FREEPORT—Once upon a time, not that long ago, Freeport’s field hockey team couldn’t beat the mighty York Wildcats.
But last year, the Falcons solved York twice, including in the regional final, and early this season, Freeport beat the Wildcats again, but Thursday afternoon at the Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field, the Falcons learned a powerful lesson.
To never take a victory for granted again such a proud, accomplished program.
Freeport, riding a six-game win streak, could generate almost no offense all night, only putting three shots on goal, and York, which has improved steadily as the season has progressed, made the Falcons pay.
Midway through the third period, off penalty corner, senior Olivia Coite scored on a rebound to put the Wildcats in front to stay.
Coite scored a nearly identical goal five minutes into the fourth quarter and while sophomore Emily Groves scored for Freeport with 5:11 to play, it wasn’t enough and York went on to a 2-1 victory.
The Wildcats won their fourth game in a row, improved to 6-2-1 and in the process, dropped the Falcons to 6-2.
“You can’t ever underestimate York. Ever,” said Freeport coach Marcia Wood. “It’s disappointing. Lesson learned.”
Wildcat Pride
For years, Freeport, like everyone else in Class B South, had no answers for York, which won regional title after regional title and multiple state championships as well.
But after losing, 3-1, at the Wildcats in the season opener last year, the Falcons won at home in the rematch, 1-0, their first-ever victory over York.
And Freeport wasn’t done, shocking the Wildcats, 1-0 (on then-sophomore Anna Maschino’s goal in the seventh round of penalty corners, following 76 minutes of scoreless regulation and overtime) in the Class B South Final. The Falcons’ first appearance in a Class B state game then resulted in a 1-0 loss to Lawrence.
This fall, Freeport entered the season as the favorite in the region and after a hard-fought 4-3 home loss to Yarmouth in the opener, the Falcons went to York and beat the Wildcats again, this time, 3-0. Freeport then blanked host Poland (3-0), host Brunswick (5-0) and visiting Lake Region (2-0) before rolling to a 6-1 win at Greely and beating visiting Poland Saturday, 6-0.
York, which is battling very low numbers this season, started with a 3-0 win at Poland and after falling at home to Freeport (3-0), settled for a scoreless tie at Lake Region. Following a 1-0 victory at Fryeburg Academy, the Wildcats lost at home to Cape Elizabeth (3-2), their first loss to the Capers since 2000. York then hit its stride and beat visiting Greely and Gray-New Gloucester/North Yarmouth Academy by 1-0 scores before downing host St. Dom’s, 3-0, Monday.
In the teams’ first meeting Sept. 5, Maschino, sophomore Liza Flower and Groves scored the goals.
Thursday, on a pleasant late September-evening (62 degrees at the start), the Falcons were humbled by a Wildcats squad that came north on a mission.
“This was probably the game we wanted to win the most all season,” said York senior captain Ava Brent. “We knew it would be a battle and we were ready to fight.”
“We remembered regional finals last year and that was a pretty tough loss, so we had something to prove,” Coite said.
Little happened in the first quarter, as Freeport mustered the only shot of the frame and had a couple penalty corner opportunities, but a Groves shot was blocked and sophomore Lizalyn Boudreau missed just wide.
The Wildcats then had three corners in the second period, but couldn’t finish and the Falcons’ only chance, a feed from junior Sophie Bradford to Groves, didn’t result in a shot as Groves couldn’t settle the ball with York junior goalie Natalie Dickson down.
The Wildcats then found their offense in the third quarter.
After a cross from sophomore Bella Santini to sophomore Nya Avery was just off the mark, York earned a corner and with 7:18 on the clock, after Brent inserted the ball, junior Lindsay Rivers sent the ball in and when it deflected off a defender, Coite was there to bang it past Freeport sophomore goalie Maddie Kryzak for a 1-0 lead.
“I think the corners we did were pretty successful,” Coite said. “I was just in the right place.”
