YARMOUTH — After shutout victories over two of its top rivals to start the season, the Yarmouth boys’ soccer team isn’t satisfied.
The Clippers think they can get even better and that has to be a frightening thought for the rest of Class B.
After beating Cape Elizabeth by two goals in its season opener, Yarmouth welcomed Freeport for its home opener Tuesday afternoon and demonstrated why it’s the favorite. Senior midfielder Steve Fulton had a goal and an assist, while Sutter Augur and Matt Robichaud also scored and the Clippers won, 4-0.
“I think we can still get a lot better,” said Clippers Coach Mike Hagerty, who now has 299 wins in his 25 years with the program. “I still haven’t found the right combinations on the field.”
Yarmouth carried play much of the first half and got the only goal it would need off a set piece in the 14th minute. On a corner kick, Truman Peters served the ball in front where Fulton soared and headed it past Falcons goalkeeper Rowan Bradford for a 1-0 lead.
“We’ve worked in practice on our dead ball plays,” said Fulton. “Everyone was in the right place and I found the ball. I just had to get my head on it.”
Freeport had a chance to tie it in the 26th minute, but Alex Graver headed a long throw from Eli Andreson just wide of the near post.
The Clippers opened it up in the second half. Fulton set up Augur, who fought his way past a defender before finishing, for the second goal of the game with 34 minutes to play.
“We talk about putting pressure on the ball,” Augur said. “It ended up at my feet and I hit it in the goal. I’m kind of biased, but I think I just wanted it more.”
Fulton added his second goal with 13:37 remaining, taking a pass from Aiden Kamm, then dribbling past the goalie before finishing. Robichaud then scored the final goal with 5:08 left, finishing a free kick from Stevie Walsh.
“I tell kids, wouldn’t you rather be expected to be great than surprise people?” Hagerty said. “Even in the preseason, we’re getting everyone’s best games. Teams want to play us and they want to play us at their best. I’m excited to get everyone’s best game.”
Yarmouth finished with a 10-2 shots advantage and got one save apiece from Zhi Cowles and Cole Snyder, who took over in the second half.
Freeport (1-1) got six saves from goalie Colin Cronin.
“I think the difference was (Yarmouth’s) conditioning,” said Falcons assistant coach Ray Grogan, who was filling in for Bob Strong. “They’re a good team and they’re in better shape. They were still flying in the second half and we weren’t. We’ve got to get that improved. We had a couple decent chances and we have to capitalize on those. We’ll get there.”
UPDATE: This story was corrected on Sept. 8 at 12:38 p.m. to show that Colin Cronin had six saves for Falmouth.
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