PORTLAND — Yarmouth rode a big third quarter to its second consecutive Class B state championship Saturday afternoon.

The Clippers opened a five-goal lead during the first 12 minutes of the second half and sailed to a 12-9 win against Cape Elizabeth at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

Yarmouth capped an unbeaten season with its 15th win to claim its fourth state championship in six seasons.

"Last year was great, but this year feels so good," said Rob Highland, an All-American middie who scored three goals for the Clippers. "At the beginning of the season, no one expected us to do all this. We lost all those players from last year. We just stuck together."

Yarmouth opened the season with an 8-6 win against the Capers, who put up a valiant effort in the state final.

"We played pretty well, but we had a tough third quarter," Cape Elizabeth Coach Ben Raymond said. "Other than that, we worked hard and did a good job. We committed some turnovers in the third quarter that cost us."

Yarmouth outscored the Capers 5-1 in the third quarter to open an 11-6 lead.

"I knew it was going to be pretty close in the first half," Highland said. "It always is with Cape. They always come out ready to play. But I know we´re mostly a third-quarter team. I knew we were going to come out and put together a few goals."

Despite a 19-7 edge in shots, the Clippers were unable to shake Cape Elizabeth in the first half.

The Capers made the most of their scoring chances and pulled to within 6-5 when Mike Holden scored his second goal of the game, off a nifty feed from long-pole defender Ben Brewster, with 16 seconds left in the second quarter.

Evan Henry scored all three of his goals in the first half to help propel Yarmouth into an early lead. Henry also had two assists.

Jack Roos made 14 of his 21 saves in the first half to keep Cape Elizabeth close.

Less than four minutes into the third quarter, Highland and Colby Shields scored to make it 9-6. After that, Cape never got closer than two goals.

"We did a pretty good job with our settled (six-on-six) defense, but they scored some transition goals, which were really the difference," Raymond said. "We´d throw the ball away a little bit, and they capitalized on that. We didn´t get back in time."

Steven Petrovek, a junior All-American attackman, scored three goals for the Clippers. Luke Torres had two goals, and Peter Erickson had an assist.

Tom Foden and Mike Holden each scored three goals for the Capers (12-3). Foden also had two assists. Jon O´Hearn had two goals and an assist, Cam Smith added a goal and an assist, and Ben Brewster and Alex Pillsbury each had an assist.

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com