CAPE ELIZABETH—Freeport’s time has arrived.

And the fun is just beginning.

Saturday afternoon at Hannaford Field, the young Falcons, ranked third in Class B South, had their way against No. 2 Cape Elizabeth in the Class B South semifinals and while many thought it was at least a year away from serious contention, Freeport now finds itself a mere two victories shy of the first state title in program history.

Facing a squad which twice handed them agonizing overtime losses during the regular season, the Falcons came out and ensured that 60 minutes would be enough and that they wouldn’t have to sweat down the stretch.

Freeport went on top to stay in the first quarter when sophomore Anna Maschino scored.

Freshman Liza Flower then added a rebound goal in the second period to make it 2-0 and when senior goalie Piper Williams made a sensational save on a Capers’ penalty corner after time expired, the Falcons had a little breathing room at the break.

Not surprisingly, Cape Elizabeth roared back early in the third quarter, as senior standout Grace Gray scored her final high school goal on a rebound, but less than two minutes later, Freeport answered, as its freshman sensation, Emily Groves, finished to make it 3-1.

The Falcons still clung to that advantage with just over five minutes left when Groves put it away with her second goal.

Junior Sophia Chung answered for the Capers, but Groves completed her hat trick, then sophomore Sophie Bradford added a goal to bring the curtain down and Freeport prevailed, 6-2.

The Falcons improved to 12-3-1, ended Cape Elizabeth’s fine season at 13-3 and advanced to take on top-ranked York (15-1) in the Class B South Final Wednesday in Biddeford at a time to be announced.

“I don’t want to say I’m shocked, but I’m so happy because every time it got close, we scored another one for more of a cushion,” said Freeport coach Marcia Wood. “We had a couple really good practices and focused on every scenario and we were ready today.”

Something had to give

Sixty minutes wasn’t close to enough to determine a winner in the teams’ two regular season meetings, but overtime was more than kind to the Capers, who survived the visiting Falcons twice by 3-2 scores, as Chung played the hero the first time and senior Meghan Conley did the same in the second victory.

Cape Elizabeth went on to post a 12-2 record, a program-best, then eliminated No. 7 Fryeburg Academy, 6-0, in Tuesday’s quarterfinals (see sidebar for links to previous stories).

Freeport, despite its youth, managed to go 10-3-1 in the regular season, its best mark in four years, then handled No. 6 Lake Region, 3-0, in the quarterfinals.

The Falcons won the lone prior playoff meeting, 3-0, in the 2016 Class B South preliminary round.

This time around, on a pleasant late-October afternoon (55 degrees at the start), Freeport came to play and never let up as it went on to an impressive victory.

Capers junior goalie Zoe Burgard stopped a bid from Falcons’ senior captain Chloe White early and at the other end, Gray missed just wide after a long rush.

Then, with 5:41 on the first quarter clock, Maschino finished on a second effort to put Freeport in front for good.

“Coming into the game, we knew we had to step up,” Groves said. “Coming out and scoring first gave us confidence we could do it.”

Late in the period, Williams robbed senior Kaitlyn McIntyre and Gray fired a rocket just wide to keep the score 1-0 Falcons.

Freeport then added to its lead in the second quarter.

After Burgard robbed Bradford, Flower pounced on the rebound and sent it into the cage to make it 2-0.

Cape Elizabeth had a great chance to answer when it earned a penalty corner at the end of the half and after time expired, Chung inserted the ball and got it back at the near post, but her bid to turn momentum was denied by Williams, whose heroics kept the Falcons up by two at the break.

“I was visualizing that earlier in my head, so I was ready,” Williams said. “I hate corners at the end, but I was happy to make that save. I got a lot of sleep last night and I guess that helped. I saw the ball well too.”

“Piper has been focused since Thursday,” Wood said. “She can be very silly, but when she puts on her gear, she’s focused. She’s a competitor. She made huge saves. She has her own little party after she makes those saves. That gets the fans pumped up and it gets her pumped up. She feeds off the adrenaline.”

