(Editor’s note: For the complete Falmouth-Greely field hockey and Greely-Yarmouth boys’ and girls’ soccer game stories, please visit theforecaster.net)

The fall sports season is now in full flower and last week produced some interesting results in soccer, field hockey, cross country, volleyball and golf (for the football recap and for Freeport’s breakdown, please see stories).

Here’s a glimpse at what you might have missed:

Boys’ soccer

Two local boys’ soccer powers squared off last week in Yarmouth.

The host Clippers came in reeling, having lost two straight after avoiding a regular season loss in both the 2009 and 2010 campaigns. Yarmouth dropped a 2-1 home decision to Cape Elizabeth in the opener, then fell, 2-1, at York last Tuesday (senior Sam Torres had the Clippers’ lone goal). Visiting Greely was 1-1, bouncing back from a 2-1 (double-overtime) home loss to York in the opener with a 4-0 triumph at Poland (junior Nick Shain, sophomores Matt Crowley and Ted Hart and freshman Mitchel Donovan had the goals).

Thursday, Yarmouth got in the win column and extended its win streak versus the Rangers to seven games as senior Ryan Maguire (from junior Griffin O’Rourke) and sophomore Travis Hamre (from freshman Nate Gallagher) scored goals and the Clippers’ defense and standout senior goalkeeper Chris Knaub pitched the shutout.

“Both our games we played this year, we got off to terrible starts,” Maguire said. “We weren’t bringing it early. This game was a little different.”

“We have a lot of young guys who haven’t played varsity before,” said Hamre. “We just had to get used to the pace.”

“I was saying before the game that I’m the happiest 0-2 coach you’ll ever meet,” added longtime Yarmouth coach Mike Hagerty. “It was a tough open. Boom, boom, boom with (Cape Elizabeth, York and Greely). Except for the first half against Cape, we really played well. The kids have done a lot of things right, but they’re just young. They work really hard. We decided a couple games ago with all the injuries we have to play as many bodies as we can to stay fresh. What we’re lacking in skill at this point, we’re making up for in effort.”

The Clippers returned to action Wednesday at home versus Fryeburg. Friday, Freeport comes to town and Tuesday of next week, Yarmouth is at Lake Region.

“As long as we maintain this effort, I think we’ll get cleaner,” Hagerty said. “The multi-sport athletes will play soccer by October and hopefully we’ll get some injured kids back.”

Greely quickly got over the loss.

“I thought it was a fairly played game,” said Rangers’ coach Mike Andreasen. “The game was even, we just made, I thought, two mistakes in the back, where we didn’t give depth and Yarmouth made us pay. We played OK. A decent game, but  two mistakes against Yarmouth usually means a loss.”

Greely bounced back Saturday with a dramatic 2-1 double-overtime win over visiting Fryeburg on junior Nicholas Dunnett’s long shot just before time expired. Shain also scored.

The Rangers fell to 2-3 Monday after a 2-0 loss at York. They host Cape Elizabeth Friday and Freeport next Tuesday.

Falmouth’s offense is as potent as always. The Yachtsmen, who opened with a 5-0 home victory over Poland, improved to 2-0 last Tuesday with a 14-1 romp at Lake Region. Brandon Tuttle led the way with four goals. Connor Murphy and Luke Velas each had two.

Falmouth played its first game in eight days Wednesday at Cape Elizabeth. The Yachtsmen host York Friday, then have another eight-day break before a huge showdown at Yarmouth.

In Western C, North Yarmouth Academy entered Wednesday’s showdown and rematch of last year’s regional final at rival Waynflete with a 2-2 mark. The Panthers, who blanked visiting Traip in the opener, 7-0, fell, 2-0, at home to Sacopee last Tuesday, bounced back with an 11-0 home win over Wells Thursday (D.J. Nicholas had three goals, Sam Leishman two), then couldn’t hold a 3-1 lead in a 5-3 setback at Freeport Saturday (Ryan Rousseau had two goals, Nicholas the other).

NYA plays at Traip Friday and goes to Sacopee Tuesday.

