Greely senior Chris Williams handles the ball as Falmouth junior Bennett Smith defends during the Yachtsmen’s 5-0 victory Friday night.
FALMOUTH—Falmouth’s defending Class A state champion boys’ soccer team can’t capture a title this fall, but the Yachtsmen are leaving little doubt that they’re a squad without peer.
Friday evening on its turf field, three days after a three-goal win at reigning Class B champion Yarmouth, Falmouth hosted the Greely Rangers, the only team to put a blemish on its record so far this year, and quickly asserted its dominance.
The Yachtsmen got the only goal they would need in the sixth minute, when senior Connor Quiet played a long pass ahead to junior Mason Farr, who finished for a 1-0 lead.
After Greely nearly tied it up, but was robbed by Falmouth senior goalkeeper Tanner Daniels, the Yachtsmen made it 2-0 in the 18th minute, as senior Rion Dos Santos served a cross to junior Charlie Adams, who found the net.
Falmouth let a two-goal lead slip away in the teams’ first meeting, which ended up a 2-2 draw, but this time, the Yachtsmen showed no mercy, getting a tally from senior Gus Ford with just under 10 minutes to go before halftime, then taking a four-goal lead to the half, thanks to Dos Santos scoring on a rebound.
Ten minutes into the second half, Ford scored for the second time and the Yachtsmen went on to a 5-0 victory.
Four different players scored and Falmouth improved to 6-0-1 on the season, dropping the Rangers to 3-3-1 in the process.
“It’s been a good week for us,” said Dos Santos. “We’ve practiced a lot and we’ve figured it out. Kind of like last year. We’re playing as a unit. No disrespect, but we wanted to get back at (Greely) because we thought we were better. Playing at home, of course, is a big advantage.”
Leaving no doubt
Falmouth was the best team in Class A a year ago and it appears that the Yachtsmen are even better this season. They’d likely be heavy favorites to repeat if there was a traditional postseason (which there isn’t, due to COVID-limitations on fall sports).
The Yachtsmen opened by doubling up host Portland (4-2), then, after downing visiting Yarmouth, 1-0, settled for a 2-2 draw at Greely and defeated visiting Cape Elizabeth (2-1) before giving longtime coach Dave Halligan his 400th victory with the program last Thursday, 3-0, at Brunswick. Tuesday, Falmouth beat the Clippers again, this time by an even more decisive score of 3-0 at Yarmouth.
Greely fell at Cape Elizabeth, 2-0, in its first game, won at Gray-New Gloucester (6-0), then played visiting Falmouth to a 2-2 tie, was shut out at Yarmouth (4-0), then rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat visiting Cape Elizabeth (5-2) and Thursday, blanked visiting Freeport (4-0).
In the teams’ first meeting, Oct. 6, the host Rangers erased a 2-0 deficit and rallied to tie behind goals from seniors Chase Cornwall and Jonathon Piesik (Ford scored both goals for the Yachtsmen).
That game was the first countable encounter between the neighboring rivals since 2016, due to Falmouth leaving the Western Maine Conference for the Southwestern Maine Activities Association.
Entering play Friday, dating back to 2001, Falmouth had won 17 of 31 meetings against Greely, with the Rangers prevailing six times and eight other contests ending in draws (see below for recent results).
Friday, on a 54 degree evening, Greely had no answers for a fresher Yachtsmen team, which attacked from everywhere.
The first chance of the game led to the first goal, as Quiet played a long ball ahead to Farr on the left side and while Rangers junior goalkeeper Luca Duina came out and got to the ball, he couldn’t hold it and Farr banged it home for a 1-0 lead with 34:11 still to play in the 40-minute first half.
Quiet’s passing earned him praise.
“Connor’s gotten much better,” said Dos Santos. “He’s worked on those passes a lot. That goal was from his hard work.”
“Connor’s a converted forward,” said Halligan. “We needed some help on the defense and we asked him to go back and he’s done that. That’s what you need to be successful.”
Greely had some chances to answer, but sophomore Ethan Njitoh slipped in the box before shooting, sophomore Thomas Bennert ripped a shot just wide, senior Lucas Goettel had a shot saved and with 26:15 to go, Goettel ripped a high shot that Daniels tipped up and over the crossbar for a corner kick, which rolled through the box untouched.
Falmouth then got a second goal, this time in transition.
Dos Santos made a long run up the field, then crossed the ball to Adams, who one-timed a shot past a diving Duina to make it 2-0 with 22:59 left in the half.
“That’s just the style we play,” Dos Santos said. “We recover and go to goal in two or three passes and it works.”
After Duina made a fabulous diving save to rob Dos Santos, then, after another great long feed from Quiet, dove again to rob Farr, setting up a corner kick, Ford made it 3-0, when he headed home Dos Santos’ corner kick serve with 9:43 on the first half clock.
