Falmouth’s field hockey team, led by senior Kate Kelley (arms raised), rushes the field in jubilation after beating Yarmouth, 3-2, on Bella Libby’s goal as time expired in overtime Saturday.

Yarmouth senior Henry Coolidge settles the ball during the Clippers’ 3-2 win at Cape Elizabeth last week.

Yarmouth freshman Adriana Whitlock heads the ball away from Falmouth senior Mia Cooney during the Clippers’ 4-0 win Saturday.

Yarmouth’s Abigail Hamilton, Falmouth’s Malaika Pasch and Yarmouth’s Anneka Murrin run at last weekend’s cross country meet in Yarmouth. Hamilton wound up first, Murrin was second and Pasch placed third as the Clippers were first as a team and the Yachtsmen wound up second.

(Ed. Note: For the complete Falmouth-Greely, Falmouth-Yarmouth and Yarmouth-Cape Elizabeth boys’ soccer, Yarmouth-Falmouth girls’ soccer and Falmouth-Yarmouth and Falmouth-York field hockey game stories, with additional photos, see theforecaster.net)

The temperature continues to drop and the days get ever shorter, but the fun is just beginning if you’re a high school sports fan as the fall season is just heating up. 

Here’s a look at where things stand as September gives way to October:

Football

Falmouth’s football team bounced back from its first loss by downing visiting Mt. Ararat, 22-6, Friday to improve to 3-1. A touchdown run from Garret Aube and a two-point conversion rush from Riley Reed made it 8-0 Yachtsmen after one period. Quarterback Jack Bryant’s TD rush and an extra point from John Walker made it 15-0 at the half. Falmouth got a Bryant (14-of-17, 138 yards and a TD) to Jack Kidder touchdown pass an a Walker PAT for a 22-0 lead after one three quarters, then went on to the victory. Brandon Martin paced the defense with 12 tackles .

The Yachtsmen (ranked third behind Biddeford and Kennebunk in the Class B South Crabtree Points standings) play at 1-3 Leavitt Saturday. Last year, Falmouth beat the visiting Hornets, 24-14.

Greely evened its record at 2-2 with a 36-6 victory at Gorham. After a scoreless first quarter, the Rangers got the only points they’d need as Tim Coyle scored on a 10-yard run for a 6-0 lead. After Nick Gauvin scored on a 22-yard run and Nolan Anderson ran in the two-point conversion, Greely made it 22-0 at halftime, as Will Schumacher broke free for a 22-yard run and Coyle ran in the two-point conversion. Gauvin added a 25-yard TD run (Coyle ran in the two-point conversion) in the third period and Schumacher scored on a 2-yard run in the final stanza to account for the final score.

The Rangers (seventh in Class B South) have a key home tilt versus 2-2 Morse Friday night. Last year, in Bath, Greely prevailed, 27-7.

Defending Class C South champion Yarmouth suffered its first regular season loss since 2014 Friday when it fell at home to Fryeburg Academy, 53-14. Yarmouth fell behind, 6-0, after one quarter and 20-0 at halftime. The Raiders then blew the game open with 26 unanswered points in the third period. The Clippers got two long touchdown passes from Noah Eckersley-Ray to Caden Middleton (68 and 35 yards) in the fourth quarter, but went down to defeat. Eckersley-Ray went 3-for-3 for 141 yards and two TDs in relief of John Thoma. Middleton caught four passes for 146 yards and two scores.

Yarmouth (3-1 and third behind Cape Elizabeth and Wells in the standings) goes to 4-0 Wells Friday. Last year, the Clippers won the regular season meeting, 16-15, then rallied to edge the Warriors in the regional final, 17-14.

Freeport’s record fell to 2-2 after a 42-6 loss at Cape Elizabeth. Josh Burke hit T.J. Morrill with a long touchdown pass on the final play of the game to avoid a shutout.

The Falcons (fourth in Class C South) are at 2-2 Fryeburg Academy Friday. Last year, Freeport lost at home to the Raiders, 34-7.

Boys’ soccer

The biggest boys’ soccer story last week came Saturday in Yarmouth where longtime Falmouth coach Dave Halligan earned his 350th victory with the Yachtsmen (see story). That capped a busy week for local squads.

Prior to visiting Yarmouth, Falmouth suffered a 2-1 loss at Greely. The Yachtsmen gave up a couple early goals and a late tally from Andrew Muscadin wasn’t enough.

