Cape Elizabeth boys soccer starts fast to knock off York in B South semifinal
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YORK — Max Hayward said he began to develop his ability for long throw-ins last year. He tried it once in practice and it went pretty far. Hayward has a possible theory on why he can throw a soccer ball unusually far.
“Maybe because swinging a baseball bat is kind of like throwing and I do that a lot. I’m not really sure how I do it,” said Hayward, a Varsity Maine All-State baseball player this past spring.
However it happens, it’s a major weapon for the seventh-seeded Capers and led to their first two goals in a 3-2 Class B South boys soccer semifinal win at No. 6 seed York on Saturday. Hayward scored the Capers’ third goal on a direct kick, showing he has power in his legs, too, with a first-half blast from at least 30 yards.
Cape Elizabeth (8-6-2) will play No. 1 Yarmouth (14-1-1), the defending state champion, in the regional final Wednesday at Falmouth High. It will be Cape’s first trip to the regional final since 2023, when it lost to Yarmouth, 1-0.
OH, THOSE THROWS
York coach Julie Johnson said her team was well aware of Hayward’s ability to turn a seemingly harmless ball out of bounds into a dangerous situation. But, Johnson said, it’s also something that’s hard to prepare for in practice.
Hayward’s first long throw-in found Max Nudd’s right foot, and Nudd tapped it home for a 1-0 lead three minutes into the game.
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“My teammate, Max Backman, did a good job of boxing somebody out and it kind of rolled to me and I just tapped it in,” Nudd said.
York’s Zach Tremblay tied the game minutes later when his inward-curving corner kick was mishandled by Cape goalie Cam Branch and went into the net.
Cape regained the lead on a similar play. Hayward zinged a throw across the goal mouth that went into the net. The officials ruled after a brief discussion that the throw barely glanced off York keeper Orrin Culp Dechant’s raised hand, making it a goal.
Hayward’s direct kick goal came with 17:32 left in the first half for a 3-1 lead.
York (8-6-2) cut the margin to a goal with 31:37 to play on a goal by Robert Dickson after a missed clear by the Cape defense.
“I thought scoring that second goal early would calm us down and I felt our body language and belief got better after scoring that goal, but I think the urgency kind of took over for all of us,” Johnson said.
Most of the rest of the game could be described as two similar teams charging hard for loose balls and then kicking it forward, with little sustained possession. In the waning moments, Cape midfielder Sam Turner and Nudd on the outside wing were able to win balls and keep possession to burn valuable seconds off the clock.
YARMOUTH UP NEXT
In the regular season, Yarmouth beat Cape Elizabeth, 4-1, in the season opener and 4-0 in the rematch. Yarmouth rolled to a 7-0 semifinal win Saturday against Freeport, scoring six goals in the first half.
“The second one, we played them at home and were even for the first 60 minutes, and then they kind of took over for the last 20 minutes,” said Cape coach Ben Raymond. “I think we’re a better team than we were then. That’s one of the strengths our group has. We get better as the season goes on.”
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Tagged: cape elizabeth capers, york wildcats
Steve Craig reports primarily about Maine’s active high school sports scene and, more recently, the Portland Hearts of Pine men's professional soccer team. His first newspaper job was covering Maine. More by Steve Craig