The Capers regrouped at halftime and three minutes into the second half, got right back in the game, as McIntyre got the ball to Gray, who had an initial shot saved by Williams, but she got to the rebound and sent it home to cut the deficit in half.

But Freeport showed its resilience by answering with 10:08 on the clock, as Bradford crossed the ball to Groves, who beat Burgard to restore the two-goal advantage.

Late in the quarter, Williams denied Gray on a penalty corner, Williams saved a shot from senior Abbie Homicz on a corner, then she denied freshman Lulu Stoecklein on another corner.

After Williams robbed Gray early in the fourth period, the Falcons weren’t content to sit on their lead and instead, looked to put it away.

After Burgard robbed freshman Lizalyn Boudreau, Groves twice missed just wide, but with 5:06 to go, off a feed from White, Groves turned and ripped a shot into the cage to make it 4-1.

“I was getting frustrated, but I knew I was right there, so I had to keep trying,” Groves said.

Cape Elizabeth had one final bit of life left and with 2:58 to go, a long shot from Chung found its way home.

That would be the Capers’ last hurrah, however, as 36 seconds later, Groves completed her hat trick, taking a pass from Boudreau before finishing.

“It felt really good to put it away,” Groves said. “I knew I was going to play a big role this year because Coach had said I would, but I never expected it to be this big.”

“Emily is a competitive one,” Wood said. “If that ball is in the circle, she’ll get her stick on it and find a way to get it in.”

Then, with 53.6 seconds left, in transition, Maschino set up Bradford for one final goal and that slammed the door on Freeport’s 6-2 victory.

“I think we played with intensity,” said Williams. “We practiced with intensity the past couple days and we came here ready to win. The younger players bring a lot of energy. A bunch of different ages and personalities, but I feel like we’re a united team.”

“Second half, we were about defense, defense, defense, but we got a lot of offense too,” Wood said. “I thought Sophie on the wing played awesome today. Liza Flower has played great all year, but she was awesome today. Anna Maschino and (sophomore back) Sydney Gelhar stepped up. I didn’t know how our freshmen and sophomores would step up, but they’ve been great.”

The Falcons had a 13-11 edge in shots on frame and got nine saves from Williams.

Season’s end

The Capers took all seven of the game’s penalty corners, but couldn’t convert any of them. Burgard made seven saves.

“The girls came in trying to do their best,” said Cape Elizabeth coach Maura Bisogni. “They knew they did everything they could, but it wasn’t our day and it wasn’t enough.”

The Capers have to say goodbye to Gray, one of the finest players in program history, along with Conley, Homicz, McIntyre and senior Ella Membrino.

“The seniors have been great,” Bisogni said. “We’ll miss them.”

Don’t expect much of a dip from the 2023 squad, which should be on the short list of title hopefuls again.

“We have younger kids and this will help us in the offseason and get us ready for next year,” said Bisogni.

York stands in the way

Next up for the Falcons is a perennial powerhouse York team that eliminated defending state champion Leavitt, 2-0, in its semifinal Saturday.

Freeport handed York its only loss, 1-0, Sept. 30 at home, as the Falcons beat the Wildcats for the first time in program history. York beat visiting Freeport, 3-1, Aug. 31.

The Falcons are 0-3 all-time versus the Wildcats in the playoffs, with a 1-0 setback in the 2018 Class B South Final the most recent.

“We know we can beat York, so we’ll go into that game with a lot of confidence,” said Groves, who scored the lone goal in the win over the Wildcats during the regular season.

“We have to keep up the intensity,” Williams said. “If we keep up our will to win, I think we can do it.”

“I’m glad we got (to the regional final),” Wood added. “Win, lose or draw, we’ll get a medal. The girls will know what it feels like and what it takes. York’s a great team. We have to play like we did today. We have to trust each other, communicate and work together. It’s a great experience for these girls. I just want them to feel what it’s like to play (in the regional final).”

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

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