The calendar is about to flip from September to October and the fall sports season has passed the halfway point, which means the fun is just beginning.

As teams gear up for playoff runs, the games take on more meaning by the day.

Here’s a look back at last week and a glimpse at what’s to come:

Football

Yarmouth’s football team stayed perfect at 4-0 with a 38-20 home win over Gray-New Gloucester Friday. The unstoppable Michael McGonagle put the Clippers ahead 8-0 after one quarter with an 8-yard touchdown run, then made it 16-0 with a 33-yard TD scamper in the second period. After the Patriots pulled within 16-6 at halftime, McGonagle scored on runs of 45-yards and 1-yard to make it 32-6 heading for the fourth quarter. There, Gray-New Gloucester pulled within 12 before McGonagle scored his fifth TD, from 3-yards out, to end it. McGonagle ran for 329 yards on 39 carries and is now well over 1,000 yards for the season (1,171). McGonagle also had 10 tackles, including six for a loss, and a pair of sacks. Rufus MacVaney added 13 tackles. The Clippers host 2-2 Mountain Valley Friday.

Greely dropped to 1-3 after a hard-fought 34-28 home loss to Mt. Ararat. The Rangers led, 14-8, at halftime, on a 60-yard touchdown run from Jonah Guibord and a 61-yard scoring pass from quarterback Andrew Padgett to Ryder Simpson. The game was tied, 14-14, heading to the fourth period and after the Eagles went on top, Jerik Phillips rushed for a 61-yard TD to tie it again, 20-20. Mt. Ararat took a 34-20 lead before Padgett hit Wes Piper from 13-yards out, then Padgett ran for the two-point conversion, but Greely couldn’t quite complete the dramatic comeback. Padgett threw for 163 yards and a pair of touchdowns and also ran for 56 yards. Guibord rushed for 94 yards, scoring a TD, and also had a two-point conversion. Simpson finished with 104 receiving yards and a score. Phillips had 62 rushing yards and a TD and Piper caught two passes for 24 yards with a touchdown. Greely looks to snap a three-game skid Friday when it visits Waterville (2-2).

Freeport dropped to 2-2 after a 22-2 home loss to Poland. The Falcons, playing without their four top offensive weapons, had three possessions following fumbles in Knights’ territory in the first six minutes alone, but couldn’t score. Freeport’s only points came on a blocked punt which resulted in a safety and it only managed 81 yards of offense.

“It could have been a whole different ballgame if we punched one of those in,” lamented Falcons coach Paul St. Pierre. “We had some guys out there without a lot of experience and it showed. I knew defensively we could hold our own. I had a lot of question marks on offense. I received a lot of answers. Unfortunately, not the ones we were looking for. A lot of young guys were out there the first time and it showed.”

Freeport hopes to bounce back Saturday at 1-3 Oak Hill.

“I’m sure we’ll watch film and find some things to build on,” said St. Pierre. “The number one thing moving forward is just to get healthy. Luckily, a lot of these injuries aren’t season-ending. While those guys are getting healthy, we have to get other guys up to speed.

“Now, we’ll get a full week of practice. I think for the most part we can play with anybody. We only have so much depth and so many older guys, but that’s the whole conference. I think every team is one or two injuries away from going from being solid to being a building project. There’s still hope and there’s still time.”

Falmouth dropped to 0-4 without taking the field. Early last week, the Navigators, due to injuries and low numbers, forfeited their game against Portland, 2-0.

“Several players have sustained injuries in the past few weeks, putting us in a situation where it’s unsafe to field a varsity team on Friday. Student-athlete safety is always our top priority. We continue to monitor our student-athletes’ recovery. It is our hope and plan at this time that we will finish our regular season schedule,” the school announced in a release.

The Navigators are scheduled to visit 3-1 Deering Friday.

Boys’ soccer

Yarmouth’s boys’ soccer team, the three-time reigning Class B champion, won three games last week, including a victory which avenged the Clippers’ lone loss to date this fall. First, Yarmouth dispatched host Waynflete, the four-time reigning Class C champion, 3-0, as Gideon Ahrens and Luis Cardoso scored in the first half and Jonny Fulton put it away with a second half goal.

“I feel like we played OK,” said longtime Yarmouth coach Mike Hagerty. “We generated a lot of offense, but I think we could have been cleaner.”

The Clippers then rolled at Wells, 8-1, as Mateo Coury had two goals and Zacarias Binda, Matt Gautreau, Zach Kelly, Sam Lowenstein, Adam McLaughlin and Lincoln Thorner added one apiece.

Saturday, Yarmouth edged visiting Greely, the team which beat it back on Aug. 31, 1-0, thanks to an early goal from Kelly and a strong defensive effort, including eight saves from goalkeeper Ian O’Connor.

