BOX SCORE

Freeport 16 Wells 6

W- 2 4- 6
F- 7 9- 16

First half
23:10 F S. Tracy (MacDonald)
19:28 F Driscoll (unassisted)
16:51 F S. Tracy (unassisted)
15:23 W Woodward (unassisted)
12:40 F K. Tracy (unassisted)
11:11 W McMinis (unassisted)
10:24 F Havey (unassisted)
8:16 F S. Tracy (unassisted)
3:18 F K. Tracy (Driscoll)

Second half
24:14 F Driscoll (unassisted)
21:53 F S. Tracy (K. Tracy)
21:14 F Havey (Whittier)
19:29 F Knight (unassisted)
18:50 F Driscoll (MacDonald)
17:12 W Sullivan (Leighton)
16:45 F S. Tracy (unassisted)
15:31 F Knight (unassisted)
13:41 F Levesque (S. Tracy)
9:49 W McMinis (free position)
6:41 F Knight (free position)
2:40 W Ramsdell (Woodward)
1:30 W McMinis (free position)

Goals:
W- McMinis 3, Ramsdell, Sullivan, Woodward 1
F- S. Tracy 5, Driscoll, Knight 3, Havey, K. Tracy 2, Levesque 1

Assists:
W- Leighton, Woodward 1
F- MacDonald 2, Driscoll, K. Tracy, S. Tracy, Whittier 1

Draws (Freeport, 13-11)
W- Ramsdell 11 of 24
F- S. Tracy 11 of 19, Levesque 1 of 3, K. Tracy 1 of 2

Ground balls:
W- 31
F- 37

Turnovers:
W- 26
F- 19

Shots:
W- 10
F- 33

Shots on cage:
W- 11
F- 27

Saves:
W (Smith) 8 (Bolton) 3
F (Williams) 5

FREEPORT—If you aspire to be a state champion, you want to be playing your best at the end of the regular season.

And based on that criteria, Freeport’s girls’ lacrosse squad is looking very, very title-worthy.

Wednesday afternoon at the Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field, the Falcons welcomed a surging Wells squad in a late-season Class C tussle and wasted no time seizing control of the contest.

Less than two minutes in, senior standout Savannah Tracy scored to put Freeport ahead to stay and classmate Megan Driscoll added a quick goal before Tracy scored again to make it 3-0.

While the Warriors, playing without freshman scoring phenom Kayleigh Michaud-Nolan, stayed close at 3-1 and 4-2, the Falcons closed the first half strong, as senior Kyla Havey, Tracy and junior star Kate Tracy all tickled the twine for a 7-2 advantage at the break.

Freeport then ended all doubt with five goals in just over six minutes to start the second half to induce a 10-goal, mercy rule running clock and the Falcons eventually built their lead to as much as a dozen before Wells scored a couple late goals to account for the 16-6 final score.

Freeport got a game-high five goals from Savannah Tracy and three apiece from Driscoll and junior Madeline Knight as it improved to 9-2 on the season, earned some critical Heal Points and in the process, handed Wells its first loss in seven contests and dropped the Warriors to 8-2.

“I’m excited we showed up and didn’t make many mistakes,” said Falcons coach Marcia Wood. “We caused them to make mistakes and we capitalized. I saw my ‘A’ team out there and it was nice.”

Another test

Wells has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the spring season, becoming a serious contender for the first time. The Warriors started with home victories over St. Dom’s (16-5) and Traip Academy (17-4), then lost at the horn at reigning Class C champion Waynflete (11-10). Wells then bounced back to handle host Noble (19-4), visiting Fryeburg Academy (19-2) and Sanford (9-3), host St. Dom’s (15-4) and visiting Westbrook (15-2) before edging host Lake Region (10-9).

Freeport opened with a 12-6 victory at North Yarmouth Academy, then blanked visiting Fryeburg Academy, 12-0, before falling at Class B power Greely, 6-5. The Falcons then bounced back with wins at Gray-New Gloucester (15-3), at home over Lake Region (9-8), at home over Traip Academy (16-2), at Waynflete in a Class C state game rematch (6-4) and at home over Brunswick (15-7), then lost at York (14-9) before bouncing back Saturday to edge visiting NYA (8-7).

The Falcons and Warriors didn’t play a year ago.

Freeport won the most recent encounter, 14-7, May 29, 2019.

Wednesday, on a very pleasant afternoon (61 degrees at the start), on Senior Day, the Falcons went out and took care of business quickly.

Savannah Tracy won the opening draw and with 23:10 to go in the first half, Tracy took a pass from junior Skylar MacDonald and finished to break the ice.

With 19:28 remaining, Driscoll scored unassisted, beating Wells freshman goalie Isabella Smith, and Warriors coach Jodie Lawlor immediately called timeout.

It didn’t help initially, as Savannah Tracy had an initial shot saved, then put home her own rebound with 16:51 on the clock, but with 15:23 to go, junior Anna Woodward scored unassisted to get the visitors on the board.

