Capers Lindsay Stewart and Kate Bosworth helmed a come-from-behind performance against visiting Freeport, Thursday evening. Stewart hashed four goals and Bosworth – as always – stood stalwart in net, turning away shot after shot to transmute an early Falcons lead into an eventual 12-6 Cape victory.

“Iffy start,” said Cape head coach Alex Spark. “It came down to, in the beginning of the game, we weren’t winning the draws. They were getting the ball down on attack, and they were getting opportunities to shoot and score, which they were taking advantage of.

“As the game continued, we started getting a little more control over the draws, taking advantage of each possession we had as an attack, settling in ourselves and putting ourselves in the controlling spot, which I think was the turning point for us.”

The win bumps the Capers to 1-0-1 in 2015; they opened their schedule two weeks ago with a tie vs. Greely. Freeport slips to 0-2, after dropping their first bout of the season to York.

Cape lit the lamp first on Thursday – a Kirsten Rudberg point, unassisted – but the Falcons struck back soon enough, and even surged ahead. Chloe Davidson notched a pair of goals barely two minutes apart, with help from Lily Johnston and then Emily Johnson, to put Freeport up 2-1 near the midway mark of the first half.

Courtney Broderick widened the Falcons’ lead to 3-1, assisted by Taylor Rinaldi, but Stewart almost immediately answered to keep the Capers close.

“The [York] game, all we’d focused on was defense, defense, defense,” said Freeport head coach Marcia Wood. “We’re still working on defense, but we introduced some attacking stuff, so the attack was a little bit better.”

Cape evened things up with 11:37 still to play before the break: In the midst of a solid defensive stand against one of Freeport’s more aggressive offensive stretches, they managed to force a turnover and shift play back to the Falcons’ nesting grounds. There, Rudberg fed Stewart and Stewart beat Freeport keeper Sam Jordan for 3-3.

Two minutes later, the Capers captured the lead – this time for good. Chloe Chapin dished to Rudberg, who juked through heavy traffic for a bounce shot past Jordan and 4-3.

From there, the team only picked up steam. Chapin assisted Susie Graham on the 5-3 score not 30 seconds later, and Stewart struck again, this time with help from Taylor Herrera, at 6:15.

Freeport was down, if not out. Broderick scored again at 2:17, unassisted for 6-4, but Cape had found their groove and weren’t about to relinquish it. With just eight seconds till halftime, Graham, cutting in front of the Falcons’ cage, grabbed a Herrera pass and snapped a redirect past Jordan’s far side for 7-4.

The Capers opened the second half with a couple more quick tallies, the first from Herrara and the second from Emma Landes, for 9-4.

“What kind of gave us the step ahead was, when we were down on the attack, and we really started moving the ball, Freeport’s defense just couldn’t keep up with their slides and their movements and their crashes,” said Spark. “So we were able to move the ball quicker than their defense could move, which is what gave us the openings to shoot.”

Cape had clearly secured the momentum, and they would ultimately secure the W as well, 12-6, but Freeport’s performance wasn’t a complete wash. They certainly looked much improved, even from the York bout, showing solid organization at both ends of the field. They moved the ball more, and more accurately, and displayed a greater awareness of the space and both teams’ places in it.

The Falcons successfully peppered Bosworth with shots – roughly 20 of them, all told – so the team wasn’t without its chances. Their next task will be to learn to maintain the level of play they’re capable of for 50 consecutive minutes, which is a task many teams face at this time of the season.

“We were so close with them for the majority of the game,” said Wood. “And then, once [Cape] got maybe three or four on us, we started to panic. We were missing our marks, and we didn’t make the best shot selection against [Bosworth]; we kind of shot it right at her – and she’s an excellent goalie. She’s a presence out there.”

“They’re learning, they’re getting it; they’re communicating to me that they kind of understand,” said Wood of her team’s progress. “There were more moments in this game of greatness than there were last game. Next game: more moments of greatness.”

?In addition to Stewart’s four goals, Rudberg finished with two goals and two assists, Herrera with one goal and two assists, Landes with one goal, Chapin with two assists, and Mariah Deschino with one and one. Davidson and Broderick each finished with a pair of goals for Freeport, Julia Dearden with one goal and Rinaldi with a goal and an assist.

Spark praised Bosworth’s performance in net. “Oh, God. Kate: She’s a boss. Just in this game, her numbers are ridiculous. She’s authoritative in goal – you can hear her no matter where you are on the field – and she’s quick. She moves her legs, she moves her feet. There’s a couple slip-ups that our defense had, and then there’s Kate, to back them up with some killer saves.”

Cape faced off at York, where they lost 10-5, on Saturday, May 2, and travels to Falmouth on Wednesday the 6th. Freeport hosted Yarmouth on Saturday, losing 16-3, and kicks off a three-game road stretch at Lake Region on Wednesday.

Cape goalie Kate Bosworth guards against an incoming shot against visiting Freeport on Thursday.Caper Monica Dell’Aquila carries the ball forward against visiting Freeport on Thursday. Falcon Julia Dearden pursues.Emma Landes reverses direction with the ball vs. Freeport on Thursday. Landes had a goal in the Capers’ 12-6 victory.Cape’s Lindsay Stewart, who contributed four goals in her team’s win against visiting Freeport on Thursday, harrasses Falcon Regan Lynch as she charges upfield with the ball.Caper Mariah Deschino and Falcon Jessie Driscoll race to the sideline for control of the ball.Freeport’s Lily Johnston stays a step ahead of Cape’s Mariah Deschino on Thursday.

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