FREEPORT – Three has been the magic number for the Freeport field hockey team this fall. When the Falcons score at least three goals they’re 4-0. When they don’t, they’re 0-3.

Unfortunately for the Falcons, it was a case of the latter both Saturday and Thursday, as the Falcons fell to North Yarmouth Academy and Poland, respectively.

On Saturday, Freeport dropped a 2-1 OT decision to visiting Poland. The loss came two days after the Falcons (5-3) lost 5-1 at home to NYA.

After opening the scoring against NYA, Freeport allowed the equalizer just before halftime and conceded four more in a nine-minute span in the second half as they fell to the Panthers 5-1.

Keeping pace with the two-time defending state champs was no problem for the first 30 minutes, but the deeper NYA bench started to make a difference the game wore on.

“I think second half we kind of ran out of steam,” Freeport coach Sara Dimick said. “I didn’t have a lot of players for subs, our bench in that respect isn’t deep, so it was tough to be able to give everybody a sub today. Conditioning will be something we’ll work on for sure in the next few weeks.”

Freeport came out of the gates quickly as both offenses struggled to gain a foothold in the other teams half early on. The Falcons forced their first corner 12 minutes in, and though they failed to capitalize kept the ball in the NYA box. The pressure paid off when the ball fell in front of net to Emily Sturtevant, who slotted past Panthers keeper Elizabeth Coughlin for her first tally of the year and a 1-0 lead.

“That’s something to be proud of, obviously we know we can compete with them given that first half,” Dimick said. “I think we played really well and played with fire, so I was pretty thrilled with how the first 25 minutes went, definitely.

“We’re still just trying to figure out how to make it last a full game – all out, digging deeper kind of hockey.”

After going down early, the Panthers started to come more into the game as the half progressed, and Falcons keeper Tallie Martin was forced into several stops as NYA pushed for the equalizer. It finally came with 2:42 until the break when the Panthers forced their fourth corner of the half. Bailey Cook received the pass out of the set piece and slid a pass at pace across goal to Kayla Rose for an easy tap in.

“Freeport came out really on fire at the get go, give them credit,” NYA coach Tracy Quimby said. “Teams are coming out really on fire at the beginning, but the thing is that seems to last a little bit longer for us. So while we come out at the same level at the beginning, by the second half our kids are still going at that same level and I think that just kind of wears on other teams.

“We had to get it even again before we started back up to get going, and they did it. We started over at halftime and the kids knew it was like a whole new game.”

A whole new game it was, and the late goal gave the Panthers the momentum in what was a very different second half. NYA grabbed the lead 5:29 in, with Rose again scoring off a corner, and made it 3-1 just 59 seconds later when Jen Brown’s shot got through traffic and past Martin.

“I think that my group got down on themselves after the second and third goals, and it’s hard to shake that off,” Dimick said.

The Falcons were able to right the ship, but only for six minutes as NYA again scored twice in quick succession at the 16:59 and 15:19 marks from Marina Poole and Juliana Tardif to finish off the scoring.

“The team feeds on each other, so once one of them gets started the others realize ‘Hey, I can do this too,’” said Quimby, who has six players with at least two goals scored on the season. “That’s the other thing that’s really good about this team, it’s not one person scoring, it’s seven or eight.”

The Falcons’ best chance of the half came with seven minutes to play, when a rare excursion into the NYA box ended with the ball on Danielle Foster’s stick in front of a seemingly open goal. But Coughlin recovered and made a lunging pad save to keep it a 5-1 final, and the Falcons were shut out in the final 47 minutes.

“Starting that scoring momentum is crucial,” Dimick said. “We had it in the beginning here but we just couldn’t get it done in the circle. We had some good opportunities but were just unable to make it happen and get that second shot off.”

Though the goals weren’t there Thursday, Freeport has been lighting up the scoreboard in the opening part of the season, scoring 21 times in its first eight games. But this was the first time the Falcons tallied in their three losses, and keeping the goals coming consistently will be key going forward.

“At the start of the season I knew I’d have a lot of returners on the defensive end,” Dimick said, “so I was worried scoring would be the challenge the whole season but we’ve already been able to score a good amount of goals. I’m not too worried about the offense anymore.”

And even though the Panthers have now beaten the Falcons twice by a combined 8-1 score line, Quimby said her squad wouldn’t be taking anything for granted if the teams meet again come playoff time.

“I expect to see Freeport in the tournament; I see them being there, I don’t see why they shouldn’t be,” she said. “They have great play, great energy, they’re scoring a lot of goals, they have some really good players. Hopefully we’ll be ready for them when that time comes.”

Freeport forward Olivia Bubar tries to stickhandle around North Yarmouth Academy defender Alexandra Barnes late in the second half. (Staff photo by Cameron Dunbar)
Freeport’s Megan Peacock and North Yarmouth Academy’s Marina Poole battle for the ball in the midfield early in the first half. Poole scored the Panthers’ third goal as they beat the Falcons 5-1.
North Yarmouth Academy’s Julianna Tardiff brings the ball into the Freeport box as Abby Smith tries to in the first half. Tardiff scored the Panthers’ final goal as they knocked off the Falcons 5-1.
RunFreeport’s Emily Sturtevant brings the ball into the North Yarmouth Academy zone as Panthers midfielder Kayla Rose tries to catch up. Sturtevant scored the opening goal but the Falcons fell 5-1.
Freeport forward Olivia Bubar takes a swing late in the second half.

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