“That first game was disappointing, but thankfully it happened at the beginning of the season,” said O’Connor. “Sometimes, a team needs a kick in the gut and I think we responded really well and we’ve tightened things up. We’ve learned from our mistakes and we’re looking a lot better now. I’m proud of the boys for how we played tonight.”

“We wanted to keep the ball and possess tonight,” Kelly said. “This team is super-deep. We have so many guys who didn’t play tonight who could have played and been as good as the starters. It’s awesome to have so much depth.”

“(Greely’s) very good and athletic,” added Hagerty. “They have speed on both wings and are technically strong in the middle. Their center-backs played well and didn’t let us turn and go. For parts of the game, we weren’t connecting passes and they connected long balls very intelligently. They’re very dangerous on their long diagonal passes. For long parts of the game, they played their game better than we played our game.”

The Clippers (7-1 and on a seven-game win streak) hosted Freeport Tuesday, go to Mt. Ararat Friday and play host to North Yarmouth Academy Tuesday of next week.

“We just need to focus on us and keep getting better and keep improving,” said O’Connor. “Even when we win, we have to learn from what we could have done better. We have to trust each other and keep our chemistry strong.”

“I think Greely’s very good, Cape’s very good, York’s very good and Freeport is coming on,” Hagerty said. “Lincoln Academy is having a great year too. It feels like we’ll be the top six teams. It’s just a question of the order.”

Greely enjoyed a 4-0 win at Poland, then fell to 4-2-1 with its 1-0 loss at Yarmouth. In the victory, Bez Mendelsohn scored twice, while Aaron Park and Connor Skillin each added one goal. Against the Clippers, the Rangers fell behind early, but played very well before falling just short. Goalkeeper Landon Dominski made eight saves.

“In a lot of people’s eyes, (Yarmouth’s) the best team around, but this shows we’re right there with them,” longtime Greely coach Mike Andreasen said. “We feel pretty good. If we have to play them again, it will probably be on a neutral field and we’ll take our shot. Yarmouth is usually matter-of-fact when they beat us, but they were happy after this one. We weren’t retreating the whole time. We had them on their heels. We had our chances.”

The Rangers hosted Lake Region Tuesday and welcome York Thursday.

“I feel good about our team,” Andreasen said. “A lot of these kids were with us last year in secondary roles. Now, they’re stepping up. We have to get some scoring. We’ve been anemic offensively, but our defense is good. To go (two full games) with (Yarmouth) and give up one goal is pretty good.

Freeport suffered its first loss last week (2-1 to visiting York), then improved to 2-1-3 by blanking visiting Wells (2-0). Emmanuel Ekhoga scored against the Wildcats. In the win, Owen Rusiecki scored both goals. The Falcons were at Yarmouth Tuesday, visit undefeated Lincoln Academy Friday and host Traip Academy Saturday before going to Waynflete Tuesday of next week.

In Class A South, Falmouth improved to 3-2-1 with a 2-0 win at Thornton Academy last week. Ian Christie and Michael Christman scored the goals. The Navigators were home versus undefeated Windham Tuesday, go to Scarborough Thursday and host Biddeford Saturday.

Reigning Class D champion NYA was 3-3 after a 2-0 home win over St. Dom’s and losses at Traip Academy (5-0) and Gray-New Gloucester (6-1). Gavin Thomas saved 10 shots against the Rangers. In the loss to the Patriots, Nathan McGillicuddy scored. The Panthers visited Fryeburg Academy Tuesday, go to rival Waynflete Thursday, host Monmouth Academy Saturday and visit Yarmouth Tuesday of next week.

Girls’ soccer

On the girls’ side, Yarmouth extended its win streak to six after beating visiting Waynflete (3-2) and Greely (3-0) last week. Against the Flyers, Sonja Bell, Kadin Davoren and Aine Powers all scored. In the win over the Rangers, which avenged an Opening Day loss, Taylor Oranellas and Davoren scored early goals, then Sophia Wentzell scored in the second half to put it away. Regan Sullivan made three saves.

“We wanted to come out quick and hard,” said Powers. “We knew we could get them right away.”

“We had first-game jitters last time, but we worked hard to connect today and pass through the midfield,” said senior defensive standout Neena Panozzo. “We were talking a lot on defense. We had each other’s backs. When someone steps, we all stepped together.”

“Greely’s a good team,” added Yarmouth coach Andy Higgins. “As good as anyone we’ll play. The kids are rising to the challenge. It’s a lot of fun to come out here with them every day.”

The Clippers (6-1) had a key showdown at Freeport Tuesday, host Mt. Ararat Saturday, then visit four-time reigning Class D champion NYA Tuesday of next week.