Girls’ soccer

Greely’s girls’ soccer team is living up to billing in 2011.

The Rangers opened with a 9-0 victory at Wells, then downed visiting Poland, 7-0, last Tuesday (junior Julia Mitiguy scored twice, while senior Libby Thomas, juniors Holly Rand and Sammi Toorish, sophomore Leah Young and freshman Kristina Volta also scored and senior Audrey Parolin assisted on three of the goals). Thursday, Greely went to Yarmouth (which had lost its first two, 4-0 at Cape Elizabeth and 2-1 at home to York, despite junior Olivia Conrad’s goal).

The Rangers had a 1-0 halftime lead at Yarmouth after Thomas scored on a beautiful feed from sophomore Kaitlyn Graham.

“It was a fantastic ball from Kaitlyn Graham,” said Thomas. “Coach has been pulling for me to make that weak-side run. It’s kind of been frustrating, because I didn’t always get the ball, but it was perfect. She split the defenders. I took a few touches and luckily hit it hard enough to get it in. We came out strong and played the right way.”

Greely doubled its lead early in the second half after a rush up the right side by Toorish. Toorish’s cross came to Parolin and the captain fired a shot that deflected home for a 2-0 lead.

“Technically, it hit off the other defender, but I put pressure on them,” Parolin said. “It was a great run from Sammi. Getting the ball and putting it across and I just happened to be there.”

The Clippers got back within a goal when Conrad scored (from senior Ricki Pierce), but that’s as close as they came and the Rangers held on to win, 2-1 (13 saves from senior goalie Lindsey Arsenault played a big role).

“It’s what we needed,” said Greely coach Michael Kennedy. “That first half showed we hadn’t played a competitive game since we won the Challenge Cup on this field at the end of the summer. It’s what I thought would happen on fast turf. The speed of the ball hurt us and the quality of opponent showed. We tried to go out and score 14 goals. Our goals tend to come off of very thoughtful buildup and are well-constructed. We played our game in the second half. We moved the ball. Sammi and Audrey and Libby got more involved and that made the difference for us. That’s our game.”

The Rangers made an even bigger statement Monday night when they held off visiting nemesis York, 1-0 (behind Toorish’s second half goal and 13 saves from junior goalkeeper Caton Beaulieu). Greely (4-0) is at Cape Elizabeth Friday and visits Freeport Tuesday of next week.

While Yarmouth fell to 0-3 with its loss to Greely, it knows that all is not lost.

“I’m not disappointed,” said longtime coach Rich Smith. “We have a few things figured out as to who plays where and who will do the scoring. That kind of stuff. We’re moving forward and it’ll be OK. It’s a tough start with the three tough teams at the beginning of the year. We had some things to figure out and Greely might be the best of the three teams so far.”

The Clippers’ schedule eases going forward. They were at Fryeburg Wednesday and go to Freeport Friday. A home game versus Lake Region follows Tuesday of next week.

“The next games are an opportunity to see how much we’ve improved,” Smith said.

Falmouth, the defending Class B champion, is 3-0 in the early going and looks dominant. The Yachtsmen, who opened with a 7-0 win at Poland, blanked Lake Region in their home opener last Tuesday (senior McKenzie Meyers and junior Caitlin Bucksbaum each scored twice). Monday, Falmouth made it three straight with a 6-1 win at Wells (junior Alex Bernier led the way with two goals).

The Yachtsmen hosted Cape Elizabeth Wednesday, welcome rival York Friday and then are idle until Sept. 24, when they go to Yarmouth.

In Western C, NYA entered Wednesday’s game at rival Waynflete seeking its first victory. The Panthers opened with a 2-0 loss at Traip Academy, then fell, 1-0, at Sacopee last Tuesday and, 4-3, to visiting Old Orchard Beach Thursday (Moira Lachance, Ally Morrison and Hannah Twombly scored and Twombly and Chloe Leisman had assists).

NYA is home versus Traip Friday and welcomes Sacopee next Tuesday.

