There was plenty of drama and even a major upset in recent fall sports action. Here’s a look at where things stand with the second half of the regular season upon us.

Girls’ soccer

Entering Saturday morning’s contest, the Scarborough girls’ soccer team had won six straight and was coming off an inspirational 1-0 home victory over Cheverus two days prior on sophomore Haley Carignan’s goal 24 seconds into overtime.

“We played well enough to win it in regulation, but their goalie had some
good saves,” said Red Storm coach Mike Farley, in the aftermath of that triumph. “Cheverus is a tough team. They’re young and aggressive.
We’re playing with composure. When we play with consistency, we’re
tough to beat. Every team is dangerous. All the other teams are beating
each other. We have to go out and outwork teams and put their stamp on
games. I hope we can keep building on that.”

Host South Portland, meanwhile, had dropped back-to-back contests at Biddeford and Sanford and were given little chance beat Scarborough, but riding the karma that was left over from the previous night’s football game (please see story) at Martin Memorial Field, the Red Riots shocked the Red Storm 3-1 behind goals from freshman Jenna Wing, senior Karleigh Bradbury and senior Laura Plourde.

“It’s a huge win for us,” said South Portland coach Andy Pappas. “The bounces went our way today.
We were opportunistic. The girls never quit. We came prepared.
You look around the league, anybody can beat anybody. We’re capable of
doing the impossible sometimes. We knew if we could win the little
battles, we could win and that’s what happened. It boosts our confidence
for sure. Losing two tough games in a row, knowing we didn’t play our
best, was a tough pill to swallow. To the girls’ credit, they rose to
the occasion today. Hopefully this turns us around. We hope to build on
this.”

South Portland (4-3 and 11th in the latest Western Class A Heal Points standings) returned to action Wednesday at Bonny Eagle. Friday, the Red Riots visit Windham.

Scarborough (6-1 and second in Western A) looked to get back on track Wednesday at Kennebunk. Friday, the Red Storm are home with McAuley. Monday, they play at Windham.

Cape Elizabeth continues to impress. The Capers got a first half goal from junior Sydney Banks and made it hold up Tuesday night for a 1-0 home win over Poland to improve to 5-1-2. Cape Elizabeth (seventh in Western A) had a showdown at Greely Wednesday (see Web site for game story), hosts Yarmouth Saturday night and goes to defending Class B champion Falmouth Tuesday of next week.

Boys’ soccer

On the boys’ side, South Portland continues to quietly impress. Coming off its first winning season in seven years, this year’s Red Riots squad had a loss and a tie in their first three outings, but has now won five in a row after a 2-0 home victory over Sanford last Thursday (senior Graham Young and sophomore Nemanja Kaurin had the goals) and a hard-fought 2-1 win at Deering Tuesday. In that one, Kaurin was credited for a goal on a corner kick which deflected off a defender in the first half and just moments after the Rams tied the game in the second half, senior Adam Burpee scored the eventual game winner.

“It was a nice win,” said South Portland coach Bryan Hoy. “A little ugly, but that’s how the games go sometime. We’re a pretty strong team. We’re young, but we have senior leadership. We’ve done a nice job so far. We had a light schedule in the first half. The second half will be more challenging.They’re all tough from here on out. I think we can compete. Our best striker, (senior) Brian Arsenault, is coming back. That will give us a lift.”

The Red Riots are now 6-1-1 and sixth in the Western A Heal Points standings. South Portland hosted red-hot Windham Thursday and goes to dangerous Kennebunk Tuesday of next week.

Defending Class A champion Scarborough extended its two-year win streak to 26 games after a 5-0 romp at Cheverus last Thursday and a 1-0 home victory over Kennebunk Tuesday.

At the Stags, senior Trevor Hoxsie and sophomore Andrew Jones scored in the first three minutes to set the tone. Junior Brett Leighton and senior Andrew Nigro struck later in the first half for a 4-0 advantage at the break and an unassisted tally from freshman Austin Downing early in the second half accounted for the final score.

“We talked today about finishing better,” said Scarborough coach Mark Diaz. “We hadn’t been getting quick
ones like that. It changes the game. We came right out today. This team
doesn’t care who scores. Our young guys are playing well. That’s been
the key for us. We’re moving the ball well.”

Against Kennebunk, Hoxsie (from Nigro) scored in the first half and the Red Storm’s defense held on.

“(Kennebunk’s) good,” said Diaz. “We didn’t play very well. They had something to do with that. Our defense played well. Especially in the second half. We’ve gotten a lot better in the back. We have to create more offense. It’s not coming as easily this year. We’re young. We can’t just steamroll teams. We’ve got work to do.”

Scarborough (8-0 and first in Western A) was at Noble Thursday and plays host to Deering Tuesday of next week. The Red Storm’s next big test comes Oct. 8, when they go to red-hot Windham.

“The next big one is Windham,” Diaz said. “They’re big and physical. They’re outworking teams.”

Cape Elizabeth took a 6-2 mark and the No. 7 ranking into a home showdown with rival Greely Thursday night. The Capers were 8-0 winners over visiting Wells (junior Teddy Smith had three goals and junior Andy Lynch added two) and 5-1 victors over host Poland in recent action. Cape Elizabeth continues a huge homestand with games against defending Class B champion Yarmouth Saturday and powerhouse Falmouth Tuesday.

