YARMOUTH—Soccer might be Aine Powers’ second sport, but you’d never know it the way the senior standout has played this fall.

And the way she performed Wednesday afternoon in a Class B South semifinal against visiting Freeport.

Powers, a lacrosse standout who plans to play that sport at the college level, gave the top-ranked Clippers the lead for good in the game’s 15th minute, scoring on a rebound.

Next, she buried a 35-yard free kick late in the first half for a 2-0 lead at the break.

Early in the second half, Powers served up a free kick that was headed home by junior Taylor Oranellas and that loomed large, as the fourth-ranked Falcons got a late goal from senior Rosie Panenka.

Freeport couldn’t draw any closer, however, and the Clippers went on to a 3-1 victory.

Yarmouth improved to 14-1-1, ended Freeport’s fine season at 8-5-3 and advanced to take on either No. 2 Cape Elizabeth (13-2) or No. 3 Greely (8-5-2) in the Class B South Final next Wednesday at 4 p.m., at Deering High School in Portland.

“When the ball is at (Aine’s) foot, or when the ball is on her lacrosse stick, good things often happen,” said Clippers coach Andy Higgins.

Belief

Yarmouth won last year’s state title in memorable fashion and hasn’t missed a beat in 2023, proving itself to be the top team in Class B South yet again (see sidebar for links to previous stories). The Clippers only stumbled once, at Greely in double-overtime in the season opener and also settled for a tie at North Yarmouth Academy, but won their other 12 contests (including a pair over Cape Elizabeth) and earned the top seed in the region.

Last Tuesday, Yarmouth advanced with a 2-0 victory over Morse in the quarterfinals.

Freeport has enjoyed a strong season as well, even if the Falcons didn’t do as well as they would have liked against its top foes. The Falcons tied Greely, NYA and York and twice were beaten by Cape Elizabeth and Yarmouth, but won the rest of their games to wind up fourth in Class B South before ousting No. 6 Lake Region, 2-0, in their quarterfinal last week.

The Clippers won both regular season meetings, 1-0 in Freeport Sept. 26 on a late goal from senior Kadin Davoren, and 2-0 at home Oct. 10, thanks to two goals from Powers and a clutch penalty kick save from senior goalkeeper Regan Sullivan.

Entering play, Yarmouth had won four of five previous playoff encounters (see sidebar), with a 2-0 victory in last year’s quarterfinals the most recent.

Wednesday, the Clippers did it again and moved on to the regional final for the fourth consecutive postseason.

Yarmouth wasn’t able to generate much early, other than a corner kick that didn’t result in a shot, and while the Falcons had their share of possession, they weren’t able to test Sullivan either.

Then, the Clippers transitioned to offense and broke the ice, with Oranellas doing most of the work.

On the run, Oranellas made a nice move to elude a defender and get some room before firing a promising shot with her left foot. Freeport freshman goalkeeper Karleigh Costello wasn’t able to get to the ball, but the Falcons were momentarily spared when it glanced off the near post.

The rebound got knocked around, however, and came in front to Powers, who finished with 25:51 on the clock for a 1-0 lead.

“That was an amazing shot by Taylor,” Powers said. “It was just like a centimeter off. In the scramble for the ball, it just came to my feet and I just placed it in. She didn’t mean to set me up but it worked out. Our energy came up so much. When we score, it gives us motivation to get another goal, then another one after that.”

“We have a good back set that sees the middle really well, so I look for spaces to run to and I look to get the ball to one of our quick forwards or wings,” said Oranellas.

“Taylor is so dangerous on the ball,” added Higgins. “She has good vision, she moves it quickly, she finishes well. She’s a huge piece of the success we’ve had this year.”

The visitors hoped to answer, but Panenka sent a free kick just wide and Panenka’s feed into the box wasn’t cleanly handled by senior Sadie Grogan.

After Oranellas again made a nice move before shooting wide, Powers and Oranellas missed wide, but with 3:50 left before halftime, Yarmouth doubled its lead.

This time, Powers got the ball in the middle of the field with just enough room to launch a rising blast from about 35-yards out that Costello leaped to stop and while the keeper got a piece of the ball, she couldn’t stop it from crossing the line and the Clippers were up, 2-0.

“I barely had open lanes in the game today, so when I did, I had to hit it,” Powers said. “I felt good when I hit it. I give credit to having such a great senior class last year. I think IQ is a big part of it this year. Having players like Taylor and Kaden to help with that has helped me a lot.”

“That was a great strike,” Higgins said. “Aine’s got a nose for the goal. That was a big goal for us.”

