Freeport’s Sam Tourigny (left) beats his defender, Cape Elizabeth’s Jack Dresser during Wednesday’s B South boys soccer quarterfinal at Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
FREEPORT — It took nearly 109 minutes for the high school boys soccer B South quarterfinal match to be decided, and it was Freeport who advanced with a 3-2 double-overtime victory over Cape Elizabeth at Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field.
Will Winter took picked up a loose ball and fired a shot on net, hitting a Cape defender in flight, deflecting just enough to slip past Capers keeper Andrew Carroll for the game-clinching goal.
“I saw the ball coming to me and it came to my feet, wasn’t quite sure what happened before it got there. I settled and dribbled a couple of times and shot it. I didn’t initially see the shot as I couldn’t see the goalie, but then saw it roll in for the goal,” Winter said.
Freeport’s Will Winter (2) pursues Cape Elizabeth’s Killian Lathrop during the first half of Wednesday’s B South boys soccer quarterfinal at Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
No. 4 Freeport (9-3-3) will travel to No. 1 Yarmouth (12-0-3), 4-0 winners over Gray-New Gloucester, on Saturday. Fifth-seeded Cape Elizabeth finished the season 7-7-1.
“I give credit to the players out on the field tonight,” Freeport coach Bob Strong said. “They gave it their all and put together some good soccer.”
Losing to the Capers in the last regular-season game on Oct. 19 by the score of 4-0, the Falcons had 11 days to think about the loss before Wednesday’s tilt.
“That stung a little. They decidedly beat us on that day and with tonight possibly being the last home game for these seniors, they didn’t want to go out with a loss,” Strong said. “They were pretty fired up to play them again.”
Freeport’s Jesse Bennell (10) and Will Winter celebrate after Bennell’s goal during the first half of Wednesday’s B South boys soccer quarterfinal at Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
Freeport struck first when Jesse Bennell picked up a loose ball and drove it in for the score at the 13-minute mark. Less than 10 minutes later, Winter lined a corner kick into the scrum in front of the net and after the ball bounced out, Ethan Prescott was there to knock it home for the score, giving the Falcons a 2-0 lead.
“I just try to get the ball inside for someone to finish,” Winter said. “We got lucky that ball bounced out right to Ethan.”
At the 25-minute mark, Cape’s Gavin Simopoulos lofted a shot towards the net, but Freeport’s Gabe Wagner made the aggressive move to come out of the net and make one of many stops during the game before a shot could be taken. However, with less than 10 minutes remaining in the half, Nick Clifford scored off an Archie McEvoy helper to cut the deficit to 2-1, where the score remained heading into the halftime break.
In the first half, each team put four shots on goal and Freeport took two corner kicks to Cape Elizabeth’s one.
Second-half action
Moon tied the game just 46 seconds into the half after a Clifford free kick bounced around off several feet inside the box. Moon fired it to the far corner for the equalizer.
From there, both Wagner and Carroll became protectors of the net, keeping both offensive squads from breaking the tie. Moon blasted a shot from 25 yards away that Wagner turned away and Freeport nearly scored at the midway point when Winter beat his defender on the right side and crossed a pass to the middle, only to have the Cape defense head it out.
Despite outshooting Freeport, 6-2 in the second half, the two teams remained tied after regulation and headed to the first 15-minute extra frame.
Wagner came up big in the first overtime, punching out a Cape blast early, then laying out on the turf to stop a sure goal. Once again Winter was in the middle of the action, sending a smooth pass to Finn Sheehan, but Sheehan’s header hit the crossbar and went out of bounds. Neither team was able to score, leading to a second overtime.
A little over midway through the second overtime, Cape was issued a red card and had to play a man down. Freeport was able to put a couple of shots on goal, but came up empty handed until Winter’s game winner, that sent players and fans on to the field to celebrate.
Freeport’s Will Winter, left, uncorks the game-winner as Ethan Prescott (8) looks on from behind during Wednesday’s B South boys soccer quarterfinal at Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
“Will is one of the best high school soccer players I’ve seen,” Strong said. “We knew we wanted to get the ball to Will’s feet because he makes things happen. Just like last season, he’s turned it up for us late in the season.”
Cape outshot Freeport, 14-10, while each team finished the game with four corners apiece.
Wagner made 12 saves in net for Freeport, while Carroll turned away seven for the visiting Capers.
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