Field hockey

Scarborough’s field hockey team checked one of the remaining two items off the program’s to-do list Friday night.

While an eagerly-anticipated state championship will have to wait until next month, the Red Storm did go to Sanford and beat the Redskins for the first time, getting two goals from senior standout Brittany Ross and one each from seniors Heather Carrier and Molly Gove in a 4-2 victory. Scarborough, which also beat visiting Noble 11-1 last week (behind three goals apiece from Ross and sophomore Kelsey Howard) took a 9-0 mark and the No. 2 spot in the Western A Heal Points standings into Wednesday’s home game with resurgent South Portland. Friday, the Red Storm are at Westbrook. Tuesday, they host Biddeford.

South Portland continued its inspirational season with its first winning streak since 2006. Friday, the Red Riots rode first half goals from junior Felicia Farnham and sophomore Brianna Bower to a 2-0 victory at McAuley. Then, Tuesday, South Portland enjoyed a stirring 3-2, double overtime home win over Portland. Farnham delivered the winner, her second of the game as the Red Riots earned an overtime triumph for the first time since Oct. 7, 2005 (2-1 over Deering).

“I believe my team played very well together,” said South Portland coach Heather Seavey. “I saw a lot of passing and patterns that we’ve been running in practice and it was nice to see it come together in a game. Portland actually went up on us 1-0 in the first half. We had been dominating play but they had a few chances and one went in. I liked that my girls responded by scoring one right back and then we went up one goal before halftime. The second half we had a lot of opportunities and again, Portland put one in the net to tie it up. Both teams had opportunity before overtime, but we couldn’t finish. Then in the second OT, Felicia knocked in a cross that went off the pads. It was nice because we had lost in OT earlier in the season and it was nice to see them win one with that kind of pressure.”

South Portland (now 4-5 and 12th in Western A) was at Scarborough Wednesday, hosts Thornton Academy Friday and plays at Windham Tuesday.

In Western B, Cape Elizabeth settled for a scoreless tie at Falmouth last Wednesday when play was called midway through the first overtime because of darkness. After falling 1-0 at home to York Friday, the Capers improved to 3-5-1 Tuesday with a 1-0 victory at Yarmouth. Senior Ruth Perkins had the goal. Cape Elizabeth (10th in Western B) was at Wells Thursday and plays at Lake Region Saturday. Monday, the Capers host Greely.

Cross country

Cape Elizabeth’s cross country teams both traveled out of state for competitions last weekend.

The boys took part in the Manchester (N.H.) Relays and finished fourth among 31 small schools (Greely was second). The Capers were paced by senior Peter Brigham, who finished the 3.1-mile course in 17 minutes, 16 seconds, good for 20th place).

The girls competed at the Ocean State Championships in Rhode Island and placed ninth. Senior Emily Attwood was the fastest Caper, finishing ninth in 19 minutes, 4 seconds.

Cape Elizabeth joins Fryeburg, NYA and York at Greely this weekend.

Scarborough’s defending Class A state championship teams ran with Cheverus, Deering and Portland at Falmouth in a rare joint Southern Maine Activities Association/Western Maine Conference meet. The boys edged Cheverus for first place on a sixth-place tiebreaker. Senior Nate Hathaway was first individually in 16:09.50. The girls were second to the Stags. Senior Melissa Dellatorre was fifth (20:29).

Speaking of the Red Riots, they hosted Gorham, NYA, Westbrook and Yarmouth last weekend. The boys and girls both came in second. Senior Jon Clement was second in the boys’ race (14:10). Junior Annelise Donahue was fourth in the girls’ meet (17:34).

The Red Storm and Red Riots are at Sanford Friday.

Golf

The golf regular season came to an end this week. South Portland has been the top local story. The Red Riots improved to 6-3 Tuesday after a 9-4 home win over Cheverus. South Portland was at Scarborough in the teams’ regular season finale Thursday. The Red Storm took a 3-6 mark into that match after falling 10-3 to Deering Tuesday. In Western B, Cape Elizabeth (3-5) closes at Yarmouth Friday.

Volleyball

Scarborough’s volleyball team enjoyed another big win Tuesday night when it downed Biddeford in four games (25-21, 25-22, 18-25, 25-18). The Red Storm also swept Gorham last Wednesday (25-15, 25-18, 27-25). Scarborough (5-3 and sixth in the Class A Heal Points standings) played at Kennebunk Thursday and visits Gorham Tuesday.

Cape Elizabeth is 1-6 and 11th in Class A after recent 3-0 losses to Yarmouth (6-25, 9-25, 16-25) and Gorham (15-25, 16-25, 15-25). The Capers hosted six-time defending state champion Greely Thursday, go to Falmouth Friday and Biddeford Monday.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net

 

Seniors Finn Melanson (right) and Tommy Foden celebrate one of the Capers’ four TDs at Falmouth.
In a head-to-head duel symbolic of the closeness of their teams, Scarborough’s Nick Morris (left) and Cheverus’ Jack Terwilliger look for an advantage during last week’s meet at Falmouth. The Red Storm wound up winning on a tiebreaker. Morris came in seventh as an individual.
Margaret Benoit came in 12th in the girls’ race as Scarborough finished second to Cheverus.

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Cape Elizabeth senior receiver Finn Melanson falls backwards to catch a touchdown pass during the first half of the Capers’ 28-0 win at Falmouth last weekend.