“Having three quality forwards in Gus, Charlie and Mason is great,” Dos Santos said. “I just dish balls to them every time and they score.”
“As long as we don’t care who scores, we’ll be successful,” Halligan said. “That balance makes us a good team.”
After Farr hit the post, Dos Santos took a pass from Ford, was denied initially by Duina, then got to his own rebound and buried it for a 4-0 advantage with 3:24 remaining and the Yachtsmen took that lead to the break.
In the first 40 minutes, Falmouth had a 7-2 edge in shots and made more than half of them count.
Early in the second half, Dos Santos just missed on a great look, but with 29:47 to play, Adams ran down the right side and just before reaching the end line, he crossed the ball to Ford, who scored on a one-timer to make it 5-0.
Greely couldn’t answer, as junior Sean MacDonald, who had replaced Daniels in goal, denied a free kick from Piesik, a shot from senior Chris Williams and one more bid from junior Gage Cooney to bring down the curtain.
“The kids have worked hard all season,” Halligan said. “We’ve gotten better every day and that’s been our goal all year. Greely played last night and it’s tough to play us back-to-back. We played quicker and simpler and didn’t rush things tonight. We did what we practice.”
The Yachtsmen put eight shots on frame and five of them found the net. They also had a 2-1 edge in corner kicks. MacDonald made three saves, while Daneils stopped two shots.
Greely got three saves from Duina and learned quickly it wasn’t going to be its night.
“We knew coming in it would be a tough task,” longtime Greely coach Mike Andreasen said. “If you lose your mark against this team, they find people. You can usually take a team’s best player out of a game, but you can’t here. They’re tough to play on a day’s rest, or a week’s rest. They play fast. They’re very skilled, they’re very technical. They’re undefeated for a reason.
“I’m wondering what kind of Herculean effort did we have the first time? My theory this year is that as tough as turf is for grass team, grass is tougher for turf teams and we saw that with Falmouth the first time.
“Falmouth might have won it a year early last year. They lost some kids, so the juniors were elevated a year early and had to be leaders and they responded with a state championship and now they’re seniors.”
Not over yet
Greely finishes the season next week with games at Freeport Tuesday and at home versus Waynflete Thursday and Yarmouth Saturday.
The Rangers hope to finish strong against two of the better teams in Class B and the two-time reigning Class C champion.
“I have good kids and they don’t quit,” Andreasen said. “They work hard even when we’re down.
“I’ve been wanting to beat Freeport and it would be nice to get a ‘W’ against (Yarmouth) at some point because it’s been awhile. We get them on grass. We always have good games against Waynflete and they’re not a turf team. No disrespect meant, but none of those teams are Falmouth.”
Falmouth welcomes Brunswick Tuesday of next week, then is primed to take part in a four-team tournament to end the year. The Yachtsmen will host Gorham in a rematch of last year’s regional final on Nov. 5, while Scarborough and Bonny Eagle meet in the other game. The losers will square off in the consolation round, while the winners will meet Nov. 9 for the “championship.”
“It’s only two games, but anything we can have is great,” said Dos Santos. “We’ll play our best and hopefully win everything.”
“Considering everything, I’m pleased with where we are,” Halligan said. “We’re playing for pride this year.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.
Recent Falmouth-Greely results
2016
@ Falmouth 1 Greely 0
@ Greely 2 Falmouth 1
2015
@ Falmouth 2 Greely 0
@ Greely 0 Falmouth 0 (tie)
2014
@ Falmouth 0 Greely o (tie)
Falmouth 1 @ Greely 0
2013
Greely 3 @ Famouth 0
@ Greely 2 Falmouth 1
2012
Falmouth 3 @ Greely 2 (OT)
Greely 1 @ Falmouth 0
2011
@ Falmouth 1 Greely 1 (tie)
@ Greely 1 Falmouth 0
2010
Falmouth 1 @ Greely 0
@ Falmouth 3 Greely 0
2009
Falmouth 4 @ Greely 2
@ Falmouth 2 Greely 1
2008
@ Falmouth 1 Greely 1 (tie)
@ Greely 2 Falmouth 2 (tie)
2007
@ Falmouth 2 Greely 1
Falmouth 2 @ Greely 1
2006
@ Greely 2 Falmouth 0
@ Falmouth 0 Greely 0 (tie)
2005
Falmouth 1 @ Greely 0
@ Falmouth 2 Greely 1
2004
Greely 2 @ Falmouth 1
Falmouth 2 @ Greely 0
2003
Falmouth 3 @ Greely 0
@ Falmouth 3 Greely 2
2002
@ Falmouth 4 Greely 1
@ Greely 0 Falmouth 0 (tie)
2001
Falmouth 3 @ Greely 0
@ Falmouth 3 Greely 0
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