After Woodward had a chance to cut the deficit to one, but was denied by Falcons junior goalie Piper Williams, Kate Tracy scored her first goal, unassisted, with 12:40 remaining to make it 4-1.

Senior Ruby McMinis answered for Wells with 11:11 left in the half, but Freeport countered 47 seconds later, as senior Kyle Havey scored unassisted.

After Savannah Tracy hit the post, she got another chance and beat Smith with 8:16 on the clock.

Knight then hit the post, but with 3:18 to go in the half, Driscoll fed Kate Tracy for another goal.

Smith did deny senior Ellie Whittier on a free position shot as time expired, but the Falcons were in command, up, 7-2.

“Everyone is getting their confidence,” Savannah Tracy said. “To see it come out in a game is great. I’m really proud of my teammates. We’ve been working on a lot of plays in practice and working those in has worked well. We’re really starting to understand the game of lacrosse.”

Freeport enjoyed a 20-3 shots advantage in the first 25 minutes.

The Falcons then ended any remaining doubt in the second half.

Freeport roared out of the gate fast, as Driscoll scored unassisted 46 seconds in.

After Williams denied McMinis on a free position at one end and Havey hit the post, the Tracy sisters worked in tandem on transition, as Kate Tracy set up Savannah Tracy for a 9-2 advantage with 21:53 to go.

Thirty-nine seconds later, Whittier found Havey for a goal.

With 19:29 left, Knight scored unassisted and 39 seconds later, MacDonald fed Driscoll for a 12-2 clock, inducing the mercy rule.

Out of a timeout, Wells answered with 17:12 to go, as in transition, freshman Calista Leighton fed junior Summer Sullivan to momentarily stop the clock, but 27 seconds later, Savannah Tracy eluded the defense and finished unassisted.

Knight then scored unassisted with 15:32 remaining and with 13:41 on the clock, Savannah Tracy found freshman Mia Levesque for a 15-3 lead.

McMinis answered with a free position goal with 9:49 to go, then Knight converted a free position with 6:41 left for the Falcons’ final tally.

Down the stretch, Woodward assisted on a goal from senior Grace Ramsdell with 2:40 to play, then McMinis converted a free position with 1:03 remaining.

Freeport then ran out the clock and celebrated its 16-6 victory.

“I think this game is the first game that we really put everything together that we’d been working on in practice,” Savannah Tracy said. “We’ve seen snippets of things in other games, but we had yet to have a win that feels like this, especially on Senior Night. We knew they’d be tough, but we were in the right mindset and we were ready to play today.”

“They played Waynflete close and beat Lake Region, so we knew it would be a battle,” Wood said.

Savannah Tracy scored a game-high five goals and also had an assist, while winning 11 of 19 draws.

Driscoll and Knight added three goals apiece, while Havey and Kate Tracy had two each and Levesque finished with one.

MacDonald had two assists, while Driscoll, Kate Tracy and Whittier added one apiece.

“After NYA the other day, I saw that Kate and Savannah did all the scoring, so this week in practice, they weren’t allowed to score,” Wood said. “We needed other girls to go in and score. We put pressure on the girls to figure out how to shoot. This is what I’ve been waiting for and this is what we envisioned our team would look like.”

Williams made five saves.

The Falcons won 13 of 24 draws, had a 37-31 edge in ground balls (Kate Tracy had a game-high 11 and Savannah Tracy collected seven), enjoyed a 33-10 shots advantage (27-11 on cage) and overcame 19 turnovers.

Wells’ offense was led by McMinis, who had three goals. Ramsdell, Sullivan and Woodward all scored once.

Leighton and Woodward had assists.

Smith made eight saves and sophomore Kayla Bolton, who came on with 15 minutes to play, stopped three shots.

Ramsdell had a team-high seven ground balls.

The Warriors turned the ball over 26 times.

Almost time

The long-awaited postseason draws ever closer and both teams expect to be battling for the Class C crown next month, but there’s some business to attend to first.

The Warriors (currently ranked fourth in the Class C statewide Heal Points standings) return to action Thursday with another pivotal contest, at home versus NYA, then they close at Traip Academy Tuesday of next week.

Freeport (which moved into the top spot in Class C with the victory) has just one game left, at Class A contender Cape Elizabeth next Wednesday.

Then, the Falcons can focus solely on the mission they began in the wake of last year’s heartbreaking state game loss, making a run back to the final and this time, winning it.

“We really need to stay focused in practice,” Savannah Tracy said. “We have a lot of practices before next Wednesday. Cape’s a tough team. We need to focus on a tough game and if we beat them, we’d really enter playoffs on a high note. We really want to be the top seed. We’re ready for playoffs. We’re ready to do it.”

“If we beat Cape, we can be first,” Wood said. “The girls are ready. It’s good we can look at this game and say, ‘this is what we want.'”

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

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.

« Previous

Portland beats Deering on Senior Night

Next »

New Yarmouth athletic director takes over program she knows well