“We had chances we didn’t take advantage of and their goalie played exceptionally well,” Halligan said. 

Falmouth rediscovered its offense at Yarmouth, posting five goals for the second time in two meetings over nine days against the usually stingy Clippers. Nate Arrants and Michael Sanzari both scored twice and Hayden Farr also tickled the twine as the Yachtsmen built a 5-1 lead, then held on to win, 5-3.

“We kind of lost our composure, but luckily we were still up,” senior Jonah Spiegel said. “Had we not put our chances away early and had it been tied, like it could have been, it might have been a different story.”

“It was a typical Falmouth-Yarmouth game where anything can happen,” Halligan added. “There’s no quit in them and there’s no quit in us. They came back and put all kinds of pressure on us and we had to hold the fort and we did.”

The Yachtsmen (5-1-1 and second behind Thornton Academy in the Class A South Heal Points standings at press time) went to Wells Tuesday, host Freeport Friday and visit Fryeburg Academy Tuesday of next week.

“We’ve played one of the hardest starts to a schedule and we’ve done well,” Sanzari said. “Now, we can’t have a let down in trap games.”

Yarmouth earned a 3-2 win at Cape Elizabeth last Tuesday, then dropped a 5-3 home decision to Falmouth. In the victory, after Matt Dostie was credited on a Capers’ own goal, he scored for a 2-0 halftime lead. The Capers got a goal back, but Eric LaBrie answered after a terrific individual effort. Cape Elizabeth pulled within 3-2 on a late penalty kick, but the Clippers were able to hold on.

“We wanted to come out and have a great performance and I think we did against a great opponent,” Dostie said.

“We just dug deep and all came together as one,” midfielder Henry Coolidge said. “These are the games you circle on the schedule and they’re the most fun to play.” 

“We talked about the pride that the kids who graduated the past 20 years put in this program and the amount of effort it takes to live up to those standards and that the guys should welcome that pressure,” added longtime Yarmouth coach Mike Hagerty.

The Clippers hoped to deliver some payback to Falmouth after a 5-0 loss at the Yachtsmen, but instead, Yarmouth fell behind early and despite goals from Dostie, LaBrie and Gibson Harnett, fell short.

“If you score three goals, that should be enough to win any game,” Hagerty said. “The irony is we only gave them three shots in the first half. We gave up quality shots and they buried them. We outshot and outpossessed them, but we still lost. I really think at the end of the year, we can be as good as them. What’s frustrating with the schedule this year, is that we won’t have a chance to show it.”

The Clippers (4-2 and second to Maranacook in the Class B South Heals) went to Waynflete Tuesday and visit Fryeburg Academy Thursday. Yarmouth has a showdown at Greely Saturday (see theforecaster.net for game story) and returns home Tuesday of next week to face Gray-New Gloucester.

Greely beat visiting Falmouth, 2-1, then lost, 2-1, at Cape Elizabeth last week. Will Pidgeon and Hunter Graham scored to help the Rangers upset the previously undefeated Yachtsmen.

“We haven’t had the best start, but it feels good to get the win,” Pidgeon said. “Hopefully this sends out a statement that we’re here to play and to win. The defense played really well and (goalie) A.J. (Eisenhart) made big saves.”

“This is good for us,” said Greely coach Mike Andreasen. “Falmouth has some injuries and we took advantage of that. That opened the door for us, but give our kids credit, they came, they competed, they defended and they worked hard.” 

The Rangers got a goal from Pidgeon, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Capers as Greely fell to 3-4 and sixth in Class B South. The Rangers were home against York Tuesday, host Yarmouth Saturday and go to Kennebunk Tuesday of next week.

Freeport came into the week 4-3 and 10th in Class B South after a 1-0 home loss to Gray-New Gloucester, a 4-0 setback at Fryeburg Academy and a 4-2 win at Traip Academy. Colby Wagner scored twice in the victory. The Falcons hosted Poland Tuesday, go to Falmouth Thursday, welcome defending Class C South champion Waynflete Saturday and visit Poland Tuesday of next week.

