YARMOUTH—Freeport’s boys’ soccer team is off to a fast start this season.
Thanks in part to a sizzling start in Tuesday afternoon’s contest at North Yarmouth Academy.
The Falcons struck early and often at Lewis Field, going ahead to stay in the fifth minute on a goal from senior Thomas Roy, then getting tallies from junior Sam Morris, senior Owen Rusiecki, senior Ivan Lyons and junior Emmanuel Ekogha to take a 5-0 advantage before the game was even 15 minutes old.
Junior Randall Walker added a breakaway goal before halftime and in the second half, before Freeport cleared its bench, including playing a large number of junior varsity players, Rusiecki scored a second goal as the Falcons rolled to a 7-0 victory.
Freeport improved to 2-0 on the young season and dropped NYA to 1-1 in the process.
“We got everyone playing time,” said Falcons coach Bob Strong. “It was nice to get everyone some minutes. We have to rely on some guys who don’t play as much to step up because injuries happen. We needed to put some goals in the net just for confidence.”
Right out of the gate
NYA surged late a year ago and won the Class D state title with a 2-1 victory over Madawaska to cap an 11-7 season. The Panthers then lost some great players to graduation, moved up to Class C this fall and coach Branden Noltkamper left to become the girls’ coach at Cape Elizabeth. Larry Burningham inherited a squad with a lot of new faces and NYA picked right up where it left off in last week’s season opener with a 7-0 home win over Sacopee Valley.
Freeport was ousted in the Class B South quarterfinals by Yarmouth, 5-1, to wind up 7-5-4. The Falcons expect to once again be a contender and opened the season in dramatic fashion last week, edging visiting Gray-New Gloucester, 2-1, on Rusiecki’s free kick with just seconds remaining in the second overtime.
“We didn’t play as well as we wanted to, but it was exciting to win that first game,” said Rusiecki.
Freeport and NYA were once Class C rivals and produced one of the most unforgettable playoff games ever contested back in the 2000 Western C Final, a 2-1 Panthers’ win in triple-overtime. The squads used to play annually for the McDougall Cup, named after former Freeport standout and short-time NYA assistant coach Sean McDougall, who died in 2000, but prior to Tuesday, they hadn’t squared off in a countable game since Sept. 19, 2017 (a 4-0 Freeport win in Yarmouth).
This time around, on a steamy afternoon (87 degrees at kickoff), NYA sought its first win over the Falcons since a 1-0 home triumph Oct. 2, 2015 and its first 2-0 start to a season since 2018, but instead, Freeport began 2-0 for the first time since 2016, showing great balance on offense from the very start.
Freeport sophomore William Emmons soars to head the ball away from North Yarmouth Academy junior Jack Hebert (28) and senior Matt Powers during the Falcons’ 7-0 win Tuesday. Michael Hoffer / For The Forecaster
It took the Falcons all of 13 seconds to register their first shot, a bid from senior Will Maneikis which was deflected out of bounds for a corner kick. After Lyons headed a cross from Rusiecki high, Rusiecki sent a rocket just high and NYA sophomore goalkeeper Gavin Thomas saved shots from Ekogha and Rusiecki, Ekogha set up Roy, who was wide open in front, for a goal with 35:08 to go in the first half to break the ice.
After Rusiecki sent the ball off the post, Morris sent home the rebound with 33:30 on the clock.
A mere 57 seconds later, it was Rusiecki’s turn, burying a blast from the top of the box for a 3-0 advantage.
“We knew we needed to score early and realistically, we wanted to put the game out of reach,” said Rusiecki.
Freeport kept the pedal to the metal, as Ekogha served up a corner kick which Lyons headed home with 26:13 to go, then 26 seconds later, Ekogha scored unassisted to make it 5-0.
The Panthers had a chance in the 27th minute, but a shot from freshman Nathan McGillicuddy was blocked in the box.
With 12:45 remaining, Walker broke away from a goal and the Falcons held a 6-0 lead at the half, thanks in large part to a 15-0 advantage in shots on frame and a 6-0 edge in corner kicks.
Thomas, who had nine first half saves, held Freeport at bay early in the second half, diving twice to deny shots from Ekogha, then robbing Rusiecki on the doorstep.
Then, with 29:44 showing, Ekogha set up Rusiecki for the game’s final goal.
Down the stretch, Falcons freshman goalkeeper Joe Morris, who came on in the second half to replace sophomore Mason Vintinner, made a save on a header from senior Matt Powers, and Freeport’s bid for an eighth goal which would have induced a mercy rule and ended the contest, came up short as Sam Robinson twice just missed and Noah Dugan did the same.
The Falcons were content to run out the clock and prevail, 7-0.
“It’s nice to see everybody get playing time,” Rusiecki said. “It’s nice to get some wins under our belt and build some confidence.”
Freeport finished with a commanding advantage in shots on frame, 21-3, and got three saves from Joe Morris. The Falcons took 11 corner kicks to the Panthers’ three.
NYA got 14 saves from Thomas.
“I think our team is really talented, but we just need time,” said Burningham. “I prepared them that today we’d get some lessons. We did and we figured some things out and got better. Gavin was solid in net. You can’t ask for more than 14 saves. (Freshman) Cael (Woelflein) is fantastic on the wing. (Sophomore) Jacob (Colaluca) is a hockey player and hadn’t played since fifth grade. He had three goals last game. We don’t have any starting returners. We have a really young team. We don’t have a lot of players. We just have some guys we have to turn into players during the season.”
Home cooking
The Panthers stay home and take on Lake Region Thursday as they look to get back on track.
“We have games we expect to win and other games we hope to hang in and hopefully steal one and then we’ll be fine,” said Burningham. “I fully anticipate being in playoffs and going deep in playoffs.”
Freeport, meanwhile, returns home Saturday to take on Morse.
The Falcons know some bigger tests await right around the corner and they’ll welcome the challenges.
“I think we always play up to the top teams,” Rusiecki said. “We know we can compete with those teams. We just need to keep working on our weaknesses.”
“Our focus is on Morse now,” Strong said. “We’re excited about the cross-conference schedule. We’re still moving guys around. We don’t want guys just playing one position. We want them to be versatile. It’s a tough league. I like being under the radar. I have a lot of confidence in this team. We have a lot of good athletes and they’re coachable. I think we’ll be a headache for some teams as the fall progresses.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.
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