Freeport’s Sam Wogan scored his team’s first and last goals against Wells Thursday afternoon – and three others in between, leading the Falcons to an 11-6 defeat of the Warriors.

The Falcons jump to 2-0 on the season, their best start in well, in recent memory.

“2-0. Haven’t been here in a while,” said Freeport head coach Geoff Arris. “Last year we won three games, and this year we’ve started off with two.”

“2-0,” Wogan said, happily. “Definitely better than last year.”

The home win on Thursday, May 1, was actually played out on Ryan Field at Bowdoin, an artificial surface; Freeport’s own field of real grass, sopping after the morning’s rain, prompted a change of venue.

The (intensely green) fake turf wasn’t exactly dry, though, and turned out to be pretty slippery: a lot of barreling, cutting, ducking, juking, spinning and shooting players found their feet whooshing unexpectedly, almost comically, from beneath them.

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Still, the two teams managed to stay upright long enough to hash 17 goals between them – and the Falcons most of those.

Wogan opened the scoring just 2:13 into the first; in the ensuing 10 minutes, the remainder of the quarter, not only did Wogan tally two more, but Eli Fox tallied two and Ramsey Dodge two as well. At the buzzer, the Falcons stood on top 7-0.

“It was really good,” Arris said of his squad’s first quarter. “We played Fryeburg, and our fundamentals weren’t with us, as much as they should be. This game, our goal was to pass, catch, get the ground ball and communicate.

“In that first quarter, they did all that very well; they ran the offense, they did well on defense, and it showed on the scoreboard.”

For a team that’s struggled in past seasons, to begin a game so blisteringly is surely both thrilling and a little disorienting. There’s a danger of becoming complacent. Both Wogan and Arris acknowledged as much.

“We got a little overconfident,” Wogan said. “But I think by the end, we collected ourselves, got ourselves back together.”

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“I think they just let it get away from them a little bit,” Arris said of his boys. “They’re winning, we’re not used to it, they’re excited, I think they let up just a tiny bit.

“Our goalie [Zac Wogan] was screaming at them the whole time, so he was still in it. And I think Zac’s the one that got them fired back up.”

“They’re phenomenal,” Arris added. “I look forward to watching them play all season long…they keep us in games”

Wells emerged defensively refocused in the second, holding Freeport’s side of the scoreboard steady, though it took the Warriors most of the quarter to finally light up their own. When they did, it presaged a soon-to-come run that would begin to close the gap.

Falcon Connor Dostie answered with 1:20 to play in the half, maintaining his squad’s seven-goal advantage headed into the break, but when play eventually resumed, Wells came on strong. The Warriors needed just 47 seconds to notch their second of the game, and two and a half more minutes to notch their third.

Wells added two more before the end of the quarter, and even began the fourth a man up. Freeport killed the penalty, though, and soon Sam Wogan, silent since the first, spoke up once more, firing from atop the zone. 9-5.

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“Wells pushed back harder in the second half,” Wogan said. “I definitely noticed that, running up and down the field; they were laying some hard checks.”

Dostie made it 10-5, getting the ball while lingering inside-low, maybe five yards from the right post of the Wells cage, then curling inward and out front for a top-down shot and his second of the day.

Wells quickly rebutted, making it 10-6, but time was no longer on their side. In the waning minutes, Wogan added the game’s final point, dashing the length of the field, taking hacks from behind all the way but managing to maintain control for the goal. 11-6.

The Falcons travel to Kennebunk (1-1) for their next matchup, a 4 p.m., May 6 battle.

“We’re eager,” Arris said. “We have real low numbers; we just lost three more today to injury, so I think we’re running about 15, maybe 16 guys total. We get tired, but they scrap through.”

Freeport’s Tyler Frey wends through the fray against Wells Thursday afternoon.Falcon Ed Lefebvre guards a Warrior.Perrin Davidson (right) of Freeport homes in on a Wells Warrior.The Falcons’ Connor Dostie breathes during a break in the action at Bowdoin Thursday afternoon.Freeport’s Sam Wogan had five goals and two assists in his team’s 11-6 win over Wells at Bowdoin Thursday afternoon.Ramsey Dodge whips off a pass in Freeport’s 11-6 win over Wells.


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