North Yarmouth Academy was 5-3 and seventh in Class C South after winning at Traip Academy (4-1) and Waynflete (1-0) and at home over Poland (6-0) last week. Xander Bartone had the goal against the Flyers. Bartone, Ryan Baker, Xander Kostelnik, Finn Murray, Carlos Pena and Jeremy Thelven all scored in the win over the Knights. The Panthers hosted Sacopee Valley Tuesday and welcome Traip Academy Saturday.

Girls’ soccer

On the girls’ side, Yarmouth continues to live up to preseason billing, improving its win streak to six last week by downing visiting Cape Elizabeth (3-0), host Kennebunk (4-1) and visiting Falmouth (4-0) to improve to 7-0-1 and first in the Class B South Heal Points standings. Sara D’Appolonia had two goals and Gretchen Barbera also scored against the Capers. D’Appolonia and Katie Clemmer both had two goals in the win over the Rams, as the Clippers broke open a game that was scoreless at halftime. Clemmer scored early to give Yarmouth the lead against the Yachtsmen. In the second half, Clemmer and D’Appolonia scored, as did Isabel Brennan, and the Clippers swept two regular season meetings with Falmouth for the first time.

“We usually kick it into gear in the second half,” Clemmer said. “We lost our momentum a little bit, but after our team talk, we decided to pick up the pace and communicate more and from the start, that’s what we did.”

“It’s exciting to beat Falmouth,” said senior Cory Langenbach who played a key role all over the field. “We always play good games.”

“We’ve played these crazy schedules so both teams were tired,” added Clippers first-year coach Josh Thornton. “We spoke at halftime about the importance of picking up the tempo and we came out and put it to bed early.”

Yarmouth is home with Fryeburg Academy Thursday, has a showdown at defending Class B champion Greely Saturday (see theforecaster.net for game story) and visits Gray-New Gloucester Tuesday of next week.

Greely dropped a 1-0 home decision to Falmouth last Tuesday, then won at home over Cape Elizabeth (2-1) and Lake Region (3-0). Against the Capers, Ellie Schad and Ellie Holt scored the goals. Schad scored twice and Katie Steinberg had the other goal in the win over the Lakers. The Rangers (6-2 and second in Class B South) were at York Tuesday. They host Yarmouth Saturday and welcome Kennebunk Tuesday of next week.

Freeport is off to a strong start despite splitting games last week, losing at Gray-New Gloucester (1-0), and beating St. Dom’s (3-0) to improve to 4-2 and 10th in Class B South. Abbi King had two goals and Catriona Gould also scored against the Saints.

“We weren’t always switching the ball in recent games,” said Freeport Coach Elayna Girardin. “It felt like today we did those things.”

The Falcons were at Lake Region Tuesday, host Falmouth Thursday, go to defending Class C South champion Waynflete Saturday and return home to meet Poland Tuesday of next week.

Falmouth completed its brutal first half schedule at 3-4 after a 1-0 victory at Greely and a 4-0 loss at Yarmouth. 

“We’ve played Greely and Yarmouth twice and Cape, York and St. Dom’s in the first half of the season, but I think we’re in a good spot going forward,” Yachtsmen coach Andrew Pelletier said. “We have to get healthy and we have to make it through 80 minutes without making tough mistakes and giving up goals.”

Falmouth (10th in the Class A South Heals) was home with Wells Tuesday, plays at Freeport Thursday and hosts Fryeburg Academy Tuesday of next week.

Field hockey

Falmouth’s field hockey team continues to play some dramatic games and the past week has been no exception. Last week, the Yachtsmen handled visiting NYA (5-0) and Poland (6-2), then eked out a 3-2 double-overtime victory at Yarmouth. Against the Panthers, Bella Libby scored twice, while Sydney Bell, Brienn Douglas and Kate Kelley all had one goal. In the win over the Knights, Kelley and Devon Sarazin had two goals apiece and Bell and Libby added one each. The victory over the Clippers went down to the wire and then some. Yarmouth scored first, but Falmouth got goals from Kelley and Sarazin to take the lead. As they did in the teams’ first meeting, a 3-2 Yachtsmen overtime win in the season opener Aug. 31, the Clippers tied the score and forced OT again. It appeared the game was destined to end in a tie, but as time wound down, Sarazin raced in, had her shot broken up by the Yarmouth goalie and out of the ensuing mass of humanity, Libby snared the ball and flicked it into the goal. The clock read 0:00, but the goal was allowed to stand and Falmouth had an improbable 3-2 victory.

