(Editor’s note: For the complete Falmouth-Cape Elizabeth and NYA-Waynflete boys’ soccer stories, please visit theforecaster.net)
Local soccer, field hockey, cross-country and golf teams were very busy over the past week, and each school had something to get excited about (for the football and volleyball recaps, please see stories).
Here’s a glimpse at what you might have missed:
Boys’ soccer
After falling short a year ago, the Falmouth boys’ soccer team looks like it has the potential to be the team to beat in 2011. The Yachtsmen enjoyed a pair of 2-1 wins last week to improve to 4-0 (good for second behind York in the latest Western Class B Heal Points standings). Last Wednesday, Falmouth fell behind host Cape Elizabeth early, but tied the score when senior Abyn Reabe-Gerwig banged home junior J.P. White’s shot late in the first half. With 33:04 to play, freshman Luke Velas scored and the Yachtsmen went on to the win.
“I was concerned because Cape’s a terrific team,” said Falmouth coach Dave Halligan. “I think they’re one of the best. We hadn’t been challenged in five weeks. I was pleased. We were on our heels in the second half, but we were up a goal and trying to protect the lead.”
Friday, the Yachtsmen held off visiting York as junior Grant Burfeind and sophomore Ben Freeman scored.
Falmouth returns to action Saturday at Yarmouth, hosts Greely Monday and visits Fryeburg Wednesday of next week.
“I think there’s so much parity this year,” said Halligan. “A lot of close games. Whoever comes prepared and ready to play on a given night will make the difference. We just want to get better.”
Speaking of the Clippers, their early season continues to be defined by fits and starts. After dropping its first two games, Yarmouth defeated Greely and Fryeburg to even its record. In the win over the Raiders, senior Ryan Maguire scored a highlight reel goal from 35-yards out with six minutes to play. Senior goalkeeper Chris Knaub had to make three superb saves to keep Fryeburg off the scoreboard. Friday, the Clippers outshot visiting Freeport, 19-3 (12-3 on frame), but had to settle for a scoreless draw (ending a five game win streak against the Falcons).
Yarmouth (2-2-1 and fourth in the Heals) went to Lake Region Tuesday, visits Greely Thursday, hosts Falmouth Saturday and welcomes dangerous Gray-New Gloucester Monday.
Freeport entered the week 3-2-1 (fifth in the standings) after a 4-1 home loss to York and a 0-0 tie at Yarmouth last week. Zach Green had a goal versus the Wildcats. The Falcons went to Greely Tuesday, visit Lake Region Thursday and play at Cape Elizabeth Monday.
In Western A, Greely was 2-4 and 10th in the Heals at the start of the week. Friday, the Rangers lost to visiting Cape Elizabeth, 3-1 (Paul Witte scored for Greely). The Rangers hosted Freeport Tuesday and welcome Yarmouth Thursday. Monday of next week, Greely is at Falmouth and Wednesday, it goes to Gray-New Gloucester.
In Western C, defending regional champion North Yarmouth Academy had a win and a tie last week to even its record at 3-3-1 (good for eighth in the Heals). Last Wednesday, at rival Waynflete, the Panthers were down late, but drew even on senior Ryan Rousseau’s goal in the 68th minute and settled for the deadlock.
“This was important,” said NYA coach Martyn Keen. “We’re happy with a tie. Looking at the shot count in the first half, we had the numbers, but they were mostly long-range shots. It wasn’t a great goal they scored, but they all count the same. I’m pleased we showed resilience in the second half. It was good to come back. We’ve had some great games on this field. We’ve beaten them when we had to in big games. We’re a work in progress. The new players are forced to step up instead of being role players. We have some athletes. This showed us we’re on the right road at least.”
The Panthers were 4-1 winners at Traip Friday (Rousseau led the way with two tallies). They were at Sacopee Valley Tuesday, visit Gray-New Gloucester Thursday, then are idle until a visit to Wells Wednesday of next week.
“We have a big game against Sacopee since they beat us,” said Keen. “That’s a big one. They look like they’ll win 10 games. That’s a lot of Heal Points, especially with them being a conference rival. We hope to do what we did in the past, play our best at the end.”
Girls’ soccer
Falmouth’s girls’ soccer team entered the week unbeaten. The defending Class B state champion Yachtsmen rallied to tie visiting Cape Elizabeth, 1-1, last Wednesday, on senior Annie Criscione’s second half goal. Friday, Falmouth edged visiting rival York, 1-0, on junior Cassie Darrow’s goal. The Yachtsmen (4-0-1 and second to Morse in the Western B Heals) play at Yarmouth Saturday and Greely Monday. They return home Wednesday against Fryeburg.
