FREEPORT

The Freeport High School girls lacrosse team opened the 2018 season christening its new turf field with a dominating performance, getting goals from nine different scorers and shutting down Fryeburg Academy, 16- 2, Thursday afternoon in Western Maine Conference action.

“It was great playing out here today,” said Freeport coach Marcia Wood of the new digs. “It was key being out here early. Just to be outside passing and getting used to the elements. We were out here day one this year. We’ve been in the gym in years past and sometimes haven’t gotten on to a field until our first game. It definitely showed in our play today.”

Playing the first regular season contest on the field, the Falcons found themselves trailing three minutes into the game. Fryeburg’s Ryan Duffy found the back of the net at 21:46, slipping one in the net for the Raiders only lead of the afternoon.

The Falcons responded soon after when Allison Greuel tallied a goal to tie the game, and the junior followed with another score less than a minute later to put the Falcons ahead, 2-1 with just five minutes gone in the contest.

Freeport was just warming up, as Taylor Rinaldi netted the next two goals. The senior caused havoc in the middle of the field throughout the game, but early on, the Raiders were not able to contain her.

Rinaldi’s second goal came after she intercepted a Raiders pass and carried it down the field, blasting a shot past goalie Faye Taylor for the score and a Freeport 4-1 lead.

Taylor Dostie joined the scoring the first of her four first half goals, besting the netminder for a 5-1 advantage with 15:56 left in the half. Despite cold hands at the end of the game, the senior was glad to be out and on the field.

“In years past, it was awful being in the gym,” said Dostie. “It was nice being able to come out and practice outside the last couple of weeks, getting used to the temperatures and being able to work on drills on the field.”

Amela McDonald and Margaret Perrotta registered goals before Molly Whelan scored a pair. The sophomore’s second goal came off an assist from Rinaldi late in the half.

Freeport (1-0) carried a 13- 1 lead into the intermission, feeling good about the body of the work they displayed in the first 25 minutes, keeping possession of the ball and limiting its opponent’s chances.

“We’ve been talking a lot about that in the preseason, keeping possession of the ball and out of the other teams hands,” said Wood. “We work on that every day at the beginning of practice.”

Freeport outshot the Raiders, 22-3 and dominated the draw controls, 14-1 in the opening half.

The Falcons used the second half to continue to work on their game, creating ball movement with communication and passes.

Paige Rinaldi, Grace Zachau and Margaret Ryan closed out the scoring for the home team, tallying the three Freeport second-half goals.

“We have scorers, but we like to spread it out, said Dostie. “Coach has us working on that, spreading the ball around. It was nice to see a lot of different scorers today.”

Bridget O’Neil scored Fryeburg’s final goal to end the scoring.

Freeport finished the game with a 34-11 advantage in shots while possessing 19- of-20 draw controls.

“That’s how you win games,” said Wood about the draw control advantage her team held. “The girls did well today. In a game like this, you always want to make sure you’re playing a good game.”

Freeport will host Yarmouth April 24 at 6 p.m. for its next contest.

Dostie paced the Falcons with four goals and an assist, while taking four draw controls. Whelan added three goals and three assists, and Perrotta had four assists of her own. Taylor Rinaldi added a pair of draw controls to go with her two scores, while Greuel had 10 draw controls and a pair of goals.

Freeport 16, Fryeburg 2

At Freeport

Fryeburg	—	1	1	—	2
Freeport	—	13	3	—	16

Goals — (Fry) Ryan Duffy, Bridget
O’Neil; (Free) Taylor Dostie 4, Molly
Whelan 3, Taylor Rinaldi 2, Allison
Greuel 2, Margaret Perrotta, Paige
Rinaldi, Grace Zachau, Margaret
Ryan, Amela McDonald.
Assists — (Free) Margaret Perrotta
4, Molly Whelan 3, Maggie Murray,
Taylor Dostie, Taylor Rinaldi.
Shots — Freeport 34, Fryeburg 11.
Saves — (Fry) Faye Taylor 6, Maggie
Powers 3.
Draw controls — Freeport 19, Fryeburg 1.
Records — Freeport 1-0, Fryeburg 0-
1.
Up next for Falcons — April 24 at
home against Yarmouth, 6 p.m.