FREEPORT

There are times a team just doesn’t have it.

Such was the case on Tuesday for the Freeport High School field hockey team, and it came at the worst time.

Lake Region scored four second-half goals for a 4-0 victory in a Class B South quarterfinal at Hunter Road Fields.

From the start, the fourth-seeded Falcons (9-5-1) struggled to find their game. Lake Region (8-7), the No. 5 seed, possessed the ball throughout the first half, followed by an offensive onslaught in the second frame.

“Kudos to them. We had a good practice yesterday, but they beat us to most of the balls,” said Freeport coach Marcia Wood. “Our nerves, we just couldn’t capitalize on anything.”

“We weren’t communicating much, though I thought we played a bit better in the first half after a slow start,” said Freeport senior Maya Bradbury. “We just weren’t clicking today.”

After out-shooting and out-cornering Freeport, 3-1 in the opening 30 minutes, Lake Region earned four quick penalty corners early in the second frame. Though the Lakers failed to score, the visitors pinned the Falcons in their defensive zone, leading to the game’s first goal. Dessi Berry sent a pass to Olivia Deschenes, who one-timed a hard shot past Freeport goaltender Katelyn Rouleau for a 1-0 lead 5:13 in.

Five minutes later, a scrum in front had Rouleau on the ground. She made three saves, but the ball became pinned under her pads, resulting in a penalty stroke. Paige Davis stepped up and made no mistake, sending a low shot inside the left post for a 2-0 Lakers lead.

“We connected and the shots were really firing,” said Deschenes. “That first goal relaxed us and motivated us to not allow them to score. We have worked a lot on shooting and scoring, and I thought we had more of an offensive mindset today.”

Wood called a timeout, trying to both calm her team and motivate her squad.

“We’re better than this,” said the Freeport coach. “One goal was deflating enough, then the second one. It was hard to keep the intensity up after that. I called a timeout to tell them we can’t reflect on this as our last game. No matter the score, we had to play hard. But we just made too many mistakes to recover.”

Freeport played its best field hockey over the next five minutes, with Alexa

No. 5 Lake Region 4, No. 4 Freeport 0

Class B South Quarterfinal At Hunter Road Fields in Freeport

Lake		Region —	0	4	—	4
Freeport		—	0	0	—	0

Goals — (LR) Olivia Deschenes 2, Paige Davis, Delaney Meserve. Assists — (LR) Dessi Berry, Paige Davis. Shots on goal — Lake Region 13, Freeport 3. Saves — (LR) Maddie Nelson 3, (F) Katelyn Rouleau 8. Penalty corners — Lake Region 12, Freeport 2. Records — Lake Region 8-7, Freeport 9-5-1. Note — Freeport’s season has concluded.

Koenig, Bradbury and Kerry Lefebvre buzzing around Lake Region goaltender Maddie Nelson (three saves).

However, Freeport failed to find that scoring touch, and goals by Lake Region’s Delaney Meserve and Deschenes finished off the Falcons’ nine-win season.

After the game, Wood gathered her seniors, a group of Falcons that brought Freeport field hockey a long way during the past four years.

“They have been a really close group, dedicated to being a part of the team to make it better, making themselves better, great role models and leaders,” said Wood of seniors Lauren Schenker, Bradbury, Callie Toothaker, Grace Schnyder and Cameryn Pasquale.

“It has been an awesome season, and we did some pretty great things,” Bradbury added. “As a freshman I didn’t really know what was going on. It would have great to go one more this season. It just didn’t happen.”

Rouleau finished with eight saves, with Lake Region holding a 13-3 shot advantage and a big 12-2 edge in penalty corners.

The Lakers head to top-seeded and defending State Class B champion York on Friday.

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