Newsletter #17...Noelle has no peer
In the fall of 2022, Noelle Mallory came to Cape Elizabeth High School as a freshman on the heels of the Capers' girls' soccer team winning three straight Class B state titles behind scoring standouts like Maggie Cochran and Emily Supple.
And it didn't take long to realize that Mallory was a worthy heir to those stars.
As a freshman, she scored a goal in a season-opening victory over Yarmouth, then finished with a whopping 24 goals overall, but the Capers, who were decimated by illness, were upset by York in the semifinals, despite a Mallory goal.
Fast forward to Mallory's sophomore year, where she scored 22 goals. Cape Elizabeth got to the Class B South Final but lost to eventual champion Yarmouth.
As a junior, Mallory scored 14 times and the Capers again got to the regional final but no further, dropping an overtime heartbreaker to eventual champion Greely, despite a Mallory goal.
Mallory entered this season with 60 career goals, leaving her 13 shy of Cochran's school mark.
Tuesday evening, at home versus York, Mallory broke that record with a goal in an 8-1 victory and after scoring two more goals in Thursday's home win over North Yarmouth Academy, she now has 16 goals on the season and 76 for her illustrious high school career.
Which isn't over.
Cape Elizabeth has been as impressive, explosive, dynamic and accomplished as anyone this year, improving to 9-0 with the aforementioned victory over the Panthers.
"We're outworking our opponents," Mallory said, after a recent triumph at Yarmouth. "We're winning 1 v 1's. I think we have six or seven girls on the team who can hit any shot from anywhere and I think that's really impressive. We're the type of team that once we get momentum, we keep carrying it."
The Capers are bound and determined to finish the job this fall, but they know it won't be easy.
"We're a family and we all have the same goal," said Mallory, who also has 34 career assists. "I know every single person on our team will work their butts off to achieve that."
Oh by the way, as we all know, records are made to be broken.
Who might be in line to break Noelle Mallory's scoring mark?
Well, this year's team boasts a player who wears the number two.
Her name?
Alexa Mallory.
She's Noelle's little sister and she's already made quite an impact.
Stay tuned.
On a heater
Several local squads have produced long win streaks. Here's a list of teams who have won at least five games/matches in a row at press time:
Cape Elizabeth girls' soccer (9 in a row)
Cheverus field hockey (6)
Falmouth boys' soccer (9)
Freeport field hockey (7)
Gorham volleyball (6)
Greely football (13, including 2024)
Greely boys' soccer (5)
Portland football (8, including 2024)
Scarborough boys' soccer (7)
Yarmouth field hockey (9)
Off the schneid
No one wants to go through a season without a victory and several local squads have recently gotten into the win column for the first time.
That group includes:
Cape Elizabeth football
Portland girls' soccer
South Portland girls' soccer
Waynflete boys' soccer
Windham football
In case you missed it...
If you missed any of our recent game stories, you can find them here:
Thornton Academy field hockey edges Windham
Falmouth football returns to form with win over Gorham
Thornton Academy pulls away to beat South Portland
Yarmouth boys rally to tie Cape Elizabeth
Cape girls surge to win at Yarmouth
Flower leads Freeport over Winthrop/Maranacook
Cheverus outlasts Greely in five-set thriller
Gorham boys score late to edge Deering
Can't-miss showdowns
There are some huge games scheduled for the next several days and I'll be on hand to chronicle all of them.
Friday afternoon, the red-hot Cheverus field hockey team puts its five-year league unbeaten streak on the line when Biddeford, the heir apparent, pays a visit. The two-time reigning state champion Stags and Tigers settled for a wild 4-4 tie in the regular season opener Sept. 5. This one could be memorable as well and will go a long way toward determining who will be the top seed for the Class A South playoffs.
Friday night, in a rematch of the past two Class A state finals, Portland welcomes Thornton Academy to Fitzpatrick Stadium for a midseason showdown on the gridiron. The Bulldogs beat the Golden Trojans, 35-14, in last year's state game. Portland enters with a 4-0 record, while Thornton Academy is 3-1.
Monday evening brings the first of two Freeport-Yarmouth field hockey battles. The teams split two epics in the past two regional finals, with the Clippers prevailing a year ago. Both teams are undefeated so far this autumn and the winner won't have bragging rights for long, as act two (of likely three) will be contested Oct. 20 in Yarmouth.
Tuesday, Cheverus travels to Gorham in volleyball for not only a rematch of last year's state semifinals, but also for a match that will be rife with Heal Points implications and will have a big say in playoff positioning as well.
Thursday, Hannaford Field will see a compelling soccer doubleheader, as Cape Elizabeth and Greely do battle in both boys' and girls' action. The girls' contest will be of particular interest, as the Capers have yet to lose and are seeking revenge from last year's overtime loss to the Rangers in the Class B South Final.
Media
My recent radio appearances, for those interested:
Spot with Matt Gagnon of WGAN from Tuesday morning:
https://wgan.com/morning-news/hoffers-high-school-sports-4/
Weekly WJAB spot from last Friday:
https://thebigjab.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/MMM-9-26-25-Michael-Hoffer.mp3
Predictions
I'm now 2-2 on my popular, prescient Patriots pick. Here's this week's guess:
Bills 31 Patriots 24
I believe that the Pats can hang with Buffalo, which has a porous defense. Ultimately, winning there will be tough, but I do like the positive signs I saw last week and hopefully, there will more of those this week...
Turning to high school football, here are my picks for this week's games. I went 9-3 last week (36-8 for the season):
Camden Hills over Cape Elizabeth
Cheverus over Deering
Falmouth over Biddeford
Freeport over Lisbon
Kennebunk over Gorham
Foxcroft Academy over Greely
Thornton Academy over Portland
Scarborough over Massabesic
Windham over South Portland
Westbrook over Poland
Yarmouth over Gray-NG
Daily features
All season long at Hoffer's High School Sports, we'll have fresh, unique content every weekday, in addition to the myriad game stories.
This past Monday, HHSS, in conjunction with our partner, cPort Credit Union, named another "Player of the Week," Thornton Academy senior running back Connor Ayoob:
Michael Hoffer
Tuesday brought the release of our latest Super-Six polls for football, boys' soccer, girls' soccer, field hockey and volleyball:
Michael Hoffer
Wednesday saw us feature Thornton Academy at Portland football as our Game of the Week:
Michael Hoffer
Thursday, our weekly Hoffer's High School Sports podcast featured an interview with longtime Freeport field hockey and girls' lacrosse coach Marcia Wood:
Michael Hoffer
Enjoy the weekend, everyone.
May we all experience as much joy as Freeport's field hockey team displayed after its recent win over Winthrop/Maranacook.
See you again right here, next Friday.
Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffersports@yahoo.com
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