Falmouth’s girls’ hockey team managed to be one of the last two standing this winter, but ultimately, the Yachtsmen fell just short of their ultimate goal.
A state title.
The Yachtsmen, who earned the top seed in the West Region after a 14-4 regular season, ended Scarborough’s title reign last Wednesday with a 4-2 win in the regional final.
After a scoreless first period, Camden Carrier, Evie Clement, Sarah Hutcheon and Sarah Carmichael scored in just over six minutes to make it 4-0. The Red Storm got two goals back late in the second period, but Falmouth goalie Ally Hurdman made 21 saves and the Yachtsmen advanced to their second state final (Falmouth lost, 7-1, to Greely in 2012).
Saturday, against undefeated Lewiston, the champion of the East Region, the Yachtsmen had no answer for Blue Devils star Allison Frechette, who scored four times.
Frechette started the scoring 4:24 into the contest on Lewiston’s first power play of the game. The Blue Devils added two more goals in the first period, Frechette adding her second to make it 3-0.
The Yachtsmen (who were blanked at Lewiston, 4-0, Jan. 14 in the lone regular season meeting) got on the board via the power play at 10:58 of the second period to climb within 3-1. After a failed clear by the Blue Devils, Carrier fired a puck through heavy traffic past Lewiston goaltender Paige Fontaine.
“I felt after the first period we got our legs back, we weren’t nervous anymore,” Falmouth coach Rob Carrier said. “We kept fighting to get that first one.”
But less than a minute into the third period, Frechette carried the puck into the zone with a defender draped all over her. Despite being tripped on the play, Frechette kept her balance and backhanded a shot from her knees, going 5-hole on Hurdman (33 saves) as Lewiston went up 4-1.
“We knew and we’ve seen and we’ve read the articles,” Rob Carrier said of Frechette. “If a team’s going to beat you, odds are it’s going to be one of the superstars and she stepped up in a big game. Hats off to her.”
A second power-play goal by the Yachtsmen, this one from Clement, gave the Western Maine champions a pulse with 4:02 left, but Frechette’s empty netter accounted for the 5-2 final score.
“We came into this year with high expectations and I feel we met them,” Carrier said. “The team is proud of what they accomplished. Getting to the state finals is never easy and the team showed a lot of heart during the playoff run.”
Falmouth finished the season 16-5.
“Next year I see us being a very competitive team,” Carrier said. “We have some holes to fill on defense due to graduation, but our offense will have a lot of veterans on it and our goalie will be entering her third year starting.”
Sun Journal staff writer Mike Kraft contributed to this story.
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter:@foresports.
Sidebar Elements
Falmouth goalie Ally Hurdman makes one of her 33 saves during Saturday’s state championship game against Lewiston. Despite Hurdman’s heroics, the Yachtsmen fell short, 5-2.
Falmouth’s Devon Sarazin collides with a Lewiston defender Saturday.
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