick so we could have a good rest of the game and feel more comfortable throughout.”
Gray made it 3-0 early in the third. Piper Rickman scored with 3:54 remaining for the final goal.
“They came out and played hard in the first minute and caught us off guard,” said Yarmouth Coach Molly Saunders. “I would say we fought until the last minute. We never gave up.”
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