KENNEBUNK — Coming into this spring, the Falmouth girls’ lacrosse team held a quiet confidence that it was among the contenders in Western Class B.

After Tuesday night, that confidence doesn’t have to be quiet.

The Yachtsmen got three goals apiece from Sydney Bell and Lizzie Goodrich, and 16 saves from Sarah Hutcheon to hand Kennebunk its first loss, 10-8 in a showdown between the region’s top-ranked teams.

The win pushed Falmouth (8-1) into a tie with Kennebunk (9-1) atop the Western Class B Heal points standings – crucial because only the No. 1 seed receives a first-round playoff bye.

“We knew going into this, Kennebunk was undefeated and was top-notch,” Bell said. “We knew we could get it done, it was just having that confidence to do it and finish it off.”

Falmouth led 5-4 at halftime, then scored the first three goals of the second half in the opening five minutes.

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That’s when the Rams, who had come back from halftime deficits twice already this season, started to make a move.

Molly Parent and Kyra Schwartzman scored to pull the Rams within 8-6 with 15:25 left, forcing a Yachtsmen timeout.

“We’re young and we get antsy in situations like that,” Falmouth Coach Kait Johnson said. “I just told them to calm down. We were still winning and we had to keep looking to attack.”

Falmouth did exactly that. Bell and Elle Fitzgerald scored 18 seconds apart to make it 10-6 with 13:43 to play.

Fitzgerald’s shot was the last on goal for the Yachtsmen, but Hutcheon and the defense took it from there, holding the Rams to two goals the rest of the way, the last on a Liv Sandford shot with two minutes remaining.

Hutcheon made six saves down the stretch, including stops on free position shots from Kennebunk’s top three scorers in Schwartzman, Jenny Bush and Carly Sandler, who combined for six goals and five assists.

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“When they’re taking the (free position) shots, I just made sure to get a step in and get in front of the ball,” Hutcheon said. “You don’t want to guess. You want to react.”

Five players scored and seven had an assist for a versatile Falmouth offense that gave the Rams’ settled defense fits with its passing game.

That was especially so in the first half, when the Yachtsmen scored their first four goals on the same play, which started with the ball in the stick of a player behind goal and ended with the second of two cutters getting open in front for a simple catch and finish.

Kennebunk led 25-14 in shots on goal, but Hutcheon’s play combined with poor shot selection belied that advantage, Kennebunk Coach Annie Barker said.

“We really didn’t take very good shots. We didn’t even move (Hutcheon). We just kept shooting at her and that hurt us,” Barker said. “They took better shots, they moved the ball and kept it hotter than we did. They were the better team tonight.”


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