CUMBERLAND — Greely didn’t let an early goal against dampen its mood against Falmouth in a Western Maine Conference girls’ soccer game Monday night at Greely High School.
The goal turned out to be only a temporary aggravation as the Rangers stormed back for a convincing 5-1 victory, handing the Yachtsmen their first loss of the season.
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“I was proud of them that they didn’t let that goal get to them,” said Greely Coach Michael Kennedy after his team improved to 7-1.
“That was actually the first time in a big game that somebody scored first on us. After that I thought we possessed the ball well and were dynamic on offense and the defense did a great job. It was a really complete performance.”
Cassie Darrow scored the opening goal eight minutes into the game to give Falmouth a 1-0 lead.
The goal ended up being the only Grade-A scoring chance generated by the Yachtsmen (5-1-1) as the Rangers took control of the ball, and the game.
On the few times Falmouth did manage to push offensively, the Greely defenders immediately dispatched them.
“We knew this was a very, very good Greely team and I was concerned about the match up,” Falmouth Coach Wally LeBlanc said. “I was very pleased with the way we came out and got a quick goal and the girls believed in themselves, but I saw (the Rangers) start to take control in the first half.
“They possessed the ball and we tried to make some adjustments at halftime. The adjustments obviously didn’t work.”
Greely’s ball possession paid off midway through the opening half when Sara Schad took a lead pass from Kristina Volta and moved in alone on the Falmouth goal.
Yachtsmen goalkeeper Caroline Lucas made the initial save, but Schad followed through on her rebound to tie the game.
Falmouth hung tough and kept the game tied until 16 minutes into the second half when Sammi Toorish went to work.
Toorish, a high scoring junior, helped the Rangers to their first lead of the game when she broke into the offensive zone, dribbled the ball past two defenders — with a couple of moves that seemed to mesmerize the defense — and slipped the ball ahead to Audrey Parolin for the go-ahead goal.
“That girl with her foot skills, they are amazing,” said Parolin.
“You don’t know where it’s coming from and all of a sudden she’ll do a stepover or a kick behind her leg, I don’t even know what to call it, and she just finds you the ball. She just knows where you are and it’s pretty spectacular.”
The goal seemed to kill the Yachtsmen’s momentum.
Five minutes later Leah Young’s hard work deep in the Falmouth end led to a Greely free kick.
Toorish capitalized on the opportunity with a long looping shot that found the back of the net for a 3-1 lead.
Julia Mitiguy and Schad’s second of the game, goals separated by fewer than a minute, rounded out the scoring.
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