FREEPORT

Entering Wednesday’s Western Maine Conference matchup with 1- 7 Wells, the Freeport High School boys soccer team sat in ninth place in the Western Maine Class B Heal Point Standings.

With a visit to Waynflete slated for Tuesday (3:30 p.m.) and late season matchups with talented Falmouth (Oct. 18) and Cape Elizabeth (Oct. 21) still on the docket, a win against the Warriors was essential if the Falcons hope to make a playoff run.

Freeport took care of business, dominating from start to finish in a 6-0 victory, leaving the Falcons with a 3-5-1 record with five games remaining in the regular season.

“I think this season we have been taking one step forward, then two steps back,” said Freeport coach Joe Heathco. “We were not on our best foot to start the season, which was surprising. We have not been sharp at times, but I think that we turned the corner against Fryeburg (a 1-1 tie on Sept. 20), playing organized and executing, something we did much better today. Hopefully this win is something that we can build on.”

Early domination

Playing with the wind at their backs, the Falcons pinned Wells (1- 8) in their defensive zone throughout the first half. Freeport owned a 9-0 edge in corner kicks, and a 16-1 advantage in first-half shots.

Despite the territorial advantage, Freeport failed to score in the game’s opening 25 minutes, with Warriors netminder Chandler Bridge making five early stops and Falcon strikers sending several shots wide or high of the target.

A steal on a Wells clear led to the game’s first tally. Ryder Bennell stole the ball and quickly sent a pass in front of Bridge’s goal. Jack Davenport out-jumped a defender and headed the ball past Bridge for a 1-0 lead with 15:21 remaining until halftime.

“The first goal really relaxed things for us and took that tension out,” said Heathco, who watched his Falcons tally two more times over the next nine minutes.

Speedster Nick Wilson scored his first of two goals off a setup from Ben Humphrey, and Callum Gould finished off a pass from Shawn Anthony with 6:21 left until halftime for a 3-0 edge.

Gould, Freeport’s center-midfielder, controlled the middle of the field. His passes over the top of the Wells defense and to the corners opened things up, allowing his forwards to run and take control.

“He is such a good offensive player, distributes the ball in the right areas, so this game was perfect from him,” said Heathco of Gould.

“This was good for us to hold onto the ball, possess, something we haven’t done a lot this year,” said Gould. “We were able to do what we needed to do, go in and score goals. It is good for someone to be able to possess and distribute wide. Today, we were able to do that. I think we’re getting into our peak. The effort has always been there, now the results are starting to come out.”

Wells managed its lone first-half shot with two minutes remaining when Charlie Durfee fired wide of the Freeport net.

In the second half, Freeport continued to own possession. Wilson’s second goal at 23:26 upped the Falcons’ lead to 4-0, and a pair of tallies by Zach Merrill (the first assisted by Nate Smail) closed out the scoring and Freeport’s 6-0 win.

The Falcons owned a 27-4 shots advantage. Bridge made eight saves, while Freeport goaltender Brendan Qualls had to make two easy stops to preserve the shutout, his second of the season.

Freeport finished with a 12-1 edge in corner kicks, and Falcon defenders Parker Mathison, Nick Nelsonwood, Smail and Blake Enrico allowed Wells little room.

Freeport 6, Wells 0

At Freeport
Wells — 0 0 — 0
Freeport — 3 3 — 6
Goals — (F) Jack Davenport, Nick Wilson (2),
Callum Gould, Zach Merrill (2).
Assists — (F) Ryder Bennell, Ben Humphrey,
Shawn Anthony, Nate Smail.
Shots on goal — Freeport 27, Wells 4.
Saves — (W) Chandler Bridge 8; (F) Brendan
Qualls 2.
Corner kicks — Freeport 12, Wells 1.
Records — Freeport 3-5-1, Wells 1-8.
Up next for Freeport — Tuesday at Waynflete,
3:30 p.m.

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