Field hockey

Falmouth’s field hockey team has returned to form this fall.

The Yachtsmen, who won just four games and lost in the quarterfinals in 2010, took a 3-0-1 record into Tuesday’s home game against Yarmouth. Falmouth, a 4-0 winner at Wells in the opener before settling for a 1-1 tie at Lake Region, hosted Greely in a thriller in the rain last Wednesday night. Sophomore Jillian Rothweiler had two first half goals to give the Yachtsmen a 2-1 lead. After the Rangers drew even, senior Megan Fortier put Falmouth back on top with a goal off a penalty corner, but Greely again tied the score and appeared to force overtime before sophomore Mikey Richards played the hero, scoring with three seconds to play for a 4-3 triumph.

“We really dug it out like we always do,” said Richards. “That’s the important part. We pushed all the way to the end. We didn’t settle for overtime. It says to all the other teams that we’re definitely ready and we’re here to win.”

“It was a great win,” added longtime Yachtsmen coach Robin Haley. “It was a good game of skill and a fun game to coach. Both teams played well. It was exciting and it’s always healthy competition between Falmouth and Greely. The games are always close.

“I was telling (assistant coach) Liz (Koharian), ‘Let’s get our seven players ready.’ It looked like overtime was going to happen.”

Falmouth won again at home Friday, 4-1, over Cape Elizabeth, as sophomore Leika Scott had two goals, Fortier and senior Haley Mucci one each.

The Yachtsmen have a huge home test Saturday versus longtime nemesis York.

Greely, which beat NYA (2-0) and Fryeburg (1-0, behind senior Julia Maine’s goal), fell just short at Falmouth (despite tallies from seniors Helena McMonagle and Eliza Porter and junior Paige Tuller).

“(The winning goal) just goes to show that every single ball counts,” said Rangers’ coach Kristina Lane Prescott. “You can’t let up even a little bit, especially against a team like that. Falmouth’s always a strong team. The best part about playing Falmouth is that it always comes down to skill and we’re always evenly matched. It comes down to stickwork and passing. It was back and forth. It was an unbelievable game.”

Greely bounced back and improved to 3-1 Friday after a 5-1 home victory over Wells. Maine had two goals, Hanson, senior CeCi Hodgkins and junior Rachel Hanson one each.

The Rangers went to Fryeburg Tuesday, host York in a rematch of last year’s regional final Thursday and visit Gray-New Gloucester Saturday.

Yarmouth has made great strides this fall and has already matched last year’s win total. After opening with a scoreless home tie versus Cape Elizabeth and a 4-0 home win over Traip, the Clippers fell, 6-0, at Lake Region Thursday. They bounced back 24 hours later with a 3-0 win at Poland to improve to 2-1-1.

Yarmouth was at Falmouth Tuesday, hosts Gray-New Gloucester Thursday, goes to Wells Saturday and welcomes Waynflete Monday.

Defending Class C champion NYA began the week 3-1. After splitting their first two contests (a 4-1 home win over Sacopee Valley and a 2-0 loss at Greely), the Panthers downed visiting Freeport in the rain last Wednesday (3-0, as senior Katherine Millett scored twice and classmate Katie Cawley once) and visiting Traip (5-0, Cawley had a had trick, Millett and Bailey Clock each scored once).

NYA goes to Old Orchard Beach Saturday and visits York Monday.

Volleyball

Greely’s volleyball team is back to championship form, winning its first three matches. The Rangers opened with a 3-0 (25-12, 27-25, 25-11) win over visiting Yarmouth, then held off host Gorham, 3-1 (25-16, 24-26, 25-9, 25-19), before blanking visiting Kennebunk, 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-19). Greely was at defending Class A champion Biddeford Tuesday, plays at Scarborough Thursday and first-year program Lake Region Monday.

Falmouth, a two-time state finalist, also began the week 3-0. The Yachtsmen opened with easy wins at Cape Elizabeth (3-0) and Lake Region (3-1), but had a stern test Friday when they hosted Biddeford in a state final rematch. This time, Falmouth got the last laugh, 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-19). The Yachtsmen hosted Scarborough Tuesday, go to Kennebunk Thursday and play host to Yarmouth Tuesday of next week.

