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AUBURN — In its unblemished season, the Cape Elizabeth High girls soccer team closed with a flourish.

The Capers were on top of Hermon from the jump and finished their 18-0 season with a 3-0 win in the Class B state championship game Saturday at Edward Little High.

“I think they saved their best performance for last,” said Cape coach Branden Noltkamper.

The senior group that lost in the regional final the previous two seasons led the way to the Gold Ball.

Hailey Gorman scored in the 23rd minute, then added another goal on a tap-in with 28 seconds to play. Her best friend and teammate since middle school, Noelle Mallory, set up Gorman’s second goal. Mallory also assisted on Haisel McGeachey’s goal that gave Cape a 2-0 lead less than three minutes into the second half.

“It’s our last game playing together. It’s been four years playing together, so we just wanted to give our all today,” Gorman said. “We left everything on the field, and it was amazing playing with my best friend for the last time.”

Center back Chloe Durkin assisted on the first goal, hitting a long pass up the middle that split Hermon’s back four and sent Gorman on a long run. McGeachey’s goal came on a corner kick. Senior outside back Kate Hetrick sent a ball to Mallory, who got her head on it and directed it toward the near post where McGeachey gave it a second touch to get it past Hermon keeper Rebecca Balmas.

Cape Elizabeth piled up a 30-4 shot advantage and a 14-2 edge in shots on goal. Balmas kept the game as close as it was with 11 saves.

Hermon also entered with a 17-0 record and had outscored its North playoff opponents 12-1, scoring five goals in both the semifinals and final. But for the fifth time in six seasons, the Hawks were not the equal of a Western Maine Conference team in the state final.

“We typically dictate the style of every game, and this happens ever year, and we get to states and we have to defend a lot, and we’re just not accustomed to it. We’re not game-ready for that,” said Hermon coach MJ Ball.

The last team from the North to win a Class B girls title was Waterville in 2014. WMC teams have won 10 straight championships. Cape won three in a row in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Hermon did show flashes in the first half that it could be dangerous on counterattacks, particularly when the tandem of Natalie Tardie and Madison Stewart were able to work together up top.

But Cape’s defense stood tall, outside backs Alice DeGeorge and Hetrick were able to start the offense, and keeper Kelsie Law (two saves) was alert on the rare occasions when she was threatened. Law made a key challenge on a Stewart cross, deflecting the ball while absorbing a blow as Tardie tried to run onto the ball for a one-timer with four minutes left in the first half.

“We knew Hermon was a great team and they weren’t going to let up after just one goal,” Hetrick said.

Cape’s midfield group, led by Maisie Rayback and McGeachey, repeatedly won battles and either sent Gorman off on runs toward goal or got the ball to Noelle Mallory — Cape’s hub and primary target — and her freshman sister, Alexa.

It all added up to game-long pressure from Cape Elizabeth, and ultimately the Capers’ fourth Class B crown to go with five Class A titles between 1988-99.

Correction: This story was changed Nov. 10, 2025, at 10:19 a.m., to show that Haisel McGeachey scored Cape Elizabeth’s second goal.