YARMOUTH — The Falmouth High boys’ lacrosse team came into its game against Yarmouth with a clear plan Thursday night. It worked for a 12-7 victory.

“We scout the goalies to see if they’re good up top or good low,” said Falmouth midfielder George Gilbert. “We knew this goalie was stronger up so every shot we were taking we wanted low.”

Mission accomplished. Gilbert scored a game-high four goals – three that he rifled past the goalie by bouncing the ball off the turf. The fourth was a low liner into the bottom left corner of the cage.

“The first couple games of the season he was really struggling to find the cage and to get into any kind of a groove,” said Falmouth Coach Mike Lebel. “The last few games he’s been really successful.

“He’s just been simplifying his game and not getting too fancy with his shot.”

The Yachtsmen (5-0) also got three goals from Jack Scribner, two from Devin Russell and Nick Farnham, and a goal and two assists from Nick Mainella.

“We got a lot of our opportunities in transition,” said Gilbert. “Coach always tells us 80 percent of goals in a game are in transition and so when we get numbers, we want to push it real quick and try to get a goal.”

On defense, Falmouth got a strong showing from Ben Wyman, Brendan Hickey, Nico Ciraulo, Seth Masciangelo, Emmitt Zinn and Riley Reed.

The Yachtsmen only allowed one goal in eight man-down situations.

“That’s where everything starts,” said Gilbert. “We praise our defense and we really take pride in our defense.

Added Lebel: “To have a string like we did (early in the game), it can really set you back. It means we don’t have the ball and we can’t score, and even if they’re not scoring, they’re making our guys work really hard. But they did a great job against that pressure today.”

The defense helped propel Falmouth, keeping the Clippers scoreless until midway through the second quarter.

“It was huge, because with those penalties early, and us knowing that Yarmouth always brings their very best effort on their home field, we couldn’t let it get away from us,” said Lebel. “If they had been able to score on a couple of those chances, we’re down maybe 4- or 5-2 instead of 3-2, and then it’s a completely different game.”

Walter Conrad scored twice for Yarmouth (2-3). Cooper May, Bill Jacobs, Remi Leblanc, Silas Chappell and Henry Venden also scored.

The Clippers kept the game close with impressive play from goalie Liam Harke, who turned away nine shots, including a stretch of tough saves to keep the score close in the second quarter.

“It really could have gotten away from them,” said Lebel. “When we got the ball inside in transition, he made some really good saves. Just stayed on the stick, saw the ball well and turned us away.”