In Class B, Yarmouth, which lost its opener at Biddeford, 3-0, fell at Greely, 3-0, last Tuesday despite six kills, seven blocks and four digs from Morgan Cahill, 11 digs and seven assists from Suzanne Driscoll, six digs from Gina Robertson and five digs and three assists from Sophia Siddall. The Clippers improved to 1-2 Thursday with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-20) home victory over Cape Elizabeth behind 10 kills, four aces and 15 service points from Cahill, 11 digs and four kills from Driscoll, three aces from Kate Myers and 17 assists and three aces from Grace Mallett. The Clippers were home with Gorham Tuesday, then are idle until hosting Falmouth next Tuesday.

NYA dropped a 3-0 decision at Cony in its opener, then lost, 3-0 (11-25, 16-25, 10-25) at home to Gorham Thursday. The Panthers look for their first win Thursday at Lake Region. Monday, they host Cape Elizabeth.

Cross country

Falmouth’s cross-country teams defeated Merriconeag and host Gray-New Gloucester in a meet at Pineland Farms last weekend. The boys (ranked second behind Scarborough in the latest coaches’ poll) saw Tim Follo placed first with a time of 17 minutes, 8 seconds. Merriconeag’s Jack Pierce was runner-up (17:12). In the girls’ meet, Merriconeag’s Zoe Chase-Donahue was first in 22:17. Falmouth’s Molly Paris was runner-up (22:40).

NYA hosted Greely and Poland and the Panthers boys (third in the latest coaches’ poll) placed first, edging the fourth-ranked Rangers. NYA senior Cam Regan was first individually (16:44) with Greely senior Stefan Sandreuter placing second (16:52). The Rangers won the girls’ meet behind first-place individual finisher sophomore Kirstin Sandreuter (19:07). The Panthers were led by senior Hillary Detert (fifth, 21:46).

Yarmouth joined Sacopee and York at Fryeburg. The girls were second to York and junior Sarah Becker was the second-fastest individual (21:48). The boys finished third behind York and Fryeburg, as junior Thomas Robichaud came in seventh (18:19).

This weekend, Freeport hosts Falmouth and Fryeburg, Greely joins Sacopee and Waynflete at Lake Region, NYA and Yarmouth (along with Traip and Wells) go to Gray-New Gloucsester and Merriconeag (along with Cape Elizabeth and Poland) runs at York.

Golf

Last week’s golf schedule was compromised by rain, but a few matches were played.

Defending Class B state champion Falmouth won 11-2 at Portland last Tuesday and improved to 3-0 Monday with an impressive 9.5-3.5 victory at Deering. The Yachtsmen went to Scarborough Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Class A, Greely beat Windham (13-0), as medalist Kyle Megathlin shot a 37. Thursday, the Rangers had no trouble with Westbrook in a 9.5-3.5 win, as led Megathlin led the way again with a 37. The Rangers hosted Thornton Academy Monday and won again, 7.5-5.5, to improve to 5-0. Greely welcomed Gorham Wednesday and goes to Bonny Eagle Monday.

Yarmouth improved to 4-1 Monday with a 7-0 blanking of Fryeburg and a 6.5-0.5 win over Freeport, which fell to 2-2 (the Falcons had lost 6-1 to Sacopee last Thursday).

The Clippers are home against York Friday.

The Falcons were at Old Orchard Wednesday and go to Fryeburg Monday of next week.

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

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Falmouth’s Colby Howland (left) and Conor McGrory keep each other company during last weekend’s meet at Pineland Farms. Howland wound up fourth individually and McGrory fifth as the Yachtsmen beat the host Patriots of Gray-New Gloucester and Merriconeag.

Falmouth’s Molly Paris and Merriconeag’s Zoe Chase-Donahue jockey for the top spot in Friday’s girls’ race. Chase-Donahue wound up edging Paris for first, but the Yachtsmen got the victory as a team.

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