SOUTH PORTLAND—Falmouth’s boys’ soccer team has turned winning close games into an art form.

And as a result, at the midway point of the 2024 season, the Navigators find themselves atop the hotly contested Class A South standings.

Wednesday evening at Martin Memorial Field, Falmouth’s latest tough foe was host South Portland, which had the better of the chances in the first half, but couldn’t finish.

Then, just 2 minutes, 37 seconds into the second half, the Navigators got their opportunity and they pounced, as junior Charlie Creswell scored a long, low shot.

Falmouth’s defense slammed the door from there and the end result was a 1-0 victory.

The Navigators won their fourth consecutive game, all by one goal, improved to 6-1 and in the process, dropped the Red Riots to 2-4.

“Our goal since the beginning of the year is to get a little bit better,” said longtime Falmouth coach Dave Halligan, after his 439th victory in his 38th year with the program. “We want to be in every game and compete and have a chance at the end.”

Midseason barometer

Falmouth blanked host Cheverus (2-0) and visiting Massabesic (11-0) to start the year, then dropped a double-overtime heartbreaker at Portland, 2-1. Since then, the Navigators have found a way to outlast host Deering, the reigning Class A South champion, 2-1, visiting Scarborough (3-2) and visiting Westbrook (2-1).

South Portland lost three of its first four outings, with all of those defeats coming by one goal. After falling at home to longtime nemesis Scarborough (2-1), the Red Riots lost at home in overtime Portland (1-0). South Portland then defeated visiting Noble (4-0), but fell at Biddeford (1-0) before bouncing back last Friday with a 5-2 home win over Bonny Eagle.

Last fall, the Navigators held off the visiting Red Riots, 1-0.

Wednesday, on a seasonable 59-degree evening, South Portland sought its first victory over Falmouth since Oct. 18, 2019 (1-0, in double-overtime), but instead, the Navigators did just enough to eke out another win.

Falmouth junior Hayden Davis blankets South Portland senior Gedeao Buanza early in the Navigators’ 1-0 victory Wednesday. Hoffer photos.

Falmouth had the first look, just 90 seconds in, but sophomore Simon Wissink missed wide.

In the fifth minute, the Red Riots had their best opportunity, as senior Ben Morin served in a corner kick and senior Jackson Houlette ripped a shot right in front, but Navigators junior goalkeeper Caden Berry calmly made the save by the right post.

Berry later saved a header from junior Israel Ditanduka off a corner.

Falmouth tried to get its offense going, but senior captain Evan Mayo was just wide on a counterattack, then a cross from freshman Wyatt Braun was headed out.

With 8:20 to go before halftime, it appeared the Navigators were going to get a gift, as a corner kick was served in and hit the hand of a South Portland defender, but after a discussion, much to the visitors’ chagrin, it was decided to replay the kick and nothing came of it.

Late in the half, senior captain Griffin Parr and junior Hayden Davis both broke up Red Riots’ opportunities to keep the game scoreless at the break.

Falmouth quickly went on top when the second half began.

Falmouth senior captain Sam Yoon gives chase as South Portland senior Jackson Houlette handles the ball.

The goal began with Creswell serving the ball in from the left side. It got knocked around and instead of clearing it, the Red Riots sent it back to Creswell, who didn’t hesitate and fired a shot that eluded South Portland senior goalkeeper Michael Zaccaria and found the net just inside the far post.

“I’m not exactly sure what happened,” Creswell said. “The ball bounced out to me and I knew a defender was on my back and I knew I could get (to the ball) first. I didn’t hit it very hard. I was aiming for the far corner. I got enough of it. As a team, we’re very calm in stressful situations. We’re clinical when presented with an opportunity.”

“You’re not going to get many scoring opportunities against good teams, so you have to make the most of them,” Halligan said. “(Charlie) hit it well on frame. That was key. Put it on frame and good things happen.”

“(Falmouth) didn’t have a ton of opportunities, but they converted what they got,” lamented South Portland coach Bryan Hoy. “We had a half clear. Instead of getting it out and making them restart, we only got it to their second level and they were right back on top of us.”

The Navigators nearly doubled their lead with just over 32 minutes to play, but after a nice spin move, Mayo sent a shot just wide.

After Wissink missed just wide and Mayo was denied by Zaccaria on a free kick up top, the Red Riots hoped to answer, but Ditanduka had a shot blocked in the box and junior Joyce Otshudi missed wide.

With 11:20 to go, Morin took a free kick from the side and instead of lofting it in, fired a pass on the ground into the box, but no one could reach it.

With 4:35 remaining, South Portland earned a corner kick and the ball came to sophomore Finn O’Connell, but his left-footed shot was snared by Berry.

Three minutes later, the Red Riots got another corner and Berry came out and caught the ball in traffic.

With just 15 seconds to go, South Portland hoped for a handball call in the box, but it was ruled offsides instead and Falmouth was able to run out the clock on its 1-0 victory.

Falmouth celebrates with junior goalkeeper Caden Berry following the victory.

“Every single time before we get on the field, we yell, “Grit!’ and I think our grit tonight helped us push through to win,” said Davis, who has verbally committed to playing lacrosse at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. “We have a bunch of dogs back there on defense. We’re scrappy back there. Shoutout to the boys in the back. We’re calm, so when a game is on the line, we heavily rely on everyone, midfield and attack. We play as a team and that’s our biggest strength.”

“We hung on at the end,” Halligan said. “We bent but we didn’t break. The younger guys are coming in and helping us out. It’s a small field. Bodies are close together. There was a lot of banging around. We expected that. That’s why we want homefield advantage so we can avoid that. (South Portland’s) very quick and they have some good players. They’ll be dangerous in the playoffs.”

Falmouth finished with a 4-3 edge in shots on frame and got three key saves from Berry. Both teams took seven corner kicks.

South Portland got three saves from Zaccaria, but when the dust settled, another frustrating loss was in the books.

“It was nice to get opportunities early but we have to finish the whole game,” Hoy said. “The second half wasn’t our best performance. It can be frustrating sometimes. We had a good shot at the end there that got deflected in the box. Other than that, we didn’t generate much pressure in the second half.”

Gauntlet

South Portland is in the midst of a brutal schedule stretch which sees it go to Gorham Saturday, then play at Cheverus next Wednesday before hosting Deering Friday of next week.

“I keep telling the guys it doesn’t really matter where we go in, as long as we get in,” Hoy said. “This was our fifth home game. We’ll have to win some road games, but that’s not a problem for us.”

Falmouth goes to dangerous Biddeford Friday and visits Kennebunk Monday. The Navigators return home Wednesday of next week to battle always-tough Gorham.

“I think we can play with any team in the league,” Creswell said. “It’s just about staying focused and not taking anyone too softly.”

“We still have a lot of good teams to play,” Halligan said. “We’re going east and west pretty well, but we have to start going north and south. We can possess, but we have to make dangerous passes. We’re starting to do that.

“We’re better than we were two weeks ago and that’s all I can ask.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.