FALMOUTH — Unbeaten Yarmouth made changes in its formation at halftime and it paid off handsomely Thursday night.

The Clippers scored three goals in the second half to beat Falmouth 4-1 in a Western Maine Conference girls’ soccer game.

“We just made a few changes in the way we tried to go forward,” said Coach Josh Thornton, in his first season with the Clippers after coaching the North Yarmouth Academy girls for three years.

The Clippers (3-0-1) placed a back striker behind forwards Sara D’Appolonia and Katie Clemmer, and that created gaps in Falmouth’s defensive back.

“Once we switched formations, we found there were really big gaps in the corners,” said Clemmer, who put the Clippers ahead for good three minutes into the second half when she took the ball from a defender with her right foot and put in a shot with her left to snap a 1-1 tie.

“Having three (attackers) up top with one dropping back a little, we found Sara and I could switch much better.”

The score was 1-1 at halftime.

D’Appolonia opened the scoring 14 minutes into the game when she intercepted a clearing pass and slammed a shot from just outside the penalty area to the left of the bubble inside the near post.

A little more than 10 minutes later, Madison Wolf tied it for the Yachtsmen (1-3) when her crossing shot from inside the penalty area bounded past goalie Meredith Lane. Lucy Mahoney drew an assist.

The Clippers held a 12-4 edge in shots in the first half but most of them came from well outside the penalty area.

“I thought if we emulated what we did in the first half against them for the full 80 minutes, we could play with them,” Falmouth Coach Andrew Pelletier said, “but you can’t let down for a minute against them.”

D’Appolonia, who also had an assist, added another goal in the 56th minute, and Cailie Decker scored with less than nine minutes left.

Thornton took over the Yarmouth program from Rich Smith, who coached the team for nearly three decades.

“I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Thornton said. “I came into a phenomenal group and I came in with a fantastic group of freshmen.”

“They’re the best team in the state,” Pelletier said. “They played us out of the park, especially in the second half. At the same time, every goal we gave up was off silly mistakes by us. Kudos to them for finishing (their chances), but at the same time we can’t keep making mistakes playing a team as good as them.”

“Credit to the girls,” Thornton said. “They worked so hard. They never stopped and that relentlessness is dangerous. We have such a deep bench we knew we probably wouldn’t tire as quickly as they did.”

With the loss, the Yachtsmen fell to 1-3.