Late in the quarter, the Falcons tried to answer, but a Groves rush was broken up by Rivers.
York then got an insurance goal with 10:07 to play, as again Brent inserted the ball to Rivers and after her shot was knocked around, Coite finished to make it 2-0.
“We’ve practiced corners a lot to figure out exactly where we need to be,” said Brent. “Left wing is normally the one to get the good tip.”
“If they don’t stop you the first time, do it again,” said Marois. “(Olivia) has a nose for the goal. We’ve worked on where she was in the circle and she was in the right spot tonight and capitalized. It wasn’t our best game, but we scored when we needed to score. It was good to put a couple in.”
After Rivers had a chance to put it away but hit the post, Freeport finally broke through with 5;11 remaining, as a long ball was played in off Dickson’s pads and Groves calmly tucked the rebound inside the far post to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Marois immediately called timeout to re-emphasize defense and the Falcons would be stymied the rest of the way.
Down the stretch, Freeport had its share of possession but couldn’t muster a shot.
As time wound down, the Falcons earned a penalty corner, but unlike last October’s heroics, this time, Freeport couldn’t score when it mattered most and York was able to clear the ball and celebrate its 2-1 victory.
“Coach told us in the timeout that defense was the most important thing and make sure to drop and when we could, get it out to maintain possession,” Brent said. “(The corner at the end) was a little bit of a flashback. We knew that was it. If we let them score, it would mean overtime. Natalie has done such a good job and our defense is amazing. We have a lot of trust in our D. They knew what they had to do.”
“We wanted it pretty badly,” Coite said. “We wanted to win for the whole team. York’s had a good reputation for a long time. We just want to keep the legacy going and it feels like we did that today.”
“We’ve really started to focus on defense and make that our calling card,” Marois added. “We’ve worked a lot on that in practice, getting that mindset. We did it tonight.
“We’ve been a work in progress since we started. Last time, we weren’t quite our team yet and sometimes that takes time. We have a good core group returning, but it’s new positions, roles and responsibilities and not a lot of depth. I was confident coming in because I’ve seen the progress we’ve made since last time. We’re a better team and I knew (Freeport would) be a better team too. I knew we had a good chance if we played quality field hockey. I’m proud of the girls.”
The Wildcats finished with a 5-3 edge in shots on frame, got two saves from Dickson and enjoyed a 6-4 advantage in penalty corners, scoring on two of them.
The Falcons got two saves from Kryzak, but couldn’t generate much offense over the course of 60 minutes.
“We talked during the timeouts and I asked, ‘What is going on?'” said Wood. “That was so not my team. I’m not really sure why. It went from bad to worse. York beat us to every single ball. We didn’t play with any urgency. We weren’t listening to each other and they didn’t do what I wanted them to do. I thought after the Yarmouth game we’d gotten that out of our system, but I guess not. Their mind is on Yarmouth because they beat us. The sophomores have beaten York. The juniors don’t really know what it feels like to lose to them. Nobody was there when we lost 5-0, 7-0, 8-0 to them and couldn’t even get the ball over the 25.”
Playoff push
York looks to stay red-hot Saturday at home versus Cony. Next Wednesday, undefeated Yarmouth pays a visit. The Wildcats then travel to reigning Class A champion Skowhegan for a first-ever countable meeting.
“After today, I think we’re up for the challenge,” said Coite.
“I told the girls today it’s about discipline, effort and decision making,” Marois said. “If we take care of those things, we’ll have a good chance to win.”
Freeport takes on Class A North power Mt. Ararat Saturday, then has a showdown at arguably the best team in Class B North, Leavitt, Monday.
“It’s better to lose now then in a playoff game, but I’m disappointed because that’s just not Freeport field hockey,” Wood said. “We hoped to win this and maybe get a win against Mt. Ararat and Leavitt and jump up (the standings), but now we’ll be battling.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. For game updates and links to game stories, follow him on Threads: @foresports2023
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
