FALMOUTH — Falmouth’s first half was better than Biddeford’s second half, and that was enough for the Yachtsmen.

Falmouth got five goals from Caitlyn Camelio and raced to an 11-2 lead before holding off a late Biddeford rally to earn an 11-8 victory in an SMAA girls’ lacrosse game Saturday morning, giving new coach Ashley Pullen a victory in her debut.

“We wanted to make a statement and show what Falmouth’s all about this year,” said Pullen, the former Messalonskee coach. “We did a great job on transition and our draw control was phenomenal. We finished and found the corners of the net.”

The Yachtsmen, who lost in the Class B South final to Kennebunk the past three seasons, got the early jump with a goal from their lone senior, Chelsey Smithwick. Then Camelio scored after one of 15 draw control wins from Kayla Sarazin.

Biddeford got on the board with a goal from Abby Allen before Camelio scored three times and Sarazin added two more to give Falmouth a 7-1 halftime advantage.

“We came out hyped up,” Camelio said. “It was our first game of the season and we’ve been practicing hard. We all worked together.”

Falmouth had an 11-3 advantage in shots in the first half, but Biddeford rallied after the break.

After Peyton McKeown scored early in the second half for the Tigers, goals from Christina Oakes, Emily Hamilton, Abby Blakeman and Camelio gave the Yachtsmen an 11-2 lead with 15:35 remaining.

But Biddeford, coming off the best season in program history, roared back. Two goals from Megan Mourmouras and another from Hailey Allen cut the deficit to 11-5 with 6:39 to play.

“We had some girls in positions they don’t normally play, we didn’t win as many draws, we had some turnovers, and they capitalized,” said Pullen.

Hailey Allen, Paige Laverriere and Brooke Reissfelder then scored to make it 11-8, but Falmouth was able to run out the clock.

“I think sometimes when you get a big lead, you just get excited, but we stayed composed at the end,” said Camelio.

Hannah Dubinsky and Caitlyn Bull combined to make seven saves for Falmouth.

Biddeford (1-1) got two goals apiece from Hailey Allen and Mourmouras. Laverriere’s goal gave her 100 points for her career. The Tigers got eight saves from Ella McKenzie.

“The girls took a while to adjust,” said Biddeford Coach Caitlin Albert. “Coming in, knowing we were playing Falmouth, we tensed up. Playing 25 minutes out of 50 isn’t enough. It’s good that it happened now and we can learn from it. We’re holding the girls to a high standard this year.”