“I don’t even know what happened,” Libby said. “I just saw Devon come in and the Yarmouth goalie and another player all topple. The ball came out a little bit. Coach (Robin Haley) was like, ‘Flick it! Flick it!’ I just took the ball and flicked it in.” 

“This was a tough game,” Haley said. “They’re much improved from last time. They capitalized on some of our weaknesses tonight, but we pulled it out and that shows we’re mentally tough. It’s a big win.”

Monday, Falmouth fell to 9-2 after a 5-0 home loss to two-time defending Class B champion York, which has won 46 straight games and handed the Yachtsmen both losses this fall.

“We had some opportunities, but we couldn’t execute,” said Haley. “We turned the ball over. You have to minimize errors in a game against York because they capitalize.” 

Falmouth (first in the Class A South Heal Points standings at press time but destined to drop) hosts Fryeburg Academy Wednesday, visits Freeport Friday and closes the regular season Thursday of next week at home versus Cape Elizabeth.

Yarmouth suffered two overtime losses last week, falling, 1-0, at Kennebunk, then dropping the 3-2 home heartbreaker to Falmouth. In-between, the Clippers won, 5-0, at Freeport. Eliza Lunt and Ally MacLeod both scored twice and Abby McDowell also rattled the cage in the victory. Against the Yachtsmen, Sophie McGrath scored early and MacLeod tied the score, but the game ended in agony and controversy as Yarmouth felt time had expired before the decisive goal.

“(The officials) just said they didn’t hear a horn and they couldn’t call it a different way,” lamented Yarmouth coach Amy Ashley. “It can’t be an excuse as to why we lost. We should have scored earlier. 

“I’m so proud of how we played. It was our best game. If anything, it adds fuel to the fire and makes us realize we have to work harder. The girls who started played their hearts out. Even the girls who didn’t get in were cheering. We really felt like a family.”

Monday, the Clippers got back on track and won, 3-0, at Cape Elizabeth to improve to 6-4 and third behind York and Kennebunk in Class B South. McGrath, Anna Weibus and Molly Wilson had the goals. Yarmouth was home with Freeport Wednesday, welcomes Greely Friday and Kennebunk next Wednesday, then closes at Gray-New Gloucester Oct. 10. 

Greely played in its fifth overtime game and earned its third OT win last Tuesday, when it edged host Lake Region, 3-2, as Lizzie Brown (from Maddy Perfetti) produced the decisive goal. Perfetti scored two earlier goals, the second of which forced OT. Last Thursday, the Rangers lost at home to Kennebunk, 4-1. Wren Payne had the goal. Monday, they fell to 4-5 and 10th in Class B South with a 6-0 setback at Fryeburg Academy.

Freeport won at Gray-New Gloucester, 1-0 (on Kerry Lefebvre’s goal), then fell to 4-4-1 with 5-0 losses to visiting Yarmouth and at York. The Falcons (eighth in Class B South) went to Yarmouth Wednesday, host Falmouth Friday and welcome Cape Elizabeth Tuesday of next week.

NYA started 4-0-2, but has hit a rough patch, going 1-3 in its last four outings. Last week, the Panthers lost, 5-0, at Falmouth, beat host Old Orchard Beach, 6-0, then lost, 2-0, at Sacopee Valley. Amber Rose had three goals and Emily Biesel, Katie Larson and Savannah Shaw all had one in the victory. Monday, NYA fell to 5-3-2 and fifth in Class C South after a 7-1 setback at St. Dom’s (Larson had the goal). The Panthers are home against Traip Academy Friday and play host to the Maine Girls’ Academy/Waynflete co-op team Tuesday.

Volleyball

Greely’s volleyball team remains perfect on the season, not only winning every match, but taking every set in the process. Last week, the Rangers blanked visiting Windham (25-13, 25-15, 25-15) and host Cape Elizabeth (25-7, 25-13, 25-9) to improve to 7-0 and first in the Class A Heal Points standings. Kayley Cimino had eight kills and 13 assists against the Eagles and added 18 assists versus the Capers. Greely was home with Yarmouth Tuesday, welcomes Gardiner Thursday, goes to Mt. Desert Island Saturday and visits Gorham Tuesday of next week.