“We just have to show up every day with the goal of getting better,” Higgins said. “We’re in a good spot, but there’s no easy games.”

Greely was 4-2-1 following a 6-0 home win over Poland and a 3-0 loss at Yarmouth. In the victory, Avery Bush scored three times, Abby Lennox added two goals and Shaylee O’Grady scored the other. Lizzie Sproul made four saves against the Clippers, but an early deficit was too much to overcome.

“It was a rough start,” lamented Rangers coach Rachel Williams. “We can’t start a couple goals down. We can’t let anybody score on corners.”

Greely was at NYA Tuesday (see our website for game story) and visits York Thursday.

“We just need to be consistent, build on our strengths, recognize our weaknesses and correct our flaws,” Williams said. “That’s how we’ll win games. We still have some big games to come.”

Freeport settled for a scoreless tie at York, then improved to 4-1-3 with wins at Wells (2-0) and at home over Waynflete (2-1). Goalkeeper Amanda Panciocco made 11 saves against the Wildcats. In the win over the Warriors, Kessa Benner and Ella Tracy each scored. Taryn Curry and Rosie St. Cyr scored goals and Panciocco had eight saves against the Flyers. The Falcons hosted Yarmouth Tuesday, visit Morse Wednesday and welcome Lincoln Academy Friday.

Falmouth increased its win streak to six and improved to 6-1 after handling visiting Westbrook (7-1) and blanking host Bonny Eagle (5-0) last week and downing host Marshwood (2-1) Monday. Against the Blue Blazes, Gwen Long had two goals, while Josie D’Andrea, Mallory Kerr, Ella Morse, Finley VanTil and Mackenzie VerLee all added one. In the win over the Scots, Gracyn Mick scored three times, while D’Andrea and VerLee had the other goals. Against the Hawks, VerLee and Afton Mick scored.

“Marshwood worked hard for 80 minutes and their keeper made an amazing first half save at the back post to keep them ahead early on, but I was pleased with our mentality to be able to keep pushing and find not one but two goals,” said Navigators coach Ben Johnson.

Falmouth welcomes Noble Wednesday and goes to Deering Tuesday of next week.

NYA increased its unbeaten streak to 45 consecutive games and improved to 6-0-1 after wins last week at St. Dom’s (2-0) and at home over Traip Academy (2-0). Against the Saints, Delia Fontana had a goal and an assist and Hayden Wienckowski also scored. Sarah Moore saved three shots. In the win over the Rangers, Graca Bila had two goals and an assist and Caroline Matusovich scored the other goal. Moore saved four shots for the shutout. The Panthers hosted Greely Tuesday and welcome Waynflete Friday (see our website for both game stories). Next Tuesday, NYA welcomes Yarmouth as it seeks to beat the Clippers for the second year in a row.

Field hockey

Yarmouth’s field hockey team continues to steal headlines. Last week, the Clippers blanked host Poland (4-0) and rallied to edge visiting Cape Elizabeth (2-1) to improve to 7-0, their best start to a season since 2015. Against the Knights, Sophie Smith scored twice and Erica O’Connor and Madison Wiles added a goal apiece. In the win over the Capers, Yarmouth trailed entering the fourth period, but Smith, who had twice hit the post in the third quarter, scored to tie it, then Celia Zinman scored on a rebound of a Smith shot late to produce victory.

“I was definitely frustrated because I know how much potential we have and I don’t think we were living up to our potential,” said Smith, who fired up her teammates on the sidelines prior to the start of the fourth. “I feel like every game I get good chances. When it’s a close game, it’s so much fun. It’s more rewarding when you can score. I was just trying to shoot at all times. Any shot I could get I was looking for.”

“I definitely felt a goal coming,” said Zinman. “As much as I don’t like saying it, we’re a second half team. The first half, we just weren’t having fun. The second half, the bench got loud and we got loud and I think that’s what did it.”

“It was stressful, but we never gave up,” added Bre Morrill, Yarmouth’s first-year coach. “We had to rise to the occasion. I’m glad we didn’t have to play catch up for more than one goal.”

The Clippers hoped to start 8-0 for the first time in nine seasons when they played at Gray-New Gloucester Tuesday. Yarmouth hosts Brunswick in an interclass contest Saturday.

“We just have to keep going,” Zinman said. “We can’t get too confident. We’re 7-0, but it could go either way.”

“We’re just improving on our passes daily and really focusing on mental health and connecting from defense to mids and mids to fowards and playing a whole game,” Morrill said. “We need to play a full, four quarter game.”

