Yarmouth boys finish red-hot with victory at Cape (2025)

CAPE ELIZABETH—The 2024 campaign has seen a lot of new for the Yarmouth boys’ soccer program.

A new coach and a lot of new players.

But ultimately, the end result has been the same.

As the regular season comes to a close and the playoffs beckon, the Clippers are poised to keep their dynastic run going.

Tuesday evening at Hannaford Field, Yarmouth took on longtime rival Cape Elizabeth in the teams’ regular season finale and thanks to a fast start, the Clippers closed on a winning note.

In the game’s 15th minute, junior Luis Cardoso finished a feed from classmate Zacarias Binda to put Yarmouth in front to stay.

Then, in the 18th minute, senior Owen Hayes scored on a header for a two-goal advantage.

The proud Capers were much stronger in the second half and with 14 minutes to go, made things interesting, as junior Will Vaine scored off a corner kick, but they weren’t able to find the equalizer and the Clippers held on for a 2-1 victory.

Yarmouth finished the regular season with an 11-1-2 mark, dropped Cape Elizabeth to 9-4-1 and will now look to win the Class B state title for the mindboggling ninth time in the past 10 postseason tournaments.

“There’s always pressure to win,” said Clippers senior captain and midfielder Zach Lattanzi. “Eight of the last nine is some crazy stuff, but we like where we are.”

Playoff intensity come early

Yarmouth and Cape Elizabeth met in the regional final three years running and not surprisingly, both teams have been in the thick of contention this fall.

The Capers opened with wins at York (2-1) and at home over Lake Region (7-2) before falling at Greely (1-0). After blanking visiting Freeport (3-0), Cape Elizabeth tied host Yarmouth (1-1), then knocked off visiting Poland (4-1), host Fryeburg Academy (4-2), visiting York (4-1) and host Gray-New Gloucester (4-0) before losing to visiting Class A contender Brunswick (4-0) and Greely (4-0). After a 7-0 win at St. Dom’s, the Capers blanked host Freeport last Thursday, 4-0.

Yarmouth, meanwhile, under first-year coach Justin Morrill, started with a 1-1 draw at Greely, then won at Gray-New Gloucester (3-0), and blanked host Brunswick (2-0) and visiting York (3-0) before settling for a 1-1 home tie with Cape Elizabeth. After shutting down visiting Wells, 4-0, the Clippers lost at home to Greely for the first time in 10 years, 1-0. Yarmouth then caught fire, defeating visiting Fryeburg Academy (4-0), host Freeport (2-0), host North Yarmouth Academy (7-1), visiting Mt. Ararat (5-0), visiting Freeport (3-1) and host York (3-1).

In the teams’ first meeting, Sept. 19, Binda gave Yarmouth the lead, but junior Harry Converse’s goal forged the tie.

Tuesday, the Clippers didn’t relinquish the lead as they extended their win streak to seven games and served notice to the rest of the Class B South field that they’re primed for another deep playoff run.

Yarmouth carried play much of the first half and with 25:52 remaining before halftime, got the jump, as Binda got the ball to Cardoso, who one-timed a blast past Cape Elizabeth senior goalkeeper Cooper Bragg.

The Capers hoped to answer, but a rush from senior Tully Haydar was broken up by Clippers junior Gideon Ahrens.

Then, with 22:15 left in the half, just 3 minutes, 37 seconds after the first goal, Binda pounced on a loose ball in the box and flicked it past Bragg, where Hayes was just waiting to head it home to make the score 2-0.

“We just came out with fire,” Lattanzi said. “We tied them earlier in the year and we wanted to put them away. They’re good, but we think we were the better team.”

“Hustle plays are big,” Morrill said. “We talk all year about never giving up and pressing hard. That’s what we needed.”

Late in the half, sophomore Lucas Hayner managed a shot in the box for Yarmouth, but Bragg made the save, and at the other end, junior Caiden Johnson headed a long free kick from sophomore Max Hayward just wide, sending the game to the break with the Clippers up, 2-0.

Yarmouth had a 6-0 advantage in shots on frame in the first half and a 4-1 edge in corners, but Cape Elizabeth would not go quietly in the second half.

The Capers earned a corner kick in the first minute of the second half, but Clippers senior goalkeeper and captain Will Raymond came out to field Haydar’s serve.