Falmouth was 6-2 and third in Class A at press time after 3-0 wins last week at Brunswick and at home over Thornton Academy (25-11 25-12, 25-16) and a 3-1 victory at home over MDI (25-15, 20-25, 25-12, 25-9). Alaina Birkel had 11 assists against the Golden Trojans. Birkel had 26 assists, Madi Tait produced 11 aces and 10 kills and Alston Armstrong added six kills versus MDI. After playing at Windham Tuesday, the Yachtsmen visit Scarborough Thursday and host Bonny Eagle Tuesday of next week.

Yarmouth saw its five-match win streak to start the season snapped last Tuesday with a 3-1 ((14-25, 21-25, 25-16, 17-25) home loss to Scarborough. Alison Clark had 16 kills and Rachel Chillé added 10. The Clippers then improved to 6-1 and seventh in Class A with a 3-0 (25-7, 25-20, 25-15) home win over Gorham. Clark had 12 more kills.

“Our girls played very well, as we beat a good Gorham team in straight sets,” said Yarmouth coach Jim Senecal. “We had a big crowd as it was the featured Thursday Night game of our Homecoming weekend.”

Yarmouth was at Greely Tuesday, goes to Cony Thursday, then hosts South Portland Tuesday of next week.

NYA made it five straight wins to start the season after downing visiting Gardiner (3-1, 22-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-14) and host Cony (3-0, 25-20, 27-25, 25-18). Suzanna Butterfield had 12 aces and Zelda Clegg finished with a dozen kills in the win over the Tigers. Saturday, the Panthers suffered their first loss in three sets at Bonny Eagle (12-25, 12-25, 23-25). NYA (5-1 and third in Class B) was home against York Tuesday, hosts Brunswick Friday and welcomes Down East rivals Bucksport and Sumner Saturday.

Cross country

Greely’s girls’ cross country team won the small school race at last weekend’s Manchester (New Hampshire) Invitational. Katherine Leggat-Barr led the way, placing second individually in 18 minutes, 58 seconds. Carolyn Todd (19:19) came in fourth and Kate Curran (20:24) placed 12th. Freeport came in 19th (out of 28 scoring teams) and was led by Laura Pierce (61st, 22:20). NYA didn’t score as a team, but Megan Alberding had the 44th-best time (21:39). 

In the boys’ small school race, Greely finished fourth and Freeport was eighth (32 teams took part). Individually, Freeport standout Henry Jaques was fourth in 16:14, posting the best time of any Maine runner. Luke Marsanskis (24th, 17:23) led the Rangers.

Closer to home, Yarmouth hosted Falmouth, Lake Region and Sacopee Valley. The boys’ race was won by the Yachtsmen with the Clippers placing second. Yarmouth’s Luke Laverdiere won the race in 16:03.25, but Falmouth had the next three finishers in Jeremiah Sands (16:38.85), Conner Piers (17:29.21) and John Auer (17:33.39). In the girls’ meet, the Clippers were first and the Yachtsmen came in second. Yarmouth had the top two individuals, as Abigail Hamilton was first (18:51.19) and Anneka Murrin placed second (19:09.63). Falmouth was led by Malaika Pasch (third, 19:36.46).

Maine Coast Waldorf School joined Poland and St. Dom’s at Gray-New Gloucester. The MCW boys were first, as Tucker Pierce (17:33), Dylan Wu (18:03) and Nick Neveu (18:05) were the top three individuals. The MCW girls came in fourth, but Olivia Skillings (21:26) was first.

Next up is the Festival of Champions Saturday in Belfast, where Falmouth, Greely, MCW, NYA and Yarmouth will take part. Freeport will run with Traip Academy, Waynflete and Wells at York Friday.

Golf

Falmouth’s golf team went 2-1 last week, blanking Deering (13-0), losing to Scarborough (10-3) and downing Cheverus (9-4) to improve to 6-2. The Yachtsmen were at Portland Tuesday and close the regular season Thursday at home versus South Portland.

Greely beat Windham and Westbrook last week to improve to 8-0. The Rangers were at Thornton Academy Tuesday and finish at home versus Gorham Thursday.

NYA was 5-3 at the start of the week after downing Fryeburg Academy (4.5-2.5) and Gray-New Gloucester (4.5-2.5) and losing to York, 5-2. 

Freeport fell to 2-6 after 6-1 losses to St. Dom’s and Cape Elizabeth. 

Yarmouth was 6-0 at press time.

Sun Journal staff writer Eric Maxim contributed to this story.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports