CAPE ELIZABETH
When the final horn blew, the Morse High School girls soccer team likely wanted nothing more than to forget what read on the scoreboard — 6-1 in favor of Cape Elizabeth.
The No. 6 Shipbuilders (9- 4-2) hopped on the bus Wednesday afternoon and traveled to Cape Elizabeth to take on the No. 3 Capers (10- 4-1) in a Western Class B quarterfinal match, with both teams facing an opponent never seen before, but the Capers took no time to figure it out.
“(Cape) had a game plan,” Morse coach Steve Boyce said after the game. “They have talent and we bent for a while, but unfortunately we broke for a while, about 10 or 15 minutes and they scored at will.”
Just two minutes into the game it appeared the Shipbuilders were ready to go when Bri Williams collected a rebound off Capers goalkeeper
Tessa Goldstein, but was unable to turn on the ball to give her team an early lead.
Morse was able to get off one more quality scoring chance with 33:42 remaining when Miracle Trimble fed a ball to Williams, with her shot soaring over Goldstein and grazing the top of the crossbar and out of play.
Capers take control
With 30:50 on the clock, Cape Elizabeth opened the offensive door and never turned back. Kate Breed sent a pass from inside the 18 on the right side to Kathryn Clark, who was standing on the goal line and able to one-touch the ball into the net for a 1-0 advantage.
Before anyone was able to catch their breath, the Capers tallied up another goal 51 seconds later when Clark found Mariah Deschino, who won a one-on-one battle with Shipbuilders goaltender Alesha Aucoin and sent it to the top shelf, making it 2-0.
Six minutes later an identical play occurred for the Capers, giving everyone in attendance “deja vu” as Clark passed a ball through the middle to Deschino, but this time her looping drive to the left had her sending a ball in the back pocket around Aucoin.
After the Capers took a commanding 4-0 lead with Deschino topping her night off with a hat trick at the 16:12 mark in the first, Clark gathered up her second goal when Deschino sent a behind-the-back pass into the 18 for another one-onone battle for Clark that she eventually won, putting her team up 5-0.
The Shipbuilders never backed down despite the score, getting on the board with 4:26 left in the opening frame. Lauren Pelletier found herself all alone on the right corner of the offensive zone and sent a floater into the 18, but the ball carried up-and-over Goldstein’s head and into the side of the net for what was the first and only Shipbuilder goal.
The second half saw a whole different team in the Shipbuilders, doubling their shots from three in the first to six in the second as well as putting together two quality scoring chances among the fight.
“I think we recovered in the second half and we figured out what to do, what we wanted to do,” Boyce said of his team’s performance in the latter part of the game. “And we did it for the most part.”
Though Cape Elizabeth added yet another goal off the foot of Clark, who joined Deschino with a hat trick, Boyce praised his team’s “never back down” attitude.
“When I talked to them (at halftime) I was very happy with their character,” he said. “They could have folded, it could have easily been 10-1, but they have pride and they have the character and there’s a reason for us being here.”
The end of the road may have arrived for the Shipbuilders, but Boyce is proud of what his team has been able to accomplish and is encouraged for what is to come.
“I’ve seen them (the freshman) grow,” he said of the young talent on his squad. “I have seen them and the other underclassmen pick up the character that the seniors had. Unfortunately we’re losing a scoring tandem.
“However, I put two freshmen in and we almost scored. That makes me feel good and I’m encouraged that I know we have a nucleus going forward.”
Cape Elizabeth moves on to the semifinal round, facing No. 2 ranked Yarmouth, which defeated No. 10 Gray- New Gloucester 4-0 on Wednesday. In the other Western B semifinal, topseeded Greely will host No. 4 Lincoln Academy.
No. 3 Cape Elizabeth 6,
No. 6 Morse 1
Western Maine Class B
Girls Soccer Quarterfinal
At Cape Elizabeth High School
Morse — 1 0 — 1
Cape Elizabeth — 5 1 — 6
Goals — (CE) Mariah Deschino 3,
Kathryn Clark 3; (M) Lauren Pelletier.
Assists — (CE) Kathryn Clark 2,
Maria Deschino, Kate Breed, Montana
Braxton, Katherine Briggs.
Shots — Morse 9, Cape Elizabeth 21.
Saves — (M) Alesha Aucoin 10; (CE)
Tessa Goldstein 5.
Corner kicks — Morse 0, Cape Elizabeth 3.
Records — Morse 9-4-2; Cape Elizabeth 10-4-1.
Note — Cape Elizabeth eliminates
Morse, moves on to semifinals to
face No. 2 Yarmouth.
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