CUMBERLAND—Kate Parkinson had some big shoes to fill entering her senior field hockey season, but it’s safe to say that Parkinson has continued the tradition of strong Greely High goalkeeping that Savanna Harvey established in recent years.

Friday afternoon, the Rangers hosted Freeport in a game that would require 76 minutes and never did produce resolution.

Thanks in large part to Parkinson’s heroics.

The Falcons struck first in the second period when freshman sensation Emily Groves scored off a penalty corner.

Freeport took a 1-0 lead to the half, but in the third quarter, Greely, which has had trouble putting the ball in the cage this season, pulled even, as senior Lia Traficonte scored.

The Falcons then had opportunity after opportunity to retake the lead, but were either stymied by Parkinson, hit the post or had a goal waved off.

The contest remained deadlocked at the end of regulation and through 16 minutes of overtime as well and Greely and Freeport settled for a 1-1 draw.

The Falcons are now 2-2-1 on the season and while the Rangers remained winless at 0-4-1, Parkinson’s 23 saves and a strong overall effort left them acting like they’d prevailed.

“We’ve had a couple of games where we have had scores that didn’t match our effort,” said Greely coach Burgess LePage. “Today, our goal was to keep our intensity up the whole game and we accomplished that goal.”

Growth potential

Freeport has an abundance of freshman on its roster this season, but that group has made immediate contributions and the future (along with the present) is very bright. The Falcons started with a 3-1 loss at perennial powerhouse York, then downed visiting Yarmouth (6-0) and Lake Region (4-1) before dropping a double-overtime thriller at Cape Elizabeth Monday (3-2).

Greely has been competitive in the early going, but has struggled putting the ball in the cage. After starting with a 2-0 setback at Lake Region, the Rangers fell at home to Fryeburg Academy (3-0), lost at St. Dom’s (2-1) and at Cape Elizabeth (5-0).

Last fall, the Falcons took both meetings, 4-2 at home and 2-1 in Cumberland.

Friday, on a pleasant but breezy late-summer afternoon (66 degrees at the start), Greely hoped to beat Freeport for the first time since Oct. 10, 2017 (2-1, in double-overtime) and the Falcons hoped to make it eight straight in the series, but neither came to pass.

The first 14 minutes of the first quarter didn’t see either side register a shot, but with 26 seconds left, Groves fired a shot that Parkinson saved, then Parkinson went to the ground and Groves tried three more times, to no avail.

Freeport then earned a penalty corner, which it played out after the horn, but senior captain Chloe White’s shot was blocked to send the game to the second period.

Where the scoring ice would be broken.

After Parkinson made a terrific save just seconds into the frame, robbing Groves, the Rangers had a good chance on a penalty corner midway through, but despite the ball sitting free in front of Falcons senior goalie Piper Williams, it was cleared out of harm’s way.

Then, with 3:30 on the clock, off a corner, senior captain Ava Gervais inserted the ball to sophomore Anna Maschino, who passed to Groves, who fired a shot into the cage for a 1-0 Freeport lead.

The Falcons had a 7-0 edge in shots on frame in the first 30 minutes, but couldn’t extend their advantage.

Greely then came to life to start the second half and with 12:59 left in the third quarter, scored just its second goal in five games this season, as Williams saved an initial shot from senior Marisa Crowley, but Traficonte sent the rebound into the cage to make it 1-1.

“I said at halftime, ‘What would it mean to score in the first couple minutes?'” said LePage. “I think it’s that idea of them visualizing and knowing they can do it.”

And 1-1 is how the game would end, but a lot of drama was left to transpire.

Groves had a chance to answer with 5;35 to go in the third, but Parkinson made the save.

Early in the fourth period, Freeport earned a penalty corner and both Gervais and freshman Reed Proscia had good looks, but Parkinson stopped both shots.

Off another corner with 10:45 remaining in regulation, Gervais tried twice to beat Parkinson, but Parkinson stood tall.

A minute later, Gervais set up Groves for a great look, but Groves sent the ball just wide.

Down the stretch, Parkinson saved shots by senior captain Liv Christensen and White and White had a rush broken up.

With 1:04 left, the Falcons appeared to score the go-ahead goal, as White set up Gervais for a goal off a corner, but it was waved off for an improper insertion.

That sent the game to “sudden victory” overtime.

The first eight-minute session saw Freeport continue to have chances and continue to be flustered.

The Falcons got a quick corner, but couldn’t convert.

With 4;08 to go, Parkinson robbed freshman Lizalyn Boudreau and a rebound was sent wide.

White then went one-on-one with the goalie and Parkinson stopped her cold and Groves’ rebound attempt was blocked.

With 2:17 left, Boudreau broke in free behind the defense and hoped to win it, but Parkinson made the save.

“The thought that goes through my head when they come at me is that I know who I am, I have confidence in myself and I just leave it on the field,” said Parkinson.

The Falcons had one more chance, but Groves’ deflection of White’s long hit went just wide.

There were still eight more minutes to go.

With 5:17 left in the second OT, freshman Liza Flower tried to win it for Freeport, but her shot from the side was kicked away by Parkinson.

With 2:45 left, Groves came within inches of ending it, when she broke in alone and fired a shot that Parkinson couldn’t reach, but this one rattled off the right post.

With under a minute to go, Proscia got into the circle, but had the ball knocked away at the last second.

Then, just before time expired, the Falcons earned one more corner and by rule, were able to play it out, but there would be no dramatic finish, as Greely cleared the ball and the contest ended in a 1-1 tie.

“That was so fun,” said Parkinson. “We needed a result like this. This boosts our confidence a lot.”

For Freeport, it was a day of frustration, as the Falcons had a 24-2 edge in shots (Williams made one save) and a 15-5 advantage in corners,

“Unfortunately, we did not play our ‘A’ game,” lamented Freeport coach Marcia Wood. “We had chances. It just wasn’t our day. Greely played great. They were persistent and aggressive and their goalie made a bazillion saves. We can’t play flat and we started to play frantic.”

Parkinson stole the show, making 23 saves, one game after stopping 33 shots.

With Harvey now playing at Springfield College, Parkinson is doing a great job keeping her legacy alive.

“It felt like pressure (replacing Savanna) at the beginning, but I’ve used it as fuel for myself,” Parkinson said. “I looked up to Savanna a lot. She taught me everything I know.”

“Kate has a lot of strength and she might not have played those years with Savanna in, but she watched every second and learned from her,” LePage said. “She’s so tough and brings a lot of light and fun to the team.”

Building block

Greely will try again for its first victory next Thursday at Fryeburg Academy.

“It’s a start,” said Parkinson. “A tie is better than a loss and hopefully next game, we’ll get a win. I think we’ll keep getting better. We’re working on some in-the-circle drills and some scoring drills and we plan on scoring more goals.”

“We’re learning lessons every game,” said LePage. We’re adjusting and figuring out how to move forward.”

Freeport is home for two games next week, versus Fryeburg Academy Tuesday and Poland Friday.

“The girls are getting it,” Wood said. “We have so much potential.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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