Yarmouth finally got in the win column Friday with a 2-1 win at Freeport. After a scoreless first half, the Clippers got the jump on a gorgeous tough-angle left-footed goal from junior Tess Merrill in the 42nd minute. Sixty-seven seconds later, senior Jeanna Lowery struck with her left foot and it was 2-0, but the Falcons didn’t buckle and pulled within 2-1 on sophomore Ashley Richardson’s blast in the 64th minute. With 11:54 to go, a long floater from senior Alex Mitch was denied and Yarmouth went on to the victory.
“It’s a win and we needed it,” said Clippers coach Rich Smith. “I thought we played great for the first 60 minutes of the game and we got two nice goals from our lefties. Then, Freeport got a goal and put the pressure on, and we panicked a little bit. We have to learn to adjust to playing with a lead.”
Yarmouth was coming off a 3-2 loss at Fryeburg, despite a pair of goals from senior Mo McNaboe.
“It was 0-0 at halftime and we outshot them, 16-2, but a minute into the second half, they scored a goal,” Smith said. “We got one right back, then we had a missed pass and they scored on a breakaway. We tied it up, then got down. Their goalie was good.”
The Clippers (1-4 and 11th in the Heals) hosted Lake Region Tuesday, go to Greely Thursday, welcome Falmouth Saturday and Gray-New Gloucester Monday.
Freeport, which had fallen, 3-0, at York last Wednesday, dropped to 3-3 after the Yarmouth loss.
“We almost tied it up,” Falcons coach Elayna Girardin lamented. “I told the team at halftime that we had to just play. They chose to come in and play in the second half and I thought it was a very good second half. You can’t play just one half and expect to win. It’s hard to get out of a two-goal hole. We had pressure and possessed and moved the ball better. I feel we made them nervous. We have to play 80 minutes and not just 40.”
Freeport is still looking to get over the hump against a top foe.
“We are competitive,” Girardin said. “I keep reminding the girls that we’ve been competitive for a year or two now. They have to understand we can beat those teams. It’s a matter of getting that first win against a traditionally strong team. It’s tough to build a tradition in a short time, but we’re working on it. It’s getting the girls to believe in themselves. It takes a couple years. We’re close.”
The Falcons (eighth in Western B) hosted Greely Tuesday, visit Waynflete Thursday and return home to meet Cape Elizabeth (the top-ranked team in Western A) Monday.
In Western A, Greely saw its four-match win streak stopped Friday with a 2-0 loss at Cape Elizabeth. Caton Beaulieu did stop 18 shots in defeat. The Rangers (4-1 and seventh in the Heals) went to Freeport Tuesday, host Yarmouth Thursday, Falmouth Monday and Gray-New Gloucester Wednesday of next week.
In Western C, NYA is looking to get in the win column. The Panthers fell last week at Waynflete (8-0) and at home to Traip (2-1, in double overtime) to drop to 0-5. In the loss to the Rangers, Moira Lachance had the goal. NYA (15th in the Heals) was home against Sacopee Valley Tuesday and goes to Fryeburg Friday.
Field hockey
Falmouth’s field hockey team saw its unbeaten run end Saturday with a gut-wrenching 2-1 overtime loss to nemesis York. The Yachtsmen, a 5-0 home winner over Yarmouth last Wednesday (thanks in part to two goals from senior Megan Fortier), took a 1-0 lead over the Wildcats on Fortier’s penalty stroke goal, but York tied the game late in regulation and won it in OT, dropping Falmouth to 4-1-1. The Yachtsmen (second in the Western B Heals) were at top-ranked Fryeburg Wednesday, go to Greely Friday and have a rematch with York Tuesday.
Greely lost at Fryeburg (3-0) and blanked visiting Gray-New Gloucester (5-0) last week and began this week at 4-2 and fifth in the region. Against the Patriots, senior Julia Maine scored twice. After several reschedules, the Rangers will host York on Yarmouth’s turf field Thursday at 7 p.m. Greely welcomes Falmouth Friday and goes to Cape Elizabeth Tuesday.
Yarmouth sandwiched losses at Falmouth (5-0) and Wells (2-1) around a 1-0 home win over Gray-New Gloucester last week. Sarah Gorman scored in the victory. Emma Peterson had a goal versus the Warriors. The Clippers improved to 4-3-1 (and 10th in Western B) after a 4-1 home victory over Waynflete Monday. Catie O’Toole scored twice. Yarmouth was at Fryeburg Tuesday, welcomes Greely Saturday and goes to Gray-New Gloucester Monday.
