PORTLAND — After winning eight times this season by an average of 12 goals per game, the Falmouth girls’ lacrosse team has shown it can pass, score and defend with the best.

On Tuesday, the Yachtsmen also showed they can come back. And they couldn’t have picked a better time.

Geneva Waite scored four goals, and Alex Bernier had two goals and five assists to lead Falmouth to a 13-10 victory over Waynflete in a Western Maine Conference game at the Fore River Fields.

Falmouth (9-1) avenged a May 4 loss at home to Waynflete (10-1), when the Yachtsmen also rallied but fell short, 13-10.

“We started out strong (Tuesday) and in the second half we really struggled. They’re a strong team and they came out hard in the second half,” said Waynflete Coach Cathie Connors. “This game exposed a lot of things we have to work on before the playoffs, and that’s fantastic.”

Sadie Cole of the Flyers agreed.

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“Honestly, I think it’s a good thing to experience a loss,” Cole said. “This gives us motivation to work hard at practice and there’s a little less pressure, not being undefeated.”

The result likely has implications for seeding for the Western Class B playoffs.

Falmouth entered the game ranked third in the Heal point standings. Waynflete was second, behind Cape Elizabeth.

The Flyers will close the regular season tonight at Yarmouth. Falmouth finishes at home to North Yarmouth Academy and Cape Elizabeth.

Home-field advantage is in play for the Yachtsmen.

Waynflete came out fired up. Maybe that had to do with the moving pregame salute to the Flyers’ two seniors. Or maybe it was a simple desire to remind the Yachtsmen which program had won regional or state titles in eight of the last nine years.

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Whatever the cause, the Flyers posted a 5-0 lead over the opening 12 minutes.

Falmouth didn’t blink.

“(Close games) test what kind of team you have,” Falmouth Coach Robin Haley said. “Are they going to crumble or are they going to rise to the occasion? There’s an element of learning how to fight, how to get to that loose ball, and this game was a great example of that. On both sides. Both teams fought for the ball. Fortunately we came out on the strong end of that today.”

Aided by center Molly Ryan’s remarkable play on the draw (a 20-5 edge in the game), Falmouth rode a deliberate, balanced offense back into the game, outscoring the Flyers 6-2 over the next 13 minutes to trail 7-6 at halftime.

“I can’t really explain it, everything was just clicking,” Ryan said. “We’ve been trying to beat them for so long, it feels so good to beat them.”

With a steady drizzle starting to fall, Martha Veroneau of Waynflete scored her second of four goals in the game on a direct free shot 1:06 into the second half, pushing the lead to 8-6. But Falmouth continued its run, scoring six straight over the next 13 minutes for a 12-8 lead.

The Flyers hustled to the end, though, scoring twice more with Veroneau batting in a pass from Isabel Agnew with 8:31 left that beat goalie Moie Aaskov (11 saves). Leigh Fernandez finished off Walker Froehl’s hard work with 1:57 left around Megan Fortier’s direct free shot to close the scoring .

Aaskov finished with 12 saves. Katherine Torrey of Waynflete had 11.

 


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