Raymond then got to a Haydar corner kick serve a few minutes later with Vaine bearing down.

Yarmouth hoped to extend it advantage, but Cardoso missed just wide after a blocking a clear and junior George Brown’s free kick was blocked.

With 26:28 left, Johnson fired a low shot on the run off a throw from junior Jack Wark, but Raymond made the stop.

After Hayes set up Hayner for a shot at the post only to be denied by Bragg, the Clippers appeared to put it away with 14:56 remaining, as Hayner passed ahead to Binda, who got to the ball and directed it over Bragg and in, but Binda was ruled offsides.

That turned momentum to Cape Elizabeth and a mere 56 seconds later, off another corner kick, Haydar served the ball in and Vaine sent a header past Raymond and just inside the right post to cut the deficit in half.

Yarmouth nearly got the goal right back, but off a Hayner free kick, senior Ward Jenkins, who had just subbed on, was robbed by Bragg with a kick save.

The Capers then sought the equalizer, but a long free kick from Hayward was punched out by Raymond, junior Will Redfield broke up a rush from Wark and Raymond made a sprawling save to deny Vaine and allow the Clippers to prevail, 2-1.

“It was a little bit scary at the end,” Lattanzi said. “That goal woke us up, but there was never a doubt in my mind.”

“It got a little nervy at the end of the second half,” Morrill said. “You can never roll in here and expect there to ever be an easy game against Cape. It’s always going to be a battle. It’s fun and these are the tune-ups we want going into playoffs. It was a playoff-type feel. I would have liked to have found another (goal) in the other 77 minutes, but we took the two and held on to them. We knew this was going to be a big game from Heal Points standpoint.”

Yarmouth outshot Cape Elizabeth, 8-3, got two saves from Raymond and took nine corner kicks to the Capers’ six.

Cape Elizabeth got six saves from Bragg and fought to the final horn.

“We changed our shape quite a bit second half and did some things we’re not usually doing,” said longtime Capers coach Ben Raymond. “We tried to put Tully up higher and try to be more dangerous and not worry about possession. It served its purpose today, but I’m not sure it’s what we want to continue to do. The effort was great throughout the game. Everybody kept working and fighting hard. Will scored on a great header. Their keeper made some saves on balls served into dangerous places in the box. He wasn’t afraid to come out. They have dangerous guys up top who create problems for us. Defensively, we have to stop diving in and lunging and move our feet a little bit more.”

Playoff time

Cape Elizabeth will be ranked fourth for the upcoming playoffs and projects to host No. 5 Lincoln Academy (8-4-2) in the quarterfinals, likely next Wednesday. The teams didn’t meet during the regular season.

The Capers are content to let top-ranked, undefeated Greely and Yarmouth wear the bulls-eye this postseason.

“Our regular season was great,” Ben Raymond said. “I think in every game at one point or another, we were the better team on the field. We just haven’t been as consistent as we’d like to be. I think that has to do a lot with kids getting more time and getting used to playing with their teammates. Some kids who didn’t play much did a great job today and that’s really good going into playoffs, knowing we can count on other guys off the bench. (Juniors) Mason (Collins) and Leo (Atticks) played really well tonight. Scotty Fredericks, a freshman, played really well in the back. There’s a lot of things we can take away from this and learn and use going forward. When we get in the playoffs, we want to be playing our best.”

Yarmouth won’t be ranked first in Class B South for the first time since 2016. Instead, the Clippers will be second behind Greely.

But Yarmouth, which will host a quarterfinal next week against a yet to be determined foe, is well aware of expectations and welcomes the pressure.

“We’re a determined group,” said Lattanzi. “We know we have history and we want to maintain that history, to keep our legacy going. We have to stay determined and stay focused in practice. We’d love to see Greely again.”

“Literally from day one, these seniors have wanted it pretty badly,” Morrill said. “Some of them had a hard time finding playing time in previous years. They kept their focus and intensity throughout the entire season. We needed to do our part to make a case for that number two seed. I like the idea how if we keep winning, we’ll play at home until the regional final. It’s just got to be about focus at practice, being locked in. We have to execute our game plan and never lose focus on the field. We have to be locked in for a full 80 minutes.”

Sports Editor MichaelHoffercan be reached atmhoffer@theforecaster.net.