In Western C, defending state champion North Yarmouth Academy began the week 3-1 and second to Lisbon in the Heals. The Panthers fell to 3-2 Monday after a 3-0 loss at York. NYA hosted Waynflete Wednesday, goes to Sacopee Valley Friday and welcomes Freeport Tuesday.
The Falcons improved to 4-2 and fourth in the standings after a 4-0 home win over Old Orchard Beach Monday (Kayla Thurlow and Katie Turner each had a goal and an assist, while Olivia Bubar and Patricia Lyons had second half goals). Freeport was at Gray-New Gloucester Wednesday, hosts Traip Friday and goes to NYA Tuesday.
Cross country
Freeport hosted Falmouth and Fryeburg in a cross-country meet last weekend, where the Yachtsmen took first place in both the boys’ and girls’ meets, while each Falcons squad came in second In the boys’ race, individually, Falmouth’s Thomas Edmonds was second (17:32), while Freeport’s Nick Sweet was ninth (18:42). In the girls’ competition, individually, the Yachtsmen’s Madeline Roberts was first (20:59). The Falcons’ Nina Davenport finished fourth (21:35).
Falmouth was second in the latest coaches’ poll, while Freeport ranked 10th.
Greely went to Lake Region along with Sacopee Valley and Waynflete and each team came in first. Izaak Emery was second in the boys’ race (15:54). Allie Day was runner-up in the girls’ competition (19:15). The boys were fourth in the latest coaches’ poll.
NYA and Yarmouth joined Wells and Traip and Gray-New Gloucester. The Panthers won the boys’ race (the Clippers were third), while Yarmouth was first on the girls’ side. Individually, in the boys’ competition, NYA’s Cam Regan was runner-up (18:07). Yarmouth’s Braden Becker came in third (18:37). On the girls’ side, Gabrielle Beaulieu was the top finisher in 21:16. Hillary Detert of NYA was third (23:16).
NYA’s boys’ team was third in the latest coaches’ poll.
Merriconeag joined Cape Elizabeth and Poland at York. Jack Pierce won the boys’ race (15:09), but the team came in third. In the girls’ competition, Zoe Chase-Donahue was fourth (19:41) and Merriconeag (ranked 10th by the coaches) was second to York after a tiebreaker.
Falmouth will join Poland, Sacopee Valley and Traip at Wells Thursday. Friday, Yarmouth hosts Gray-New Gloucester, Lake Region and Merriconeag. NYA joins Fryeburg and York at Cape Elizabeth. Saturday, Freeport and Greely will compete in the Manchester (N.H.) Invitational.
Golf
Falmouth’s golf team, the defending Class B state champion, now competing in Class A, improved to 5-1 Monday with an 11-2 win at South Portland. Last Wednesday, the Yachtsmen suffered their first loss of the season, 12.5-0.5, at Scarborough. Falmouth hosted Portland Wednesday, goes to Cheverus Friday and hosts Cheverus in a makeup match Monday of next week, before closing the regular season at home against Deering Tuesday and Scarborough Wednesday.
Greely won its first five matches before suffering a 7-6 home loss to Gorham last Wednesday. Kyle Megathlin was the medalist, with a 37, but the Rangers lost by a single stroke. Monday, Greely was at Windham Wednesday and closes the regular season at Thornton Academy and Gorham next week.
In Class B, Yarmouth beat host Wells, 5-2, Monday to improve to 6-2. The Clippers beat visiting Lake Region, 7-0, but lost to visiting York, 5-2, last week. They host Wells and play at York next week to end the regular season.
Freeport fell to 2-6 with recent losses to Old Orchard Beach (5-2) and Fryeburg (6-1). the Falcons were at Poland Wednesday and host Gray-New Gloucester and visit Sacopee Valley next week.
The girls’ state qualifying match is Sept. 28 at Willowdale Golf Course in Scarborough. The boys’ state qualifying matches are Oct. 3.
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.
Sidebar Elements
Falmouth senior Annie Criscione and junior Angela Mallis celebrate after Criscione’s goal tied Cape Elizabeth last Wednesday night. The defending Class B state champion Yachtsmen entered the week with a 4-0-1 record.
Yarmouth’s Braden Becker runs his way toward a third-place finish at last weekend’s cross country meet in Gray. The Clippers came in third as a team.
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