It was a long time in coming, but the start of the fall sports season has been worth the wait.

While football and volleyball aren’t playing countable games this autumn, field hockey and soccer are and cross country and golf are also under way.

Here’s a glimpse:

Boys’ soccer

Cape Elizabeth opened up its boys’ soccer season in style last Friday on the new turf at Hannaford Field. The Capers, who went 7-7-1 last season, losing, 3-2, in double-overtime, to Freeport in the Class B South quarterfinals, hosted longtime rival Greely and shot to a quick 2-0 lead behind two goals from Nick Clifford before the game was even nine minutes old.

“I’m so grateful to be out here and play with all my teammates,” said Clifford. “When I found out we were going to be able to play (this season), it’s probably the happiest I’ve been in months. We took the opportunity early.”

“It was a great start,” said longtime Capers coach Ben Raymond. “We played really well in the first 20 minutes and moved the ball really well.”

Cape Elizabeth didn’t score again, but managed to shut down the Rangers for 80 minutes and prevailed, 2-0.

“We could have been a little sharper, especially in the second half, but we started out hot,” Clifford said.

“The kids were excited to play,” Raymond said. “When they were warming up, they were getting excited and that was good to see. They’ve missed competing with their teammates against someone else, especially a rival. Nothing else is the same. Greely played much better in the second half and had more possession. You know it’s always going to be close no matter what when we play each other.”

Cape Elizabeth was at Scarborough Wednesday and hosts defending Class B champion Yarmouth Wednesday of next week.

“We get to play top teams, which is awesome and we get to play our rivals and (Class A champion) Falmouth too,” said Clifford. “We’re excited.”

The beauty of the schedule we’re playing this year is that they’re competitive games against great programs,” Raymond said. “The kids have a great attitude about getting out there and competing every chance they can and having fun.”

Scarborough, coming off a 10-3-3 campaign, which ended with a 2-0 loss to eventual champion Falmouth in the Class A South semifinals, played its first contest Wednesday at home versus Cape Elizabeth in the teams’ first regular season meeting since 2002. The Red Storm welcome Bonny Eagle Friday and go to Gorham Wednesday of next week.

South Portland, which finished 10-5-1 in 2019, losing, 2-1, to Portland in the Class A South quarterfinals, started off with a 2-1 home loss to Deering Tuesday. Sam Kierstead scored the goal. The Red Riots are back in action Saturday at Westbrook, then host Portland Thursday of next week.

Greater Portland Christian School started with a 6-3 win over Chop Point Monday. Caulin Patterson scored three goals.

Girls’ soccer

On the girls’ side, two-time Class B champion Cape Elizabeth, which went 17-1 a year ago, beating Hermon, 4-0, in the state final, picked right up where it left off with a 5-0 win at Greely last Friday. Emily Supple had two goals, while Maggie Cochran, Caroline Gentile and Laura Ryer all put the ball in the net once. The Capers are back in action Saturday, Oct. 7, at Yarmouth.

Scarborough, the three-time reigning Class A South champion, which finished 15-3 last fall after a 2-1 state final loss to Camden Hills, starts its season Friday at Bonny Eagle. The Red Storm host rival Gorham Tuesday of next week.

South Portland, which finished 3-12 in 2019 after a 5-0 Class A South preliminary round loss to Windham, started its season Tuesday with a 1-0 victory at Deering on Julianna Coyne’s goal. The Red Riots host Westbrook Friday, then go to Portland Wednesday of next week.

Field hockey

Cape Elizabeth’s field hockey team began its season Saturday with a 4-1 home loss to Yarmouth on “Senior Day.” The Capers, who went 7-8 last year, losing, 1-0, to Lake Region in the Class B South quarterfinals, scored first, on Carmen Erickson’s goal, but surrendered three goals in the fourth quarter and went down to defeat.

“It’s been challenging, but it was awesome to get out and play,” said Capers coach Maura Bisogni. “We’re trying to honor our seniors. They’ve come out and played to win and played hard for three years.”

Cape Elizabeth was back in action Wednesday at Greely. Friday brings a trip to South Portland and the Capers go to Freeport Wednesday of next week.

“We’re a little rusty and we’re transitioning into playing field hockey and trying to win,” Bisogni said. “That’s the challenge.”

Scarborough, which went 9-5-1 in 2019, losing, 1-0, to Falmouth in the Class A South preliminary round, opened play Thursday at home versus longtime rival Cheverus (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story). The Red Storm travel to South Portland Tuesday.

South Portland, coming off a 4-10 campaign, opened last Friday with a 10-0 loss at Cheverus. The Red Riots looked for their first win Wednesday at Portland. After hosting Cape Elizabeth Friday, South Portland welcomes Scarborough Tuesday of next week.

Cross country

The cross country season got underway last weekend.

Scarborough met Bonny Eagle with the boys’ team coming in first (Zachary Barry was the top individual with a time of 16 minutes, 58.60 seconds).

South Portland played host to Cheverus. The boys won the meet, with Jacob Ramos finishing as the top individual (15:17). The Red Riots girls came in second behind the Stags. Rachel Kingsley (19:32) was third individually.

Cape Elizabeth hosted Waynflete and swept the Flyers. The boys were paced by Vaughn Lindenau (second, 17:29), while the girls featured top finisher Hadley Mahoney (20:20). The Capers won the girls’ meet on a tiebreaker, thanks to sixth-place finisher Zoe Evans, who was 10th, 23:37, compared to the Flyers’ sixth-place finisher, who came in 12th.

Golf

Scarborough’s golf team started by beating Falmouth, 7-6. The Red Storm then downed Cheverus (10.5-2.5) and tied South Portland (6.5-6.5).

South Portland downed Portland (7-6), then tied Scarborough (6.5-6.5).

Cape Elizabeth lost, 4-3, to Gray-New Gloucester in its first match.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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