Freeport, the reigning Class B South champion, has won six straight since an Opening Day loss to Yarmouth, improving to 6-1 last week by downing host Greely (6-1) and visiting Poland (6-0). In the win over the Rangers, Emily Groves had two goals, while Lizalyn Boudreau, Sophie Bradford, Ellie Foss and Reed Proscia all added one apiece. Against the Knights, Groves scored twice more, while Foss, Proscia, Sophia Brown and Anna Maschino had one goal each. The Falcons have a home showdown versus York Thursday (see our website for game story), welcome Mt. Ararat Saturday and go to powerhouse Leavitt Monday.

Greely was 3-4 after losses to visiting Freeport (6-1) and at York (1-0) and a 2-0 home victory over Fryeburg Academy last week. Maya Tracy scored against the Falcons. In the win, the goals were scored by Rachel Miles and Leyla Rabbat. The Rangers visit Cape Elizabeth Thursday and go to Lake Region Friday.

Falmouth suffered a 4-1 loss at Biddeford, then improved to 5-1 after edging visiting Noble in double-overtime (2-1), squeaking past host Sanford (1-0) and outlasting host Windham (3-2). In the win over the Knights, Elizabeth Brown scored in regulation and Allie Sweetser won it in OT. Valerie Rand had two assists. Macy Bush had the lone goal against the Spartans and Jenna Nunley made five saves. In the win over the Eagles, Sweetser scored twice, including the decisive penalty stroke with 2:40 to play, Bush also scored and Nunley made 11 saves. The Navigators are at Marshwood Wednesday and host Massabesic Friday. 

Volleyball

Falmouth’s volleyball team extended its win streak to four matches last Tuesday with a straight-set home win over Greely. Olivia Dickhaut served four aces, Erin Andrews had 11 kills and three aces and Kanu Gutter added six kills. The Navigators had a home showdown versus undefeated, reigning Class A champion Biddeford Tuesday, welcome Noble Thursday and go to Cheverus Tuesday of next week.

Greely fell to 4-2 with a 3-0 loss at Falmouth last week. The Rangers hosted four-time reigning Class B champion Yarmouth Tuesday, go to NYA Friday and welcome Cape Elizabeth Tuesday of next week.

Yarmouth dropped to 2-3 after a 3-0 (21-25, 26-28, 21-25) home loss to Washington Academy Saturday. The Clippers were at Greely Tuesday, visit York Thursday and play host to Class A power Scarborough Tuesday of next week.

NYA fell to 1-6 after a straight-set (13-25, 18-25, 20-25) home loss to Gray-New Gloucester and a 3-0 loss at Westbrook. The Panthers were at Wells Tuesday, host Greely Friday and visit Maranacook Tuesday of next week.

Cross country

Cross country action returned last week.

Freeport hosted Maine Coast Waldorf, NYA, Cape Elizabeth and Traip Academy. The Falcons girls were first and were paced by Lucy Huggett (third individually in 20:38.12). MCW came in third and featured the top individual (Soren Stark-Chessa, 18:55). The Panthers placed fifth and were led by Daicey Speirs (ninth, 22:34.08).

Freeport’s boys were second to the Capers. Alex Gilbert was the top individual (16:39.13). Quinn Chessa led MCW (13th, 19:41.02). Chris Noreika paced NYA (15th, 19:42.64).

Greely took part in a five-team meet at Lake Region. The girls were first and were paced by Rowan Barry (second, 20:31). The Rangers boys came in fourth. Tait Harvey placed fourth individually (16:59).

Yarmouth played host to Old Orchard Beach, Poland, St. Dom’s and York. The Clippers boys came in first and were led by Cam Pernal (third, 18:55.3). The girls were also first and featured top individual Chloe Bibula (21:10).

Falmouth’s girls came in first and the boys were second in a four-team meet at Marshwood. The girls’ team was paced by Maeve Ginevan (second, 21:58.84). The boys were second to the Hawks. The Navigators’ top finisher was Christopher Jaynes (sixth, 19:05.13).

Golf

The golf regular season was wrapping up at press time.

Freeport improved to 12-0 last week after beating St. Dom’s, 160-170. Eli Spaulding nearly shot a hole-in-one and finished with a round of 3-under 33.

Greely was 5-2 entering Thursday’s match versus Greely. The Rangers are at Thornton Academy and at home versus Gorham next week to wrap up the regular season.

Falmouth fell to 4-3 after an 8-5 loss to Cheverus last week. The Navigators closed versus Portland Tuesday and South Portland Wednesday.

Yarmouth enjoyed wins last week over NYA (160-173) and Old Orchard Beach (160-260). Andrew Cheever shot a team-low 38.

NYA beat Old Orchard Beach (173-260). Davis Gall had a low round of 42.

The Western Maine Conference qualifier is Wednesday. The Southwestern Maine Activities Association state qualifier will be held Monday. Both qualifiers will be contested at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro, which will also be the site of the state championship match, Saturday, Oct. 7.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. 

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