WALES — The Cape Elizabeth girls’ soccer team made sure its otherwise futile trip to Oak Hill earlier in the week — for a game that was ultimately rained out — was worth something.
The two schools were supposed to play their Class B South quarterfinal match Tuesday, but the rain picked up just before kickoff and the game was postponed. With the two teams playing in different conferences, the Capers knew nothing of the Raiders, nor their field, so they used Tuesday’s trip as a reconnaissance mission.
After two more postponements, No. 7 Cape Elizabeth used what it had learned earlier in the week to its advantage Friday, firing shots from every angle and scoring on six of those chances to oust No. 2 Oak Hill, 6-0.
“The girls were ruthless,” Cape Elizabeth coach Craig Fannon said. “The build-up play was excellent, we were a little more direct because of the field. We said to the girls, because we saw the field on Tuesday, we said at practice yesterday, ‘Shoot from anywhere.’ They certainly had the freedom to do that. We had the quality to put one on frame or close to the frame.”
Cape Elizabeth (10-6) had 32 shots on goal while Oak Hill only had four.
Oak Hill coach Jeremy Young said his team had an opportunity to scout the Capers, too.
“Part of being the number two seed, we able to watch them play against Gray-New Gloucester,” Young said. “(But), we know our field is vastly different than theirs. Anytime you give a team a couple days to prepare for your situation, it is a few too many.”
The scoring started seven minutes into the match when Karli Chapin chipped the ball to Riley Dall. Dall challenged Raiders goalie Anna Dodge and beat her with a floater.
“It definitely meant a lot to the team,” Dall said. “We were going into it thinking if we won the game in the first ten minutes, it would be over then. I think that was definitely a key factor”
Cape Elizabeth extended its lead near the midway point of the first half with two quick goals. Chapin this time did the work herself, going through three Raiders defenders in the box to make it 2-0. Shortly thereafter, Prezli Piscopo picked up the Capers’ third goal.
Tori McGrath stretched the lead to 4-0 at the 24-minute mark with Piscopo setting up the tally. Olivia Cochran put home a rebound off a corner kick at the 34-minute mark.
The first-half scoring barrage almost continued at the end of the half off another corner kick, but the ball went in the goal a second after the buzzer sounded.
Dall set up the final goal for Cape Elizabeth when she found Sarah Knupp at the 9-minute mark.
Oak Hill (13-2) battled until the final seconds, and Abriana Deslauries tried to end the Capers’ shutout bid as the seconds ticked off the clock. She beat Cape Elizabeth goalie Katherine Haines to a wayward ball. The two collided and the ball rolled into the empty net with three seconds on the clock, but the referee ruled the play offside. Both players were slow to get up after the play.
The effort by Deslauries on the play summed up the Raiders season.
“In previous years, we had situations where we were down a goal or two, the team had slumped shoulders and stopped trying to win the ball,” Young said. “Certainly the last play even, certainly (Deslauries) is offside quite a bit, but Abby going to the ball, showed the heart of our team this year.”
Cape Elizabeth will take on No. 3 Greely on Monday.
nfournier@sunjournal.com
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