Seconds after Powers scored, Freeport put its first shot on frame, but Sullivan denied freshman Braelynn Coons in the box off a free kick from Panenka.

The Clippers then opened things up even more at the start of the second half.

After Powers just missed, Yarmouth earned a free kick at the right side of the box. Powers lofted the ball in and Oranellas soared and headed a high shot on target. The ball hit the underside of the crossbar and dropped in across the line to make it 3-0 with 36:46 remaining.

“I stayed back and I knew Aine would have a perfect cross, so I waited for it, watched where it was going and ran on to it and hoped for the best,” said Oranellas.

“That was a tough ball,” Higgins said. “We don’t practice that a lot because it’s not quite a corner, but Aine took a little off it and Taylor finished and that was good because it gave us a little breathing room.”

The Clippers then had several good looks to completely put the game away, but Oranellas twice just missed on the doorstep, Powers made Costello dive to make a save, Powers twice was off-target and senior Cate King shot high on an indirect kick from about 10 yards out.

Then, with 11:07 to play, after a foul just inside of midfield, Panenka lined up a free kick and she blasted it into the box. While Sullivan caught up in traffic, the ball bounced and found its way into the goal to cut the deficit to two.

“It was great to see Rosie get one there,” said Freeport coach Dave Intraversato. “She wanted to score senior year in Yarmouth and she did.”

“Rosie scored from deep and that was a great strike,” Higgins said. “Then it was a battle. Hats off to Rosie. She’s a lot of fun to compete against.”

With 4:36 to go, the Falcons had a chance to make things very interesting, as sophomore Silvi Strong took a free kick from the top of the box, but she sent it just high.

Seconds later, Strong put a shot on frame, but Sullivan caught it and the Clippers ran out the clock on their 3-1 victory.

“That was definitely a little bit scary at the end,” Powers said. “That was a good shot by Rosie, but it made us more aware and put us on our toes.”

“We’ll take it,” said Higgins. “It took us a little while to get going and that’s kind of expected with the layoff we had. When the girls start clicking, it’s fun to watch. Our kids have such heart. They battle. They’re the ones who believed we could get to this point when not a lot of other people did. We’ll ride their leadership as far as we can.”

Yarmouth finished with a 7-3 advantage in shots on frame, got two saves from Sullivan and had a 5-0 edge in corner kicks.

Getting closer

Freeport got two saves from Costello and two others from sophomore Nora Eames, who came on late in regulation.

“Karleigh’s great,” said Intraversato. “I’ve been coaching her in the youth program. She’s a tall kid who can cover a lot of space. She sees the ball well. Coming in here in a semifinal game against Yarmouth was tough, but she held on.”

Ultimately, as has so often been the case this year against top opposition, the Falcons couldn’t generate enough offense.

“It’s hard to win when you don’t score, but we got the pressure going at the end,” Intraversato said. “We got the young girls in and they showed they can play. Yarmouth’s good. They started to pull it together. They got that third goal and smelled blood and they wanted more. They moved the ball really well.”

The Falcons graduate several key players, but many younger kids received trial by fire this fall and should be primed to be even bigger contributors in 2024, when Freeport hopes to advance another round for the first time since 1990.

“It should be a good next few years for us,” Intraversato said. “We have five freshmen on our roster. They’ll be older and stronger next year. I hope they can get some goals for us. We’ll get back to the drawing board.”

The next test

The Clippers won’t learn until Friday night who their next opponent is, as that’s when Cape Elizabeth plays host to Greely in the other Class B South semifinal.

Yarmouth beat Cape Elizabeth twice this season, 1-0 at home Sept. 14 and 2-0 on the road Oct. 17 in the regular season finale. The Clippers are just 2-4 all-time versus the Capers in the playoffs, with a 3-0 setback in the 2021 regional final the most recent.

Yarmouth split with Greely this fall, losing, 1-0, in double-overtime, in the opener Sept. 1, then prevailing at home, 3-0, Sept. 23. The teams split two prior playoff meetings, with the Clippers’ 3-1 victory in the 2016 regional final the most recent.

Regardless of which team Yarmouth draws, it will be ready for the challenge.

“We’re a team that never gives up,” Oranellas said. “Even if we’re down, we persevere. We’re not going to stop.”

“We’ll focus on staying strong and healthy,” Powers said. “We all have the same goal. We just have to want it more and come out strong and do what we do.”

“We’ll enjoy this tonight, then we’ll come in tomorrow and work on our stuff before we find out who we play, then we’ll narrow in on them and get ready for next week,” Higgins added.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. For game updates and links to game stories, follow him on Threads: @foresports2023

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