Freeport starts fast, wins at Yarmouth

Freeport’s field hockey team celebrates at the conclusion of Saturday’s 4-0 victory at Yarmouth.

YARMOUTH—On a hot day, Freeport field hockey coach Marcia Wood wanted her team to get out to a fast start at Yarmouth Saturday afternoon so she could tap into her deep bench and keep her players fresh.

And the best way to make that happen was to score early.

Something the Falcons managed to do twice.

Three minutes in, junior Aynslie Decker rattled the cage and Freeport had the only goal it would need.

Then, with 24:16 left in the first half, junior Ally Randall added a goal and the Falcons had a cushion.

The Clippers held the fort the rest of the first half, but couldn’t counter and midway through the second half, Freeport ended any lingering doubt as junior Autumn Golding scored on a rebound.

Junior Sydney Silva tacked on one final goal and the Falcons preserved the shutout thanks to a sensational late defensive save from senior Rachel Harmon and they went on to a 4-0 victory.

Freeport got goals from four different players, allowed just one shot on cage and improved to 4-2-1, dropping Yarmouth to 3-3 in the process.

“It was a great start,” Wood said. “With the heat, I wanted to score a lot and to do that, we had to score. Today, I was able to play around with our formation, put people in different positions, sub.”

Momentum

Each team came into Saturday on the heels of triumph.

Yarmouth, which dropped two of its first three, sandwiching 3-0 losses at Lake Region and at home against defending Class B South champion York around a 2-1 victory at Cape Elizabeth, won at North Yarmouth Academy, 5-0, last Friday, then Thursday, edged host Greely, 2-1.

Freeport, meanwhile, started by blanking visiting Greely (5-0) and Poland (4-0), then, after tying host Fryeburg Academy (1-1) and falling at home to Lake Region (1-0) and at York (2-1), the Falcons got back on track Thursday at home with a 3-1 victory over Fryeburg.

“We finally on the board against (York) and we played hard the last few minutes, then we came out fast against Fryeburg and that was awesome,” Wood said.

Yarmouth had won eight of 11 meetings since the teams started playing regularly in 2010, but Freeport had won the past two, including a 6-0 victory on the Clippers turf last fall and Saturday, the Falcons came out fast to make sure they’d do it again.

The first goal came courtesy a pretty passing sequence, as Golding fed Decker for a one-timer and a 1-0 lead with 26:58 remaining in the first half.

Freeport struck again almost immediately, as with 24:16 on the clock, Randall banged home a rebound, forcing Yarmouth coach Tracy Quimby to call timeout.

It helped, as the Clippers didn’t allow another Falcons’ shot in the first half, but despite a pair of penalty corner opportunities, Yarmouth couldn’t muster a shot either and Freeport held a 2-0 advantage at halftime.

Freeport senior Rachel Harmon knocks the ball away from Yarmouth senior Lizzie Guertler.

The Clippers couldn’t put a dent in their deficit in the second half either and after a long period of dormancy, the Falcons got their offense going again with 16:20 remaining, as junior Hannah Groves fired a shot which Yarmouth sophomore goalie Cassie Walsh saved only to see Golding pounce on the rebound and finish for a 3-0 lead.

With 10:57 to play, the Clippers’ first good look saw junior Olivia Bailey miss just wide.

Then, with 5:30 on the clock, Silva scored to make the score 4-0.

While the victory was in hand, there was one final moment of drama, as Yarmouth earned a late penalty corner and junior Lizzie Guertler fired a shot that appeared bound for the goal, but Harmon got her body in front of the shot and kept it out.

“I wanted that shutout,” Harmon said. “There’s nothing more I want than to save a goal. In practice, I’ll get out of the way of danger, but in games, I don’t care.”

“That’s (Rachel),” said Wood. “She has no fear. No problem putting herself in front of the ball. She’ll do anything to protect that cage.”

“What a great save that was,” Quimby said. “It was fabulous. We got robbed on that one.”

Freeport then put the finishing touches on its 4-0 victory.

“We had to trust our teammates,” Harmon said. “We have our bond and we trust each other with the ball.”

The Falcons out-shot the Clippers, 11-1, and had seven penalty corners to Yarmouth’s three.

Walsh made seven saves for the Clippers.

“We just couldn’t get it going,” Quimby said. We just didn’t jell today. We need to work as a unit, not as individuals. We’re trying many different formations. Freeport’s a very good team. They had their passing and formations down. We’ll keep working at it. We have to cut down on our fouls. We want to string together a couple good games and move forward.”

Second half

Yarmouth looks to return to the win column Monday when it hosts Gray-New Gloucester. Friday, the Clippers host Cape Elizabeth.

Freeport is back home Monday to face Wells, then Wednesday brings a visit from York in a game pivotal for Heal Points and playoff positioning.

“We have to keep our trust and intensity,” Harmon said. “We have to keep bonding with each other and believe. The younger girls fill in nicely. They were with us last year because we have a very deep bench.”

“We get York on turf and if we can play like we did against Fryeburg and today, I hope to give them a really good game,” Wood said. “We have to stay focused. We need to keep scoring. We can’t have droughts.”

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